Tahoe ski resorts report best conditions of season

RENO, Nev. -- Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts are reporting the best skiing conditions of the season after storms dumped up to 8 feet of snow this week. Resort operators said they expect big crowds to take advantage of snow that has fallen since Sunday. "People can expect just really great conditions this weekend and fresh snow that's kept coming in," Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe spokeswoman Kayla Anderson told the Reno Gazette-Journal. She described the snow as "perfect, light, fluffy powder" at her resort near Reno. Two resorts just north of Lake Tahoe, Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley USA, reported receiving about 5 to 7 feet of snow this week. The Boreal resort atop Donner Summit and the Mammoth Mountain resort east of Yosemite National Park reported about 8 feet of new snow. "It's like gold coming down from the sky for us," said Pat Parraguirre, a manager at Bobo's Mogul Mouse Ski shop in Reno. "We welcome all this great snow. It couldn't have come at a better time for us." Chain controls were lifted Friday morning on two major trans-Sierra highways: Interstate 80 over Donner Summit and U.S. 50 over Echo Summit. But controls were still in effect on Highway 88 over Carson Pass. In Nevada, Reno-Tahoe International Airport reported about 30 flight delays and 10 cancellations on Thursday and Friday. But airport officials attributed the problems to bad weather in Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego and elsewhere in the West. The Reno airport received 2.7 inches of snow from the latest storm. "Once the planes get in, we're getting them out OK, even with the snow," said airport spokeswoman Trish Tucker. Chains or snow tires were required Friday afternoon across much of Nevada, including on portions of U.S. 93 around Wells. The National Weather Service was calling for a chance of snow almost every day through Wednesday around Lake Tahoe.