Ohran said she expected Northstar to have limited lifts open Saturday, with conditions returning more to normal Sunday and later.

To the south, safety issues prompted the National Park Service to close all of Yosemite National Park, about 80 miles away from Lake Tahoe on Friday. Visitors in campgrounds and hotels, including the stately Ahwahnee Hotel, were evacuated from the park, and given refunds if they had reservations for the weekend, said Scott Gediman, a Yosemite spokesman.

“We were concerned about keeping up with lots of snow on the roads, high winds knocking down trees, and the safety of our visitors and our employees,” Gediman said. “Closing the park wasn’t a decision that was made lightly. We felt it was the most prudent thing to do.”

For beginner skier Jaco Geldenhuis of San Francisco, the heavy snowfall made for fun skiing at Northstar, though not always easy. “The powder was challenging,” said Geldenhuis, 53, an applied scientist at Amazon. His friend Alex McDonald, 35, another beginner, said he “got lost in the powder a couple times.”

Geldenhuis said he planned to drive home Sunday. “I’m a little apprehensive,” he said, “but last year we were here during a blizzard and the roads were manageable.”

Oakland venture capitalist Michael Matly and his son John, 10, were having an “amazing, incredible” day at Northstar on Friday.

“This has probably been the best ski experience We’ve had, and we’ve come to Tahoe for seven years,” said Matly, 42. “You’re kind of the only people on the runs.” The pair skied an advanced “black diamond” run, a first for John. “It went very well,” the boy said.

The Matlys planned to drive home Sunday, but might extend their stay if the predicted massive snowfall makes driving conditions hazardous, Matly said.

Fuentes, 32, a coordinator at UC San Francisco Medical Center, can attest to the hazard of travel during a severe snow storm. While driving up Friday morning he kept a good distance from other cars, especially those without all-wheel drive whose tire chains spun over the slick roadway. Still, there were times when he was blinded for up to 30 seconds at a time.

“You can’t see black cement, all you see is white and ice. You couldn’t even see the reflectors,” he said.

“I’d be frightened to come up here with two-wheel-drive,” he said.

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