What's New at California's Largest Ski Resort

Palisades Tahoe, CA, is celebrating its 75th anniversary season, and many changes are on the horizon including sustainability initiatives, improvements to snowmaking and grooming, and ski tuning improvements at the rental shop.

On November 1st, Palisades Tahoe is partnering with Warren Miller Entertainment for a film segment featuring Palisades Tahoe skiers including Daron Rahlves and Connery Lundin.

As far as changes at the resort concerning skiers, Palisades Tahoe has added three new Pisten Bully snowcats to their grooming fleet. Officials at the resort report that, "(they) now have the most advanced fleet of snowcats in the U.S."

These new cats are equipped with SNOWsat LiDAR , technology used for snow depth measurement. The resort blog explains that "unlike traditional methods that measure snow depth beneath the vehicle and front blade, SNOWsat LiDAR provides real-time data across the terrain, allowing operators to identify and address areas with minimal snow early on."

Additionally, Palisades Tahoe is making environmental strides. All resort snowcats will run on Neste renewable diesel. This fuel is produced from all renewable raw materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% as opposed to traditional fossil diesel.

Lastly, over the past year, Palisades Tahoe has reportedly invested $1.4 million into improving their snowmaking operations. This includes a new booster pump that improves water transfer to snowmaking equipment across the resort, additional fan guns at the base of Gold Coast, and the construction of loading ramps beneath Scott Chair, Red Dog, and Resort Chair, reducing the amount of snow needed in these areas to open.

Palisades Tahoe also invested $500,000 this year to renovate the rental and demo shop at the Alpine Lodge. This includes new furniture, new equipment racking and dryers, new lighting, carpet and paint.

Even more excitingly, Palisades Tahoe spent $300K dollars on a new state-of-the-art Wintersteiger Jupiter, a fully automated service machine for ski and snowboard tuning. Officials at Palisades Tahoe report that "this machine is the most precise and advanced in their line up."

Over the summer, Team Palisades Tahoe is adding the ability to make snow and water the training surface from top to bottom on Julia’s Gold, allowing racers to train on a hard surface earlier in the season.

Like last season, Palisades Tahoe is still implementing parking reservations. Officials say, "this initiative has significantly enhanced the on-mountain experience by reducing traffic congestion and providing assurance there will be a parking space for our guests without them having to arrive hours before first chair," citing the benefits as being a reduction in grid-lock traffic, improved traffic flow, a better guest and employee experience, less impact on our community, and a reduction in our carbon footprint.

Reservations, like last season, will be required Saturdays, Sundays, and during certain holiday periods. The majority of the resort's parking inventory reservations are free, but if guests want to book their spot well in advance, they can make a paid reservation for $30. Parking Monday through Friday will also remain free.

Related: Arapahoe Basin Notches Season's First Snowfall

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