Near Lake Tahoe, a few ski resorts are prepping for a rare Memorial Day Weekend re-opening after two feet of new snow fell just this week. Donner Ski Ranch and Squaw Valley will be open to skiers and Heavenly will be open for tubing.
After three years of drought, businesses welcome the opportunity to make more money.
"The last few years have been very bleak compared to this," Donner Ski Ranch spokesperson Lincoln Kauffman said. "We didn't have this much snow in January of last year."
Some folks just could not wait for the lifts to open. They climbed the mountains themselves, a chore well worth it, they say.
"It's really abnormal to have these kinds of conditions in the 9,000-foot peaks that we have here, really unusual," skier Rob Anthony said.
"It is kind of rare; my couple of friends and I are going to try and go for a 12-month season," skier Kevin Schmidt said.
The Lacys booked their Sierra campsite six months ago, not knowing it would still be winter-like come Memorial Day; even their dog needs a coat.
But they opted to go through the trip anyway, despite what the park ranger told them.
"Only 17 people, campsites are coming in, everybody else cancelled, most of them this morning," Margie Lacy said.
While the snow provides beautiful scenery worthy of a postcard, many of the locals just want summer to get here.
"Usually I'd be wearing shorts and a tank top, but I still have to be in my winter clothes," local resident Aleigh Krug said.
It is unclear how many more weekends the ski resorts will stay open, but some people are saying it could be as late as the Fourth of July weekend.
