When do the Tahoe ski resorts open? 2026-27

No Tahoe resort is open yet. 5 of 9 have named an opening day on their own sites, Heavenly first on Friday, November 20. Every date below comes from the resort’s own site, with the day we read it.

Snow on the ground is the NRCS SNOTEL station nearest each resort; the forecast is the National Weather Service’s gridded snowfall at the base area. Neither is the resort’s own snow report, which starts once it opens.

Opening days in order

1. Heavenly: Friday, November 20, as posted on skiheavenly.com (read Oct 17, 2026)
2. Northstar: Friday, November 20, as posted on northstarcalifornia.com (read Oct 17, 2026)
3. Palisades Tahoe: Wednesday, November 25, as posted on palisadestahoe.com (read Oct 17, 2026)
4. Sugar Bowl: Friday, November 27, “Our targeted Opening Day is Friday, November 27, 2026 (conditions permitting), and we’re getting everything ready for winter.”
5. Kirkwood: Friday, December 4, as posted on kirkwood.com (read Oct 17, 2026)

Diamond Peak gives a window rather than a day: early December, as posted on diamondpeak.com (read Oct 19, 2026).

No date posted yet: Mt. Rose, Boreal, Sierra-at-Tahoe. Mt. Rose’s own snow report says it makes snow at every opportunity, with the goal of being the first resort open at Tahoe, but names no day.

When the snow usually arrives

Each SNOTEL station keeps a median date on which its snowpack starts to build. For the stations beside these resorts that date runs from November 7 to November 23:

• Mt Rose Ski Area (8,810 ft): November 7
• Carson Pass (8,360 ft): November 7
• Palisades Tahoe (8,010 ft): November 8
• Echo Peak (7,650 ft): November 12
• Heavenly Valley (8,540 ft): November 17
• Central Sierra Snow Lab (6,890 ft): November 20
• Truckee #2 (6,500 ft): November 23

A resort that opens before the snowpack builds does it on machine-made snow, which needs cold dry nights more than storms: Mt. Rose’s snow report gives below 26°F, low humidity and more than four hours at a stretch as its conditions for making snow. That is how a resort can name a November day while the ground at its SNOTEL station is still bare, and why a date can slip in a warm autumn.

How a resort counts as open

• Open: the resort’s own lift page shows at least one lift running.
• Announced: the resort’s own site names an opening day or a target, shown here with the date we read it. It is a plan, not a promise: a warm, dry autumn moves it.
• No date yet: the resort’s own site does not name an opening day.

Snow and forecasts are refreshed every morning, and this page changes only when something on it did. Tap Alert me above for a notification on opening day: for Mt. Rose, Sugar Bowl and Diamond Peak the morning their lift page first shows a lift running, for the others the morning of the day they announced.

Map of the resorts

The tracked resorts, from Mt. Rose above Reno to Kirkwood south of the lake. Click one for its page.

Getting there from Reno

Mt. Rose and Diamond Peak are reached over the Mt. Rose Highway; Northstar, Palisades, Sugar Bowl and Boreal by I-80 over Donner Pass and the roads south from Truckee (SR-267, SR-89); Heavenly and Sierra-at-Tahoe by US-50; Kirkwood by SR-88 over Carson Pass. Chain controls on all of them are live on the pass webcams page, and storm alerts for the passes are a tap away on every road page. To pick a resort rather than a road: ski resorts near Reno compared and beginner ski resorts near Reno.

Opening plans: each resort’s own website, linked beside the date with the day it was read. Lift counts: the lift pages of Mt. Rose, Sugar Bowl and Diamond Peak, read every morning. Snow on the ground: USDA NRCS SNOTEL (public domain). Forecasts: National Weather Service, api.weather.gov (public domain). Nevada Explorer is not affiliated with any resort. Homewood is not tracked: it has posted no date and is building a new gondola.