Skiing is steeped in tradition, but the pandemic forced a rethinking of norms and a modernization of business practices. Those tend to funnel high volumes of skiers to specific resorts when the snow is great in one region, and complaints about long lift lines and ski traffic are louder than ever. More broadly, the early era of mom-and-pop operations has given way to what some describe as a corporate arms race to scoop up ski areas and roll them into national pass programs like Vail Resorts’ Epic, which Heavenly is part of, and Alterra Mountain Co.’s Ikon. A year and a half ago, the Caldor Fire scorched Sierra-at-Tahoe and threatened Kirkwood and Heavenly before it was brought under control. Those swings are widely attributed to climate change, which has begun to threaten Tahoe ski areas during the offseason with supercharged wildfires. Winter weather - the backbone of the ski industry - has been as erratic as anyone can remember, burying Tahoe in historic amounts of snow between alarmingly dry periods. Skiers and snowboarders make their way down a run at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe. It sounds simple, but the business is challenging.
Ultimately a ski area manager’s job is to move people and snow around a mountain as efficiently as possible. “But it’s nice to have a break, finally!” “It’s one of those good problems to have,” Fortune said of the heavy snow. Snowcats and plows had shoved it into 20-foot-high banks around the lot, but even so, Fortune had been forced to commandeer about 100 of Heavenly’s precious parking spaces for snow storage. More than 25 feet of snow fell on the mountains in December and early January, and Heavenly was running out of places to stash it. He is 61 years old, with light hair and weathered features befitting someone who has worked and played outdoors his whole life. He walked across the parking lot at the resort’s California base, clad in a blue shell jacket and clomping in ski boots. It was the first clear morning over Lake Tahoe in two months, and Tom Fortune felt like he could finally exhale.įortune is the manager of Heavenly Mountain Resort, Lake Tahoe’s largest contiguous ski area, in an iconic mountain setting that rises from the lake’s southern edge and spans the California-Nevada border.
Brontë Wittpenn / The Chronicle Show More Show Less Search and rescue dog Althea stands beside ski patroller Frederick Newberry at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe. Brontë Wittpenn / The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of3 Patrol sleds can be seen near a ski patrol station at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe. Brontë Wittpenn / The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of3 Tom Fortune is manager of Heavenly Mountain Resort.
0 kommentar(er)
