One of California's biggest ski resorts will now open on Thursday

San Francisco Chronicle · Gregory Thomas · 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC

Early-season snowfall is allowing a couple of Sierra ski areas to start spinning their lifts this week, earlier than they'd planned.

After an early season storm delivered a foot of fresh snow on its slopes in the past week, Mammoth Mountain, the Eastern Sierra’s premier ski area, announced it will open Thursday, a full eight days earlier than planned.

With a base elevation of 9,000 feet, Mammoth typically ranks among the highest California ski resorts for snowfall each year and is among the first to open and last to close each season. Most Tahoe-area ski resorts have planned openings around Thanksgiving; Mammoth’s initial opening date had been set for Nov. 13.

“Mother Nature has been kind to us with this past storm cycle dropping 9 to 15 inches of fresh snow over the weekend,” Emily van Greuning, Mammoth Resorts communications director, said in a press release. “Snowmaking teams have also been able to take full advantage of the colder temperatures over the past few days to get the mountain ready for an early opening.”

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