Industry News
Heavenly Mountain Resort Reopening Details: Terrain, Hours, and Access
The Heavenly Mountain Resort reopening is confirmed for this Saturday and Sunday after a late-season storm deposited 25 inches of snow on the mountain, giving skiers and riders an unexpected final curtain call to close out the 2025-26 season.
The resort will open Upper California Trail and Tamarack Return on April 18 and 19, just two weeks after Heavenly made the call to shut down on April 5, citing warmer weather and lower-than-expected snowfall totals.
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Skiing and riding will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with access limited to a single route via gondola. Guests should expect typical spring conditions.
The bonus weekend carries added significance. After closing early on April 5, Heavenly now has a second chance to cap off its 70th anniversary season with an unexpected bonus weekend.
Free Shuttles and Kirkwood: What Else Is Available This Weekend
Parking at Stateline may be limited. Starting at 9:30 a.m. and running every 15 minutes, a free shuttle will transport guests from Heavenly’s California Main Lodge to the Stateline Transit Center. Guests can also park at California Lodge and take the free shuttle to the gondola.
Free shuttles to Kirkwood Mountain Resort will also continue, with Kirkwood wrapping up its own 2025-26 season on Sunday, April 19.
Lift tickets will be limited. Guests are advised to purchase in advance at skiheavenly.com.
The Season That Almost Wasn’t: How California’s Worst Winter in a Decade Set the Stage
The reopening offers a rare bright note at the end of a historically difficult season for the Sierra Nevada. The 2025-26 snowpack peaked on March 8 at just 55% of the long-term average maximum, and by April 1, only 12% of the typical April snowpack remained — the result of abnormally warm and dry conditions that erased what little base had built up. California’s March was its warmest and driest on record, and the statewide snowpack stood at just 18% of average on April 1, the second-lowest reading ever recorded. A powerful mid-February storm briefly reversed the narrative, burying the Sierra Nevada under up to 100 inches of snow in roughly 72 hours — one of the largest storms in recorded history — with Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Mammoth each receiving four to six feet, but warm temperatures moved in within days and erased those gains almost as fast as they arrived. In Tahoe, Sierra-at-Tahoe and Homewood Mountain Resort both shut down after fewer than three months of operations, while Badger Pass ran its shortest season in history. Palisades Tahoe, historically the last Tahoe resort to close, ended its season roughly a month earlier than its Memorial Day target, citing a snowpack that had dropped to around 20% of average. Against that backdrop, Heavenly’s surprise return this weekend stands as an unlikely final chapter to one of the region’s most challenging winters in recent memory.
