Much-needed Sierra snowfall has resorts buzzing with business

Snow finally fell in the Sierra this week, and there could be a lot more Friday night -- and for skiers, that's a good thing.

Some places were expecting up to two feet of snow Friday night, and that layer of powder is already changing things at resorts that haven't seen any new snow since November.

It's finally starting to look like winter in the Sierras. Six to eight inches of snow fell overnight and brought some Bay Area snow lovers out for the first time all season.

"We started having some storms down there, so we were like, 'Probably going to be snowing up there, so we might as well come up and get some riding in,'" said Sunnyvale resident Justin Lopez.

On a chairlift ride at Boreal ski resort, devoted snowboarder Brennan Best told KTVU how the lack of snow got him laid off at a ski shop in Reno.

"We were only getting 15 or 20 rentals a day in there, where normally there's a couple hundred," Best said.

Boreal had had to make a record 40 million gallons this season.

At nearby Sugar Bowl, there's a base of just 12 to 15 inches of mostly manmade snow.

With the promise of another storm moving in Friday night, workers said they hope their luck is about to change.

Maria Montano has owned The Summit restaurant and bar in Soda Springs since moving up from the Bay Area 10-years ago and this season has been one of the toughest.

“It's kind of an eerie feeling right now because unemployment is so high and for this particular industry to be affected by the weather this year just gets everybody very unsettled,” she said.

No chain controls were issued so far Friday on Interstate 80 as of 6 p.m., but more snow was expected later Friday night.
Officials said that anyone driving up to the Sierra’s this weekend should carry chains because more snow is on the way.