Palisades Tahoe, CA, Report: Crush the Steep Slush

Zach Armstrong | | Post Tag for Conditions ReportConditions Report
snowboarder in the moguls at palisades tahoe
Photo: Zach Armstrong

Report from Monday, March 18, 2024

I recently made the trek from Boise, Idaho, down to Palisades Tahoe, California, with two buddies to see what this legendary resort had to offer. Turns out, there was plenty! With perfect spring conditions and minimal people, the day was sure to bring us some memorable skiing.

snowboarder above treeline at palisades tahoe
Photo: Zach Armstrong

Upon our arrival, we were astounded at the sheer scale of Palisades. Everywhere you look there is something scary to ski. As we began to make our way into the bowels of the resort, we were amazed that no matter how many chairlifts we took, there was still another one off in the distance.

snowboarder on steep slope at palisades
Photo: Zach Armstrong

 

Early in our day, we made our way over to the Granite Chief Chairlift. Sunshine everywhere and skiable lines as far as the eye could see. Truly a special place. The sheer scale of everything made some of our early steep runs intimidating to get into a place where we were all feeling good.

snowboarder in rock chute at palisades
Photo: Zach Armstrong

Once we were all feeling warmed up, we started eyeing the terrain in the Silverado zone. In some shaded spots high on Bailey’s Cirque, we even found some powder! Quite the surprise in the ocean of slush. As soon as we got on the Silverado Chair (shoutout to the fellow tele skier bumping chairs for us), Traece began eyeing a tasty-looking chute off to the left of the chair. From afar, it looked steep and narrow. After making the traverse over to the top of it, the chute looked steeper and narrower. But, we were there to ski steep, so down we went! Jump turns all the way down on good snow, heart pounding in your ears, fabulous skiing.

snowboarder in steep rock chute at palisades tahoe
Photo: Zach Armstrong

The latter part of the afternoon brought some tasty spring bump skiing off of KT-22, through the Slot on the Headwall chairlift, and in the Siberia Bowl. The legs quickly began to tire, and we started to think more and more about some cold Racer 5’s waiting for us by the river. After a few cheeky 360s on the way back to the car, we loaded our tired bodies into the car and made our way back to Truckee. Palisades is a wonderful place. Even after a hard day of skiing and exploring, we all felt we had only began to scratch the surface. With a current base depth of 148 inches and more snow on the way soon, we just might have to make the trek later this spring. Thanks Palisades!

snowboarder getting hyped at palisades
Photo: Zach Armstrong

Snow Report

24 hour new snow:  0 inches

5 day new snow: 5 inches

Base depth: 147 inches


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