The ski season is usually when ski resorts are the busiest, but the spring, summer, and fall tend to bring plenty of hard work to the slopes. Palisades Tahoe is using the offseason to complete an extensive list of maintenance and infrastructure projects before the resort opens for the 2026 and 2027 winter season on November 26th.
Hundreds of employees are spending the summer inspecting lifts, upgrading snowmaking systems, improving terrain, and expanding mountain operations. The work is designed to improve reliability, efficiency, and the overall guest experience when winter returns.
Major Lift Maintenance Underway
Palisades Tahoe operates one of North America’s largest lift networks, including the Base to Base Gondola, the Aerial Tram, the Funitel, 32 chairlifts, and several surface lifts. Resort officials say a team of approximately 80 employees spends the entire summer inspecting and servicing every lift.
Among the biggest projects this year is the replacement of the haul rope on the legendary KT-22 chairlift. Crews are also rebuilding roughly 20 percent of the resort’s chairs and cabins through complete disassembly, inspection, replacement of worn components, and reassembly.
The Funitel is also undergoing significant maintenance. Crews are rebuilding major components on Tower 4 before moving to Tower 5 and later replacing a key gearbox assembly inside the lower terminal. Meanwhile the Aerial Tram will close earlier than usual on September 8 to allow crews to replace its haul rope, overhaul the carriage, and potentially install new hangers for both cabins.
Snowmaking System Receives Major Upgrades
Snowmaking is another major focus during the offseason. At Palisades, crews are installing 2,200 feet of new snowmaking pipe, replacing snow guns between Mombo Meadows and Riviera, and improving coverage on Exhibition near the mid station. The resort is also drilling new wells and expanding automated water management systems to improve efficiency while reducing water and energy use.
At Alpine, improvements include modifications to the Red Trail snowmaking system that will allow a larger area to be covered from a single snow gun location. A new compressor is also being installed to improve system performance.
Trail Improvements and Avalanche Projects
Beyond lifts and snowmaking, revegetation crews are improving terrain connections around Snow King by removing unhealthy trees and reducing wildfire fuels while creating better skier flow between Resort Chair and Red Dog terrain.
The patrol department is also working year round on tree management, new mountain signage, snow fencing, and expansion of the resort’s avalanche mitigation systems. Palisades Tahoe says additional details about the avalanche program will be announced in the coming weeks.
Preparing for Winter
Vehicle maintenance crews are servicing more than 50 snowcats along with snowmobiles and ATVs while the grooming department has added a second diesel electric PistenBully e+600 to its fleet.
Much of the work guests never see is what helps ensure smooth operations once winter arrives. With 121 days remaining until opening day, the resort says its teams remain focused on delivering another successful ski and snowboard season.