Heavenly making snow in opening days of season

Workers at Kirkwood Mountain Resort were testing the artillery they use to reduce the danger of avalanches on Monday.

Like a big starting gun, that kicked off a week that saw Heavenly Mountain Resort and Northstar open for business.

Only six lifts and three trails were open at Heavenly on Saturday. Less than 2 percent of the resort’s terrain was open on the California side for Thanksgiving weekend. None of the Nevada side was open.

With only 3 inches so far this season, the resort is making up the difference by producing its own snow.

Northstar California opened Thanksgiving morning with three lifts and three trails by Saturday morning.

Kirkwood will catch up next weekend, if conditions allow.

All three resorts will continue to make snow and monitor conditions to determine when to expand terrain and lift offerings following their official opening.

“We have been waiting in anticipation to pull out our skis and snowboards again, and the time is finally here,” said Tom Fortune, VP and COO of Heavenly and the Tahoe Region. “Our committed teams have been working in high gear as we ramp up operations, and I am so thankful for all their contributions as we inch closer to ski and ride season. We cannot wait to welcome all our guests back to our mountains to get back to doing what we all love. “

Visitors to Heavenly and Northstar will be offered new options for parking this season, according to the resorts.

There will be a combination of both paid and free parking options, including a reservations-based paid parking program starting mid-December on weekends and peak periods at select parking lots.

Find out more at the Heavenly and Northstar websites.

If guests are planning to ski or ride this season, they have less than two weeks to lock in their Epic Pass. The sale for Epic Passes – including the Tahoe Local Pass and the Epic Day Pass (1-7 days), which provide significant savings compared to lift ticket prices ends 11 p.m. Dec. 3.