Sierra-at-Tahoe is making a comeback late in the ski season after suffering major damage in last year's Caldor Fire.
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The popular South Lake Tahoe ski resort is celebrating its 75th anniversary by reopening this weekend only for a two-day festival featuring plenty of activities for snowboarders and spectators, along with live music.
The celebration kicks off on Saturday with "Subaru WinterFest," a music and mountain lifestyle touring event. Sunday's festivities will be highlighted by "Van’s Methodology," a bank slalom event where snowboarders compete to throw up their best "method air" - a common snowboarding trick which involves the boarder grabbing the heel of the board and pulling it towards their back.
"The skiing is going to be limited, but it's more about the vibes and just bringing our family back together," Katie Hunter, director of sales and marketing for Sierra-at-Tahoe, told KCBS Radio.
The event not only commemorates the resort's 75th anniversary, but also marks its comeback from the devastating Caldor Fire, which ripped through 220,000 acres of Northern California, including El Dorado County, last fall.
Sierra-at-Tahoe has not reopened since the destructive blaze, which damaged chair lifts and maintenance buildings while also charring thousands of trees that had to be removed.
"It basically burned thousands of trees across our 2,000 acre property and so we’re currently working with the U.S. Forest Service as well as the El Dorado resource conservation district in order to mitigate the damaged trees in order to get us all ready to go for next year," Hunter said.
The financial impact reached beyond the resort itself as well. Local businesses lost $12 million in tourism, and suffered a reported loss of $1 million in state and local tax revenue.
Though fire damage forced Sierra-at-Tahoe to close, the generosity of its loyal visitors has helped the resort financially while it’s been shuttered.
"We actually had 80% of our season pass holders opting to renew their season pass," Hunter said. "They were given the opportunity to refund, rebate or donate and most of them chose to donate to our seasonal workers."
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