General Conditions

Winter has arrived at Donner Summit.  The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory web site (https://cssl.berkeley.edu) is off-line while they do upgrades; but Sugar Bowl reports 22 inches of new snow in the 24 hours ending at 2 PM, 63 inches in the past 7 days, and 91 inches year-to-date.  Sugar Bowl is open, and most other resorts on the Summit should be open by this weekend, though offerings will vary as staff dig out from under the white stuff.  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.

Sunrise/Sunset: Yesterday’s (December 25) sunrise was at 7:19 AM; sunset was at 4:43 PM.  Sunrise and sunset both drifted later by 3 minutes compared to a week earlier.   The winter solstice was 5 days ago, so days are getting slightly longer, though these coarse sunrise/sunset times don’t show it yet.

Star Gazing: The Moon is approaching first quarter; so evening star gazing is not good (if you can see anything through clouds and snow).   Cassiopeia is a W-shaped constellation toward the northwest.  Look for Orion, to the south around 11 PM; Sirius is brighter and more toward the southeast.  If you want to see planets,  Jupiter is the brightest object in the evening sky and slightly east of overhead at 11 PM.  It will be at opposition (closest and brightest) in early January.  With binoculars you should be able to spot as many as four of Jupiter’s moons.

Forecast

Today will remain showery with overnight lows below 20°.  Today’s high will be 28°.  The weekend should be pretty good — partly cloudy skies tomorrow with daytime highs in the low 30s, and overnight temperatures as cold as 10°.  Conditions Sunday will be similar but with more sun.  Daytime highs next Monday-Wednesday will rise to the mid 40s, while overnight lows will stay in the 20s; there could be a fair amount of sun.  On New Years day snow will move back in, but not as intensely.  Expect a few inches every day, temperatures in the 30s during the day, and temperatures in the 20s at night.

Summit Calendar

January 21 (Wednesday) 6 PM: The fourth of four avalanche awareness sessions sponsored by Tahoe Mountain Sports will be at Alibi Truckee.  This one is on “Partnering Up”.  For more information, go to https://tahoemountainsports.com/blogs/events

February 6 (Friday) Morning: Ski History Day co-hosted by the Sugar Bowl Historical Society and the SNOW Museum.  Kick off Winter Olympics 2026 with talks about Sugar Bowl’s role in California ski history over coffee and pastries.  Then take a guided tour of the mountain before lunch.  Proceeds will support the SNOW Museum; members of the Museum’s Board will share what’s ahead.  For more information go to https://www.thesnowmuseum.org/ski-history-day-at-sugar-bowl-resort/.  For tickets go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ski-history-day-at-sugar-bowl-february-6-2026-tickets-1976925780226

Resorts

Sugar Bowl is planning is open today (December 26), but several other resorts lost power yesterday so their status is unclear.

Boreal lost power yesterday and suspended operations; but they have three chair lifts running today (9 AM – 8 PM) plus Tahoe Tubing (9 AM – 4:15 PM).   Check https://www.rideboreal.com for updates.

Sugar Bowl has Christmas Tree Express and Nob Hill open.  Jerome Express, White Pine, and Flume Carpet were expected; but power outages have cut into all operations.  Sugar Rush Tubing will open Saturday.  Check  https://www.sugarbowl.com for more details.

Soda Springs Mountain Resort lost power again today.  Check  https://www.skisodasprings.com/ for updates.

Royal Gorge plans to open Saturday (December 27) with 50 km of groomed trails from both Summit Station and Van Norden Meadow.  Watch https://www.royalgorge.com/home for late information.

Donner Ski Ranch’s Old 40 Bar and Grill is open daily 8 AM – 9 PM. Check the DSR web site at https://www.donnerskiranch.com for more information.  As of this report, their website had no information on possible post-Christmas snow operations.

Auburn Ski Club: Check their web site — https://www.asctrainingcenter.org — for information.

Kingvale Resort (on the south side of I-80 at exit 171) may be open.

Avalanche Report

The Sierra Avalanche Center reports considerable avalanche danger at all elevations from Yuba Pass (Hwy 49) to Echo Summit (US 50) as of 7 AM this morning (December 26).  Rapidly accumulating snow coupled with high winds have made snow unstable in avalanche terrain, but the risk of naturally occurring avalanches will decrease during the day.  The risk from human triggered avalanches remains high.   For more information, visit https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/

Roads

I-80: There are chain requirements in both directions on I-80 between Kingvale and Truckee.  Eastbound traffic is currently being held at Kingvale because of spinouts (December 26, 2:45 PM).  Although these specific conditions will change over the next few hours, expect travel on I-80 to be slow through the rest of today (Friday).  Drive carefully and carry chains, shovels, scrapers, and warm clothing.  Plan ahead by following CalTrans road reports at https://roads.dot.ca.gov.

General: Paved secondary roads around the Summit will be difficult until the current storm passes.  Drive carefully and with patience.