California Ski Resorts Close as Winter Storm Hammers Sierra Nevada
It wasn’t so long ago that ski resorts, from California to Oregon, were temporarily shutting down because of a lack of snow amid a dry season that’s seen few powder days.
Now, some have the opposite problem.
As a major, snow-dense storm hit the Sierra Nevada, several ski resorts across California have announced that they won’t open on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
Mammoth Mountain, which is reporting between 27 and 39 inches of new snow, said that it’ll stay closed because of “extremely deep snow and storm conditions.” Additional resort activities, like Woolly’s Adventure Summit, Snowmobile Adventures, and Tamarack Cross-Country Ski Center, are also closed.
The ski resort advised guests who’ve bought tickets for Tuesday to visit the online cancellation web page. It plans to reassess conditions to figure out the plan for Wednesday, February 18. Mammoth Mountain expects another 20 to 26 inches to fall throughout the day on Tuesday.
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Mammoth Mountain
Near Lake Tahoe, the storm is also stymying resort operations.
Boreal Mountain has shut down entirely, citing “high winds, relentless snow, zero-visibility, and road closures.”
Meanwhile, as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, the roads accessing Sierra at Tahoe shut down.
“If you’re not already up here at Sierra, please try again tomorrow,” the ski resort wrote in a social media post.
Later in the day, Palisades Tahoe also suspended operations.
“Our teams are working at the speed of safety as they dig out lifts and walkways, perform avalanche mitigation, assess terrain, and prepare the mountain to return to operations,” Palisades Tahoe wrote in a social media post. “These efforts take time, especially following a significant storm cycle, and we appreciate your patience as crews work.”
Like other mountains that have shut down, Palisades Tahoe plans to evaluate the conditions and determine its next steps.
Sierra at Tahoe
Temporary ski resort closures or terrain suspensions aren’t uncommon, particularly in the Sierra Nevada, where storms can produce feet of snow all at once. Ski resorts need time to mitigate avalanche danger, which spikes when large amounts of snow fall. High winds can make it unsafe to operate chairlifts, too.
Outside the boundaries of ski resorts, in backcountry areas that aren’t mitigated for sliding snow, avalanche danger has shot up.
“Travel in, near, or below avalanche terrain is not recommended today,” the Sierra Avalanche Center, which publishes avalanche forecasts, warned. “A widespread natural avalanche cycle is expected over the next 24 hours. Large avalanches may run through treed areas.”
Despite the closures, several Lake Tahoe ski resorts remain open for now according to their websites, like Northstar and Sugar Bowl (for the latest information on operations, check your local ski resort’s web or social media pages—the situation can change fast during a storm).
And further north, one of the mountains in desperate need of snow, Mt. Shasta Ski Park, had exciting news to share: the storm wasn’t forcing it to close. Instead, thanks to the new snow, the small ski area reopened on Tuesday.
Forecasters expect the storm to remain intense in the near future.
According to the National Weather Service, as much as four feet of snow could fall at higher elevations around Lake Tahoe through Wednesday evening, with wind gusts soaring beyond 100 miles per hour.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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