By Ryan Brandt

April 18, 2002 With two feet of new snow falling on Wednesday and Thursday, mid-winter ski and snowboard conditions have returned to the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California. Although April storms are hardly unheard of in the Lake Tahoe area, the snow was welcomed with big eyes and open arms.

"I was on the line with a groomer, asking him how much was out there, and he said, 'hold on, let me reach out the window and grab you some.' With drifting, it's that deep," said an excited Eric Brandt, marketing director for Squaw Valley.

Two-thirds of the new snow came Wednesday with another six to eight inches greeting skiers and boarders Thursday morning. Late-season storms often bring heavier snow to the Sierra, far from ideal for those perfect powder days. But temperatures remained well below freezing for the duration of this storm, depositing inch upon inch of light, only-in-your-dreams snow.

"The system was unseasonably cold and unseasonably strong," said John Juskie, Lead Forecaster for the National Weather Service's Sacramento office. "The storm totaled 30 inches in some places. I'm sure the ski resorts are happy about it."

"A lot of people were thinking the season was over, but we got the Alaska Express coming down the coast. It's just great out there, I've seen so many smiling faces," said Brandt.

While the brunt of the snow hit the mountains of northern California, resorts to the south were hardly skipped.

"We got about 12 inches of snow in the last day and a half. Generally, we don't get a lot of snow after March," said Kellie Hines, communications coordinator for Mammoth Mountain. "We're always hoping for it but you can never count on storms in April. This is just a nice little April shower."

With base depths still hovering around ten feet in the northern Sierra, resorts are planning to make the best of the remaining season. Sugar Bowl and Northstar-at-Tahoe plan to run the chairs for the last time this Sunday, April 21.

"There's only three days left and they're all going to be good if the weather holds," said Toby Baird, Northstar's public relations manager. "We haven't had these conditions for about a month at least."

Mammoth will partly shut down this weekend as well, with hopes of staying open with limited terrain through Memorial Day.

At Squaw Valley, Brandt dreams of watching some Independence Day fireworks after a day of turns. "It wouldn't be amazing skiing but it would be a cool way to spend the Fourth."