Mammoth's Season Began More than Seven Months Ago...
A record number of US ski areas are planning to open for snow sports on the American Independence Day holiday of July 4th.
Squaw Valley by Lake Tahoe in California is the latest resort to open it will re-open for skiing and riding from Saturday, July 2 – Monday, July 4 for the US Independence Day holiday weekend. It will run five major lifts including the Funitel and Gold Coast Express following record-breaking snowfall totals reaching nearly 800 inches.
The news follows record snowfall for many ski areas on North America's West Coast last winter.
Other Californian resorts planning to open that weekend include Mammoth Mountain, which is still open daily, and another Tahoe resort, Alpine Meadows, which plans to re-open like Squaw,
In addition Crystal Mountain in Washington State, Snowbird in Utah and Timberline in Oregon are all still open and expect to stay open to Independence day. Other possibilities are Arapahoe Basin in Colorado and Snowbasin in Utah which are still open but have not yet announced if they'll continue to be so past the end of June.
"It is certainly uncommon to be able ski July but it is truly unheard of to be operating at the capacity that we will be operating on July 4th Weekend," said Andy Wirth, Squaw Valley's Chief Executive Officer. "With five lifts including the Funitel and Gold Coast Express, pool parties, live music and the Lake Cushing Crossing, this will be the Ultimate Independence Day Weekend."
"Most people who have seen how much snow is still up here know this was an easy call, but it's still very exciting for our guests who started skiing in November and will still be on the slopes in July," said Snowbird's Dave Fields, Vice President of Resort Operations.