Behind the Resort: Snow Surfaces
Behind the Resort – Meet Corley Howard, Homewood’s Senior Manager of Snow Surfaces. Corley’s career includes grooming and building courses for major events including multiple X Games, and working on elite terrain projects alongside top athletes like Shaun White.
What’s behind Snow Surfaces.
As anyone who has been refreshing the NOAA forecast or following OpenSnow knows, this season has brought lower than average snowfall to the Tahoe area, and current conditions across the region reflect that reality. Despite limited natural snowpack, our Mountain Operations and Snow Surfaces teams work hard each night to ensure a consistent and excellent ski experience. Thanks to their hard work we’ve been able to open 90% of the mountain terrain this winter and we’ve enjoyed some of the best groomed conditions in recent history.
To make that possible, our Snow Surfaces team has taken advantage of every opportunity to make snow when possible. With limited help from mother nature, grooming priorities shift toward managing the natural snow we have received. This means crews are more selective about where they operate equipment to avoid overworking areas that could tend to lose snow faster. Operators are adjusting grooming techniques by slowing passes and working terrain carefully so snow can be processed evenly without reducing overall coverage. To improve consistency, grooming crews are also redistributing snow where possible, moving snow from areas that hold more snow toward higher traffic sections lower on the mountain like Lombard Street.
So where can you find the goods? Start your day in the sunshine – these runs will be a bit softer during the cold mornings. Higher elevation, north facing runs such as Tailings, Bonanza, Miner’s Delight, and Gilbert’s Gulch tend to hold more snow, and provide some of the most reliable conditions throughout the day.
While we remain in this high-pressure system, guests should expect changing conditions, thin coverage, and the potential for unmarked obstacles. Our teams will continue to adjust operations and may need to close terrain as conditions evolve. As always, we ask all skiers and riders to be aware of the surroundings, ride within their ability level and respect all signage and closures.
Stay up to date on the latest by visiting our Snow & Conditions page.
