General Conditions

The past week has been pretty pleasant at Donner Summit — perhaps a little too pleasant.  Temperatures have been flirting with 50° during the afternoons, then hanging around freezing at night.  That’s cold enough to freeze the snow at night, but 50° means there’s melting during the day; so snow pack, which was 2-3 feet a week ago on flat and north-facing slopes at 7000 ft, is slipping.  There’s very little on south-facing slopes.  The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory (https://cssl.berkeley.edu) reports zero inches of new snow in the past 7 days — in fact, that’s been true since early January (like last year).  The CSSL season-to-date snowfall total is 119.7 inches, compared with 166.9 inches on the same date for a median winter in 1991-2020.  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: Today’s (January 22) sunrise was at 7:16 AM; sunset will be at 5:10 PM.  Sunrise is 5 minutes earlier than last week; sunset is 8 minutes later; so the days are getting longer by about 2 minutes per day with most of the change in the evening.

Star Gazing: The Moon is approaching first quarter, so evening star gazing will become progressively more difficult.  Jupiter was at opposition on January 10, but it’s still close to overhead at midnight.  It is the brightest object in the night sky (aside from the Moon) and can be seen almost all night (rising in the east before sunset, and setting in the west just before sunrise).   Pleiades is close to overhead at 6 PM — a cluster of roughly 200 stars, six or seven of which can look like a small cup (or dipper) to the naked eye.  Pleiades is known in Japan as “Subaru”; it was the inspiration for the auto company’s logo.  Cassiopeia is a W-shaped constellation (rotated clockwise 90°) visible toward the northwest.  Look for Orion, to the south around 11 PM; Sirius is brighter and more toward the southeast.  At the same time, you may be able to spot the Big Dipper to the northeast, standing on its handle.

Forecast

We are in a very stable weather pattern.  With some minor fluctuations in temperature and cloud cover, it will be partly cloudy and relatively warm for the next two weeks.  Daytime high temperatures will only get to 33° Saturday with overnight lows around 20°; Saturday will be mostly sunny.  Sunday will be warmer with a few more clouds.  Expect 40s during the day and 20s at night for the following week.  As we enter February, the high/low temperature range will be 45°/25° with highs reaching 50° on February 4-5.  The highest probability of precipitation during the next two weeks is 20-25% on January 24, February 1, and February 5.

Summit Calendar

January 26 (Monday) 9-10 AM: Join Truckee Chamber of Commerce for a discussion about California’s FAIR plan.  Come away better equipped to understand California’s evolving insurance market.  This is an in-person event at Martis Valley Lodge off Hwy 267.  For more information, go to https://www.truckeefire.org/events/2026/1/26

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

February 14 (Saturday) PM: Valentine’s Day Get Away at Rainbow Lodge.  Tavern with full bar is open 4-9 PM, French comfort food served in the dining areas 5-8 PM, and live music by Shane Q.  Dinner and bar are walk-in only (first come, first served).  Rooms are available for booking Saturday night.  For more information, go to https://www.therainbowlodge.com/events

February 19 (Thursday) 5-6 PM:  The next meeting of the DSA Board of Directors will be at the Nancy O Gallery and Glass on Donner Pass Road in Soda Springs.   Look for an agenda at https://www.donnersummitca.com/dsa-meetings-info/  during the week before.  Directions to the meeting location will be included.

Resorts

Boreal (the Mountain) is fully open  9-8 daily. Tahoe Tubing is open 9:30 AM – 4:15 PM daily with a later closing at 6:30 PM on Friday and Saturday.  Woodward (indoors) is open 12-8 Monday-Friday and 10-8 Saturday and Sunday   Check https://www.rideboreal.com for more information.

Sugar Bowl  is open 9-4.  116 inches of snow have fallen this season at the base, 163 inches have fallen at the summit.  Check  https://www.sugarbowl.com for more details.  There was a fire in Sugar Bowl’s Mid-Mountain Lodge yesterday; cause of the fire is under investigation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–hdCoERTjQ).  Backcountry access information is at https://www.sugarbowl.com/backcountry

Soda Springs Mountain Resort is open 10-4 Thursday-Monday.  Check  https://www.skisodasprings.com/ for details.  Soda Springs is open on additional days during special holiday/vacation weeks.

Royal Gorge reports 63 km of groomed trails open today.  Van Norden parking opened on January 11 and there is at least one groomed trail (with dog access) from that location.  Conditions are changing rapidly but should stabilize as temperatures drop this weekend.  Summit Connection, which connects Summit Station with Van Norden Meadow is closed because of trail deterioration.  Check https://www.royalgorge.com/home for updates.

Donner Ski Ranch reports a year-to-date total of 132 inches.  Six  chair lifts, the ski moving carpet, and the tubing hill are open.  Hours are 9-4 on the front side and 9-3 on the back side.   Check the DSR web site at https://www.donnerskiranch.com for late information.

Auburn Ski Club: ASC offers alpine, nordic, snowboard, and biathlon programs including 25 km of groomed trails.  They specialize in training for competition and sponsor events.  Check their web site — https://www.asctrainingcenter.org — for information.

Kingvale Resort (on the south side of I-80 at exit 171) is open for tubing and sledding.  They also offer snowmobile tours and have a rope tow terrain park.  Visit their web site at http://www.kingvaleresort.com/ for more information.

Avalanche Report

The Sierra Avalanche Center reports “1-low” avalanche danger at all elevations.  For more information, visit https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/

Roads

I-80: The freeway is open and conditions should be good for the next two weeks.  Beware of local ice and slippery water patches. Drive carefully as conditions change and there may be local sections with especially slippery surfaces.  Plan ahead by following CalTrans road reports at https://roads.dot.ca.gov.

General: Paved secondary roads around the Summit should be plowed and open.  Follow the precautions mentioned above.