Storm dusts China Peak Ski Resort with snow

Jason Oliveira Image
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Snow dusts China Peak Resort
The storm brought in a little more snow to China Peak but still not enough for the resort to open .

The storm brought in a little more snow to China Peak but still not enough for the resort to open.

Despite some optimistic forecasts, there is still no measurable snow in Shaver Lake and it is taking a toll on the local economy.

Families who headed up to shaver lake looking for snow arrived surprised after only finding tiny flurries Tuesday.

Geovanny Araya from Costa Rica said, "We came here for vacation we went to San Francisco and Los Angeles and then we wanted to see the snow. It was supposed to be snowing today."

That's what Raul Rios of Fresno thought as well. Raul and his wife loaded up in their Dodge Ram and set out for Shaver thinking the latest storm would bring fresh powder to the area.

"We were at home watching the rain so I said let's go and see the snow in shaver so we drove up...but no snow today at all we missed out on the snow. Had a little bit of flurries but that's it," Rios said.

The lack of snow this winter is beginning to hurt the local economy - China Peak remains closed to skiers and snowboarders while places like the Shaver Lake Village Hotel is seeing a drop in reservations.

Joshua Cates said, "We didn't really notice an effect until recently. We had a lot of loyal customers still coming up with week-long reservations. Then finally it's officially slowed down because this last storm, right now, is only providing rain."

The local economy could dry up with no snow expected in the foreseeable future.