Great skiing this afternoon. It is good out there. With last night's snow, the storm was at 16" for 3 days. While we were not really able to re-open trails, the quality of what is open improved dramatically. While Pali Face and The Spine probably were quite good, there just wasn't quite enough cover the bare spots down low.
We are planning on closing June 3. We also plan on remaining open 7 days per week until then. Is that an absolute answer? Probably not. Keep in mind, we had an excellent snowmaking season in October, November, and December. All of that snow is still out there. I feel pretty confident that we are going to make it. Only time and the weather will tell. A couple of more decent storms and we should be in fine shape.
What is orographic lifting? When an air mass moves and hits a mountain range, the air mass lifts. As it lift it cools. The cooling often forms clouds and may create precipitation.