General Conditions

It’s been a great week on Donner Summit with near perfect Indian summer conditions. Temperatures have been near 60° in the early afternoon, there’s been abundant sunshine, and fall color has been spectacular.  The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory (https://cssl.berkeley.edu) reported 7.3 inches from the storm that blew through 9 days ago; you can still see snow on the north sides of mountain peaks and ridges.  Check the CSSL website for other interesting information on daily, weekly, and monthly time scales.   Webcams at Sugar Bowl (http://www.sugarbowl.com/home) and Donner Ski Ranch (http://webcams.donnerskiranch.com/) provide up-to-the-minute views of current conditions.

Wildfire: The seasonal campfire ban remains in effect.  No open fires — including campfires, charcoal grills, etc.  Gas grills are OK.  Truckee Fire rates its fire danger as “low”; Tahoe National Forest says fire danger is also  “low”.   Find more information at https://www.truckeefire.org/fireban    Purpleair AQI is in single digits around Donner Summit.

Sunrise/Sunset: Today’s (October 23) sunrise was at 7:19 AM; sunset will be at 6:10 PM.  Sunrise drifted later by 7 minutes compared to a week ago. Sunset has drifted earlier by about 10 minutes. The days continue to get shorter by about 2-1/2 minutes per day.

Star Gazing: The Moon was new on October 21; it will be visible as a waxing crescent over the next week — making evening stargazing more difficult.  Look for the Big Dipper, visible to the northwest; it rests on the northwestern horizon in the correct position to “hold water” at about 9 PM.  You should be able to see Saturn about 45° above the southern horizon at 10 PM; it’s bright but not dazzling.  Being a planet, it does not twinkle.  With a pair of binoculars, you should be able to make out its rings.  The easiest planet to spot is Venus — very bright at 6 AM and about 10° above the eastern horizon.  Much higher in the eastern sky (and not quite so bright) is Jupiter.

Forecast

The pleasant fall weather will continue today; but clouds move in tomorrow.  Expect highs in the mid 50s today and tomorrow with lows around 30°.  Up to 8 inches of snow is in the forecast for Saturday with snow tapering off (1-3 inches) Sunday.  Then it will be partly cloudy to sunny for the remainder of the next two weeks.  High temperature Monday (October 27) is predicted to be 47°, then highs will be in the mid-50s, slowly dropping to the high 40s as we move into November.  Conditions for Hallowe’en should be 58°/34° (high/low) with clear skies.

Summit Calendar

October 29 (Wednesday) 6 PM: The first of four avalanche awareness sessions sponsored by Tahoe Mountain Sports will be at Alibi Truckee.  This one is “The Basics”.  Following sessions are scheduled for November 19, December 17, and January 21 on “Where/When to Go”, “Rescue”, and “Partnering Up”, respectively.  For more information, go to https://tahoemountainsports.com/blogs/events

November 1 (Saturday) 11 AM – 4 PM: The 42nd Annual Ski and Snowboard Swap at the Steve Randall Community Recreation Center in Truckee.  Pros from local ski shops will be present to answer questions; there will be a silent auction and prizes such as season passes and lift tickets.  Entry is free, but bring a credit or debit card for transactions (no cash).  For more info, go to https://www.tdrpd.org/221/Truckee-Ski-Swap

November 8 (Saturday) 9 SAM – 2 PM: The Annual Cross-Country and Backcountry Ski Swap will be at Tahoe XC in Tahoe City. Entry is $5 for adults and free for kids.  Entry fees and commissions from sales support youth programs of the Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association.  For more info, go to https://tahoexc.org/event/ski-swap/

November 15 (Saturday) 12 noon: Applications for the Second Annual Snow Science School (January 14-16) are due.  For more information, go to https://www.csslsnowschool.com/

Resorts

Boreal/Woodward (indoors) is open Wednesday-Friday 1-8 PM and weekends 10 AM – 8 PM.   The Castle Peak chair and MTB trails are closed for the season.  Check https://www.rideboreal.com for details

Sugar Bowl has no winter activities planned yet; check  https://www.sugarbowl.com for updates.  Season pass prices go up on November 1.

Donner Ski Ranch has Disk Golf open.   DSR’s Old 40 Bar and Grill is open daily 8 AM – 9 PM. Check the DSR web site at https://www.donnerskiranch.com

Auburn Ski Club is closed for the season. Check their web site — https://www.asctrainingcenter.org — for more information.

Soda Springs Mountain Resort is closed for the season.  For more information, visit https://www.skisodasprings.com/

Royal Gorge is waiting for snow.  Watch https://www.royalgorge.com/home for the latest information.

Kingvale Resort (on the south side of I-80 at exit 171) is closed for the season.

Other Activities

If you’re looking for things to do in the foothills and mountains, Nevada County has some suggestions.  These are spread more broadly but some specifically include the Summit area.  Some link to other parts of this web site.

https://gonevadacounty.com/ways-to-beat-heat-that-arent-swimming/ (like ice cream)

Roads

I-80: Watch for snow and ice on the highway this weekend.  Otherwise the forecast is generally favorable for the next two weeks.  Be alert to construction and lane closures — especially Monday-Friday.  There are at least three possible choke points eastbound — Crystal Springs to Drum Forebay, at the I-80/CA20 split, and between Rainbow Road and Soda Springs.  You can avoid the third by exiting at Cisco Grove and driving at a more leisurely pace on Hampshire Rocks Road, which parallels the freeway on the north side.   Continue across I-80 on Donner Pass Road, then go all the way to Donner Lake and Truckee.  Note that several ramps between Gold Run and Donner Summit are closed while being reconstructed.  Plan ahead by following CalTrans road reports at https://roads.dot.ca.gov.

General: Paved secondary roads around the Summit should be open; but be prepared for repair work and occasional delays.    Off-highway vehicle routes (unpaved) are mostly open, but watch for pot holes, rocks, ruts, snow, and slippery spots.  Forest Road 85 north from Cisco Grove is closed (for several years) while the Lake Fordyce Dam Seepage Mitigation Project is completed.