Skiers, snowboarders getting access to more of Lee Canyon this week
As the Las Vegas Valley braces for a dose of legitimate winter weather, Lee Canyon is getting ready to welcome skiers and snowboarders to its more challenging territory.
The Mount Charleston venue announced Wednesday that it will open its Bluebird quad chairlift on Thursday at 9 a.m. The chairlift provides access to the intermediate and advanced trails on the canyon’s upper terrain.
Lee Canyon officials said they received 9 inches of snow on the mountain as of late Wednesday afternoon, which makes Thursday the first official powder day of the 2024 winter sports season. And another 3 inches could still fall, giving the resort a foot of snow.
“The colder temperatures mean Lee Canyon’s snowmaking team can continue working on covering more terrain on the upper portion of the mountain,” Jim Seely, the venue’s director of marketing, said in a press release.
Lee Canyon’s winter season started last month with the opening of the Rabbit Peak quad chairlift for the beginner terrain.
Even though it took a few weeks after the initial opening of Lee Canyon to get the Bluebird chairlift running, this opening wasn’t too delayed from a typical winter season, said Dan Hooper, the general manager of Lee Canyon.
“Lee Canyon’s busiest time of year is January through March,” Hooper said in an emailed statement. “Destination ski areas see more December holiday traffic. Our guests are primarily locals, so we are just entering our prime season. Lee Canyon is only about one to two weeks behind our typical phased opening schedule.”
The snow is very welcome at Lee Canyon which only had a limited number of beginner trails open to the public since its December opening.
Before Wednesday’s storm it has been a mild winter season for Las Vegas as December was the warmest on record. The average daily temperature was 53.2 degrees, according to the Las Vegas office of the National Weather Service. Skies are expected to clear on Thursday but snow and showers could return to Las Vegas by the weekend.
“What’s been unusual about the start to winter this year is that it’s been warmer and more humid than normal,” Hooper said. “Ideal snowmaking conditions are cold and dry.”
This weather should also bring a stretch of cold and dry weather to Lee Canyon, which the resort plans to take advantage of to both retain the snow it has already received and make more snow to cover terrain, Hooper said.
While this snow will allow skiers and snowboarders to access more advanced runs and terrain, Lee Canyon isn’t fully operational as it still needs to open the Sherwood triple chairlift and the new Ponderosa quad chairlift, Hooper said.
It’s unclear when these lifts will be operational since more natural snow and good snowmaking conditions are needed for these lifts to open.
But there should be demand for more trails at Lee Canyon as season pass sales for the winter have increased by 129 percent compared to the 2018-2019 winter season, a similar snow year to the 2023-2024 winter season, Hooper said.
The 450-stall Ponderosa parking area will also be open Thursday near the base of Rabbit Peak, home to Lee Canyon’s beginner terrain and rental facility.
The canyon also announced that its 9th annual Chris Ruby Memorial Cup event will take place Jan 13. The event, named for a snowboarder who died in a 2014 accident, raises money for the Nevada Donor Network.
Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X.
