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The creator of the Ikon Pass will invest more than $200 million this summer to further upgrade some of the 15 resorts it owns for skiers and riders in the 2020-21 season.

Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows have been linked by ownership for a while, but soon they may be connected by a gondola.

Once summer settles in, the winter resorts around Lake Tahoe become magnets for city-dwellers aiming to beat the heat – and to have a bunch of fun doing it.

The 2018-2019 ski and snowboard season isn't going out quietly, as healthy snowfall through April has prompted resorts across the SnoCountry map to extend operations into May – or beyond.

It looks to be a busy summer at resorts owned by Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co. as the firm begins to catch up on much-needed improvements both on and off the mountain.

Thanksgiving weekend will be especially tasty in the western United States and Canada with multiple helpings of snow storms.

Renovations all around at early-opening California ski and snowboard resorts – in restaurants, base lodges, bars and on the hill.

Apres-ski singing was popular with folk tunes joining ski songs in 1950s and 1960s. (Dick Smith/State of NH)

Early ski trips were largely couple- and singles-oriented affairs, with 1930s’ snow trains popularizing the social connections and good times that became associated with the sport. Many joined ski trips just for the fun of the après-ski life — skiing was optional if looking for a mate.

Battery storage will help keep lifts running (Squaw Valley/Facebook)

Keeping a steady flow of electricity to ski and snowboard mountains is a major challenge for operators. So a Squaw Valley move to install a storage system is significant.

This rendering shows what the base area will look like after redevelopment (Squaw Valley Tomorrow)

Squaw Valley officials say completion of final design and plans for the multi-decade project can get underway after Placer County approval of its ambitious development plans for the base area.

The project at the Lake Tahoe resort reflects a trend among Western resorts to upgrade into order to keep up with their international and domestic competitors. Officials recognize that the pre-eminence of Squaw Valley in the 1960s and 1980s has waned, due greatly to the lack of concerted updating and reinivigorating the property.

About 90 percent of the project lies on existing parking lots, according to resort officials, and calls for an overhaul of existing retail outlets, and construction of about 1,500 new beds in some 750 lodging units. The initial work on the project would include ski in/ski out lodging, fractional cabins on the west side of the base area, and the Mountain Adventure Camp – a 90,000 square foot rec center that sits partially on the previous center’s footprint.

The timeline for completion of the $1 billion project extends out as far as 25 years, and initial work won’t begin until planning approvals can be secured for each portion of the development.

“Each lot that is to be developed will be subject to a similar public review and approval process that includes opportunity for community input, so nothing is immediately going to start in the way of construction,” Squaw’s Jess VanPernis Weaver told SnoCountry.com, noting that actual construction may not begin for a couple of years.

The project sits on 22 parcels owned by KSL Capital Partners, which bought the resort in 2010 from closely held interests that stretch back to the 1949 opening of the mountain. Recently, Squaw Valley and neighboring Alpine Meadows joined forces.

Opening day for the 2016-2017 season is slated for Nov. 23, weather permitting.

Buoyed by talk of El Niño and eternal optimism, the 14 alpine resorts around Lake Tahoe can’t wait to drop the ropes on the 2015-16 season.

Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, LLC announced it has reached an agreement with the owner of private land located between Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows to create a base-to-base gondola connection between the two mountains. 

Many season pass holders eschew the slopes during the holidays because of blackout dates – a circumstance that Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and Sugar Bowl want to change.

Despite 6,000-plus acres of skiing and riding already at Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows, the giant Lake Tahoe, Calif. sister resorts have tweaked their trail maps to give visitors even more options.

Snow has receded to all but the highest ridges around Lake Tahoe, signaling the start of a busy summer season in the northern California mountains.

No need to hang ‘em up quite yet, but the list is indeed getting shorter. There’s skiing and riding in six states. Several resorts have stayed open continuously, while some others have closed during the week, but plan to re-open for the weekend. Here’s the rundown:

New snow in the West is keeping the season alive and well every day at several resorts in California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah. Several other ski areas are playing the “re-open” card on weekends.

It was a good season at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. So good, that its not over yet!

The skiing and snowboard season in California was a mixed bag this season, but hope always springs eternal for the next season – as do the bargains for buying a season’s pass early.