Besides making fun of your friends for your other friends’ amusement, Twitter has other great uses. For those of us who ski or snowboard, getting real-time snow conditions, as well as on-the-hill and event updates at our favorite ski resorts connects us using micro-blogging technology.

We have a few twitter accounts — @renotahoe, @renoevents, @renotahoeski and @renotraveldeals are a few of them – and we follow a bunch more in the Reno Tahoe area.

Here are some great Sierra Nevada ski and board resort accounts:

• Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: @MtRoseSkiTahoe
• Diamond Peak: @DiamondPeak
• Alpine Meadows: @SkiAlpine
• Northstar-at-Tahoe: @NorthstarTahoe
• Squaw Valley USA: @SquawValley1960
• Homewood Mountain Resort: @SkiHomewood
• Sugar Bowl: @SugarBowl1939
• Boreal Mountain: @BorealMtn
• Heavenly: @SkiHeavenly
• Tahoe Donner: @SkiTahoeDonner
• Kirkwood Mountain: @KirkwoodMtn
• Sierra-at-Tahoe: @sierra_at_tahoe
• Royal Gorge: @RoyalGorgexc
• Camp Richardson Resort: @CampRichardson
• Granlibakken Resort: @Granlibakken_CA

Of course there are a ton of excellent ski-related Twitter accounts representing resorts, shops, visitor services organizations and individuals. Add your favorites to the comments section.

More evidence is mounting that Santa is a snowboarder, as indicated by this photo taken Saturday at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe. It’s not definitive, but we don’t see any poles:

(Photo Courtesy Kayla Anderson, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe)

As part of the Reindeer Games weekend, which includes the Reno Santa Pub Crawl, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe will host the Santa Ski Crawl on Dec. 12. Ski in a Santa suit and pay only $39 for a lift ticket. (Elves, Mrs. Clauses and Reindeer are welcome too).

Mt. Rose is part of the Learn More on the North Shore – learn to ski or snowboard for only $25. The First-Timer package includes rental equipment, a 90-minute lesson, and a beginner lift ticket (with access to the Ponderosa and Galena lifts). Purchase the First-Timer package online here!

For current weather conditions at Mt. Rose – Ski Tahoe, please visit www.skirose.com or call (775) 849-0704.

Epic powder days are back in the Sierra Nevada, following a series of storms that has brought more than a foot of new snow – and counting – to Reno Tahoe-area resorts.

The snow started falling on Sunday and has continued into the day on Monday. The result? Epic conditions at the early opening resorts, some of which are boasting top-to-bottom openings.

Resort storm totals as of Monday morning:

• Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: 15-17 inches
• Northstar at Tahoe Resort: 24 inches
• Alpine Meadows: 24 inches
• Squaw Valley USA: 22 inches
• Sugar Bowl: 22-36 inches
• Boreal Mountain: 24-36 inches
• Heavenly Lake Tahoe: 15-25 inches.

For a complete conditions and snow reports, go online.

Also, check out some of these Reno Tahoe Web cams online to see live shots of the big December snowfall:

• Siena casino river cam
• Reno Aces baseball stadium Web cam
• Whitewater park Web cam
• KTVN News
• Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe
• Diamond Peak
• Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort
• Alpine Meadows
• Homewood Mountain Resort
• Sugar Bowl
• Boreal
• Squaw Valley USA
• Heavenly Mountain Resort
• Kirkwood

Don’t forget the Santa Crawl

Mother Nature is playing along for the annual Reno Reindeer Games and Santa Pub Crawl this weekend.
The event returns Dec. 11-13 with an expanded slate of events highlighted, of course, by the Reno Santa Pub Crawl, where visitors flock to the watering holes of downtown Reno for a night of holiday revelry.

This year, the charity event gets even bigger with a holiday pajama party, discount skiing at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe and discounts for attendees who book a hotel room. In 2008, event organizers estimate as many as 3,000 Santas crawled Reno’s pubs, and 2009 is expected to be even bigger. There is NO EXCUSE to miss a party this fun. Read More