I Skied Palisades Tahoe's "Miracle" April Storm, but Mother Nature Made It Challenging

Having missed the surprise storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on Palisades Tahoe, California, at the beginning of April, it’s safe to say that I was yearning for powder.

Palisades Tahoe, as the Spring Skiing Capital, is an absolute blast to ski when the sun is shining and the mercury is rising, but I felt somewhat cheated by the number of cold-storm days logged this season.

So, when I saw that 2-4 feet of snow could fall on Palisades’ upper mountain terrain from Saturday, April 11, through Sunday, April 12, 2026, I waxed my powder skis and donned my best GORE-TEX outerwear.

Saturday, April 11, was unfortunately not a powder day.

The 2026 POWDER Photo Annual is here! Look for a print copy on a newsstand near you, or click here to have a copy shipped directly to your front door.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

As I pulled into Palisades’ parking lot on Saturday, my dad, who was speaking with me on the car’s Bluetooth phone, asked, “What is that sound? Is it raining that hard?”

“Uhhh… Yeah,” I replied with a slight chuckle. “But I think it’s snowing up top.”

I hopped on the Gold Coast Funitel with a hope and a prayer that the elevation gain would turn the pounding rain into driving snow. As we ascended, the noise of the precipitation slamming against the Funitel cabin windows grew quieter, but as the first flakes hit my jacket, I knew we were in for anything but a powder day.

With that said, it was a nice change of pace to ski something other than bulletproof ice or slushy mashed potatoes. The best snow was on Siberia Face, but the socked-in fog and heavy wet precipitation made skiing it quite challenging.

I ended up spinning a few laps on the Shirley Express and Solitude side of the mountain in the early-afternoon. The top layer of the snow was soft and powdery, but underneath was heavy, dense, and littered with rocks.

I ended up calling it a day after hearing my edges scrape a rock for the umpteenth time. Sunday would be better, I presumed. I was right.

Sunday, April 12, 2026

I rolled into the Palisades Tahoe parking lot at 8 a.m. and couldn’t believe my eyes. There were barely any cars in the lot. I double-checked the snow report to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

Yes, it had snowed more than 16 inches overnight; yes, 10-18 inches were expected throughout the day; and yes, it was in fact Sunday. What was going on?!

As I lined up in the short queue waiting for the Gold Coast Funitel to open, I noticed I knew many of the folks ahead of me. Perhaps the Bay Area gave up on skiing this season already, I deduced. Fine by me.

I scored first chair on Palisades Tahoe’s Siberia Express lift, and while the turns were some of the best-feeling I’ve had all season in terms of snow quality, I couldn’t see a damn thing. The fog was thick, the cold snow was pelting my goggles with force, and all I could do was trust that I had skied this same slope countless times before.

Trusting my instincts, I squatted a little bit lower to brace for any unforeseen bumps or obstacles and started making turns. The snow was deep. Slashing through the first few turns, I could feel the thick wind-affected layer beneath the dry blower on top.

It was pleasant, but a bit unsettling. Worried I would front-punch or catch a weird edge, I opted to take the mellow approach and make more turns than I normally would.

See below for my first lap down Siberia Face on April 12, 2026. Keep reading for more.

Video: POV, Siberia Face, Palisades Tahoe, April 12, 2026

After playing in the deep snow in Siberia for a few laps, my crew made the mistake of hopping on the Big Blue Express so we could ski Shirley and Solitude.

However, we had one of our best laps of the day in the ‘Joe’s Garage’ glades under Solitude. The snow was slightly skied out, but there were tons of sidehits and playful features for us to slash, jump off, and plow through. We chased each other through the trees, hooting, hollering, and laughing the entire time.

Unfortunately, as we emerged from the trees, a massive lift line for the Solitude lift came into view. We sighed, knowing that we would be in the line for the long haul, but we weren’t aware that this journey was just getting started.

After shuffling in line for 10-15 minutes, a liftie for the Solitude called out to the massive crowd, “Sorry! You’re all going to have to hike to the base of Shirley. Solitude is now closed.”

A symphony of boos and expletives rang out from the crowd. No further explanation was given as to why we couldn’t load the Solitude lift. Defeated, we began the 15-minute slog uphill in feet of powder to the bottom of the Shirley lift.

Video: Crashing at Palisades Tahoe, April 12, 2026

Exhausted from skiing the deep snow of the morning and now sweating profusely after the unplanned hike, my friends and I counted our blessings and called it a day. We finished the afternoon with beers, cheese curds, and watching The Masters golf tournament on TV.

It was a weird day, but we ended it with smiles, laughs, and reflections. “You know, that might have been one of the best powder days of the season,” I said with a chuckle.

In a season where powder has been scarce, we were all just happy to have skied cold snow with each other.

Palisades Tahoe is reporting a storm total of 25 inches as of Monday, April 13, 2026.

Related: Snow Returns to the West: Feet Forecasted From Washington to Utah