Winter is almost here, and a strong El Niño is in the forecast! As Achieve Tahoe celebrates 60 years, we’re gearing up for another exciting season of adaptive snowsports at Palisades, Alpine, Northstar, and Mt. Rose. Here’s everything you need to know to prepare for the 2026–27 season.
Join us at the pizza party!
The best way to kick off the season is by supporting Achieve Tahoe’s programs with good food and great company! Our pizza party at Rubicon Pizza is coming up on Monday, November 2nd, and it is a chance to see familiar faces, meet participants and volunteers, and get excited for the winter ahead.
This all-you-can-eat pizza buffet celebrates and wraps up the amazing fundraising our volunteers accomplished through Rubicon’s Pizza Cart during the 2025-26 season. Bring a friend, bring your family, and help us start the season strong with food, music, and a raffle in support of Achieve Tahoe. We look forward to seeing you there!
Achieve Tahoe is celebrating 60 years!
Achieve Tahoe marks its 60th anniversary this winter as the nation’s longest-running adaptive ski program. Be sure to join us as we celebrate 60 years of building health, confidence, and independence in people with disabilities through outdoor recreation.
Opening dates
These are the targeted opening dates for each mountain Achieve Tahoe operates from. As always, opening day operations are dependent on weather and snow conditions.
| Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe | November 6 |
| Northstar | November 20 |
| Palisades Tahoe | November 25 |
| Alpine | November 25 (Alpine often opens after the Palisades side, so check the mountain report) |
Source: Visit Truckee Tahoe.
What’s new at our four mountains
Palisades
Expanded snowmaking along Mountain Run is designed to improve top-to-bottom access early in the season and help preserve skiing later into spring. Palisades is also investing in new remote avalanche-control systems across both Palisades and Alpine to help crews work more efficiently during big storm cycles. The snowcat fleet has expanded to include three new PistenBully 600E+ machines, the world’s only diesel-electric snowcat.
Alpine
Alpine, the Alpine Meadows side of Palisades Tahoe, gets five new Wyssen avalanche towers for remote control work. Crews are also improving snowmaking, adding a new compressor and improving coverage on Red Trail.
Northstar
Families will find a new Fun Forest between Big Easy and The Ritz-Carlton, a kid-friendly first taste of tree skiing. Northstar is also launching Snow Start, full-day lessons led by native Mandarin-speaking instructors on select Saturdays, and a Lunar New Year celebration in the Village on February 6.
Mt. Rose
Mt. Rose has put nearly $2 million into the mountain this offseason, including snowmaking upgrades, a new PistenBully groomer, and a summer retrofit of The Chuter lift. The Main Lodge lobby has been redesigned, and Wildslide Lodge has been expanded with food and drinks, indoor seating, ticketing and retail. The Wildslide Snow Tubing Park now features an enclosed surface lift.
What El Niño could mean for the snow
The outlook is good for snow and tricky for temperatures. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has put the odds of a very strong El Niño this winter above 90%, and early forecasts from OpenSnow favor above-normal snowfall across California and Nevada, with January through March looking strongest. El Niño storms often arrive warm and wet, which raises the elevation where snow turns to rain.
Here is how we are approaching the Super El Niño at Achieve Tahoe:
- Plan for big storm days. Heavy snow can mean road closures, chain controls and slower travel, so leave extra time and check conditions before you drive. Be sure to familiarize yourself with our new cancellation policies!
- Dress for wet weather. Waterproof outer layers and spare gloves and socks matter even more in a warm, wet winter.
- Elevation helps. Mt. Rose has the highest base elevation of our four mountains, which is an advantage when snow levels climb.
- Expect some weather changes. Lessons may shift or cancel on the worst days, and we will keep participants and volunteers posted.
Reservations are open!
Snowsports reservations are open now. Before you can sign up for a lesson, participants need to complete their paperwork. Getting it done early means you can book your preferred days and mountain before spots fill up.
- Complete your participant paperwork
- Once all forms have been submitted and processed, you will receive an email with a link to the reservations website.
A new way to schedule volunteers
This year, volunteer shifts are assigned based on actual bookings. In past seasons, we forecast how many lessons we expected on a given day and scheduled volunteers to match.
Now the schedule follows the bookings. That helps in two ways:
- More capacity for participants. Staffing tracks real demand, so we can say yes to more lessons.
- More respect for our volunteer’s time. Volunteers are scheduled for lessons that are already confirmed.
As bookings come in, we will build the schedule around them. Thank you for your patience as we learn this system together, and please tell us what you notice.
Speaking of volunteers…
Volunteer opportunities are available for the 2026/27 season! Whether you want to be a snowsports instructor, fundraising volunteer, or help out with events – we have a job for you! Check out our volunteer opportunities here.
Already a volunteer? Volunteer training sign-ups are open – register now!
See You Out There!
Sixty years of adaptive snowsports comes down to people showing up for each other, and this season is an important opportunity to continue that Achieve Tahoe tradition. If you’re a participant, finish your paperwork today so you can book your preferred days and mountain before spots fill up. If you want to be part of the mission, join us at Rubicon Pizza on Monday, November 2nd, to kick off the season with good food, music, and a raffle. And if you’ve ever thought about volunteering as an instructor, a fundraiser, or an event helper, email [email protected] to get started. Whatever this winter brings, we can’t wait to see you out on the snow.