Mt Rose - Ski Tahoe's 100% PistenBully Fleet Wins Best Grooming in USA
This year's Snomad rankings put Mt Rose at #1 in the USA -- and #7 worldwide!
Perched above the north end of Lake Tahoe, Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe towers above other skiable terrain in the region, with both of its base lodges sitting at 8,260 feet. Featuring 1,800 feet of vertical drop, 6+ month seasons, and legendary terrain like the Chutes, Mt Rose is a locals’ favorite. One of the best things about Mt Rose is the view: not just of Lake Tahoe, but also of the sweeping Nevada high desert. Look to your left, and you’re staring at a high alpine environment. Look to your right, and you see the dusty, rolling Virginia range.
Mt Rose is a resort that’s easy to access: just 25 minutes from the Reno airport, or 10 minutes from Tahoe’s north shore. Plus, they’re always the first resort in the region to open for the season, thanks to their high base elevation, their north- and east-facing aspects, and their robust snowmaking capabilities.
Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe also has terrain for everyone. No matter your skill level, there is a trail for you. With such a wide variety of skiable acreage, having perfectly groomed trails is of the utmost importance. In fact, it's now a claim to fame for the ski area: Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe was just named #1 in the US for groomed slopes, and #7 worldwide.
THE FLEET
Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe has a 100% PistenBully fleet, consisting of 14 machines in total, including 4 winch cats. A crew of almost 20 snowcat operators are the ones who prep the slopes every night. If you are driving south through Reno in the evening, you can often see the lights of their PistenBullys up on Slide Mountain.
Mt Rose’s grooming team is overseen by Grooming Manager Kyle Tessers. “This was a group effort,” Kyle explained. “The whole team won the award.”
His crew works in two overnight shifts – a swing shift and a grave shift – to rebuild the mountain each night. Some of the signature groomed runs at Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe that you might want to check out are Kit Carson Bowl and Silver. They are exciting areas for snowcat operators to work on, and they are just as fun to ride when fresh corduroy has been laid down.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES
The grooming team couldn’t do what they do every night without the help of their vehicle maintenance team. Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe’s shop has been run by Vehicle Maintenance Manager Aaron Fulton since 2005, and Aaron himself has been at Mt Rose since 1997. Thanks to him and his crew of 5 mechanics, they keep things running smoothly so that the groomers can focus on doing what they do best.
Photos: Left, Aaron Fulton and Right, his son Logan
Aaron’s oldest son, Logan, is also PistenBully mechanic. He works for our Sierra branch, based in Reno, and he services machines across all of California and Nevada. Logan grew up watching his dad in the Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe vehicle maintenance shop, but he never thought he’d work on the machines himself. Eventually, though, Logan attended school for diesel mechanics, and he has been at the Sierra branch of PistenBully for 5 years now. Logan can attest that his dad’s shop at Mt Rose sets a high standard – just like their grooming team.
Congratulations to the whole Mt Rose – Ski Tahoe team for this well-deserved win!
