Palisades Tahoe Opening Day

Palisades Tahoe has set Wednesday, November 25, 2026 as opening day for the 2026-27 ski season, with lifts scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather and conditions permitting. It lands the day before Thanksgiving, so opening day doubles as the start of the holiday week in Olympic Valley, just off Highway 89 between Tahoe City and Truckee.

What Palisades Opening Day Is Like

Palisades opening day has a big-mountain buzz even when only a sliver of the terrain is open. This is the 1960 Winter Olympics valley, and its two mountains, Palisades and Alpine, add up to 6,000 skiable acres once the season is in full swing. The Palisades side alone covers 3,600 acres with 2,850 feet of vertical, topping out at 9,050 feet, and both mountains average about 400 inches of snow a year. On day one, though, terrain depends on early storms and snowmaking, so expect a short menu of runs and a crowd of eager locals, Ikon passholders and Thanksgiving visitors who drove up early for the holiday. The Village at Palisades is the gathering spot at the base, with the Clock Tower as the classic meeting point, and the mood is part ski day, part reunion after a long off-season.

Event Highlights

The first chairs of the season are the headline, and Palisades says it will share Opening Day festivities closer to November 25. The build-up starts earlier, too: Palisades rounds up a fall slate of ski film premieres around North Lake Tahoe, including Warren Miller's "Days Off" at the Olympic Village Event Center on November 4 and 5, 2026. If you want more of a celebration after the first weekend, Tahoe Live returns to Palisades December 11-13, 2026. As more terrain opens through December, the two mountains offer 16 bowls on the Palisades side and seven at Alpine, plus Mountain Run, a 3.2-mile top-to-bottom cruiser.

Tickets, Passes and What to Bring

Palisades is the Ikon resort in North Lake Tahoe. The 2026-27 Ikon Pass includes unlimited access with no blackouts, and the Ikon Base Pass is also unlimited here, with blackout dates of December 26-30, 2026, January 16-17 and February 13-14, 2027, so opening day is fair game for both. If you're buying day tickets, prices vary by date and how early you buy, and Palisades says advance online tickets can save up to 35% over the window. Ticket packs are another option: 2-Day and 4-Day Unrestricted packs with no blackout dates, and a 4-Day Midweek pack, each with bonus 25% off vouchers. New this season, a Midweek Pass starts at $759 for Monday-Friday access. Bring warm layers, since the base sits at 6,200 feet and early-season mornings run cold, and plan for a busy holiday-week lift line.

Parking and Getting There

Opening day falls on a Wednesday, so no parking reservation is needed. Monday-Friday, non-holiday parking at both Palisades and Alpine is free and first come, first served. Reservations begin with the 2026-27 parking program on December 5, 2026 and are required on Saturdays, Sundays and select holidays through April 11, 2027, booked through parkpalisadestahoe.com. Most are free and released each Tuesday, paid reservations are $30, and parking after 1 p.m. on reservation days is free with no reservation. Carpools of four or more still need a reservation but earn the driver a $20 resort credit. TART's Highway 89 bus also runs daily between Tahoe City and Truckee with stops in Olympic Valley, and Placer County has extended free TART fares into late 2027.

Follow lift and terrain updates on the Palisades Tahoe Opening Day page.