Photo Courtesy Of Southtahoe.com

With the February holidays imminent, Heavenly Mountain Resort has scheduled a blizzard of activities.

Despite one of the driest Januarys on record, Lake Tahoe ski resorts are gearing up this month to host visitors for two popular and important dates in February: Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day weekend.

Even with a vexing dry spell last month, the current Sierra snowpack is approximately 90 percent of normal but well under the whopping 134 percent of normal at the end of 2012.

South Lake Tahoe

At South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort, which reports receiving 233 inches of snow to date this season, offers ideal skiing and snowboarding conditions primed by an accumulation of packed powder, snowmaking and good grooming over 97 runs.

The events calendar at Heavenly for February and March is loaded with activities, including:

• Tahoe Snowcial, an avant-garde winter festival that blends a mix of digital technology and snow sports, scheduled Feb. 27 through March 2.

• The U.S. Freestyle Championships, slated March 29-31. Heavenly’s Sho Kashima, a member of the U.S. Ski Team, will join the nation’s most accomplished freestyle skiers to showcase their talents in preparation for the 2014 Olympics. The general public and all Olympic wannabes are invited.

To impress your sweetie, make a reservation for Sunday’s concert at South Tahoe’s MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa featuring Grammy Award-winner George Benson. For reservations and more information, visit www.montbleuresort.com.

Hot tip: If you arrive early at South Shore on Thursday, Valentine’s Day, the sun sets at 5:36 p.m., so hurry to secure a spot on, adjacent to or overlooking the lake to watch as daylight disappears over the ridge tops. Three recommended venues – Edgewood Tahoe, Riva Grill and The Beacon Bar & Grill – offer lakefront views and tasty beverages.

For a full lineup of what’s happening on the South Lake Tahoe scene, visit www.skiheavenly.com or tahoesouth.com.

North Lake Tahoe

For early arrivals over the Presidents Day weekend, on Valentine’s Day at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, diners can enjoy a tasty, romantic celebration with a special five-course dinner for two in the Manzanita restaurant, located at Northstar’s mid-mountain. For reservations and more information, visit www.ritzcarlton.com.

At Northstar Village Friday, the entire family can participate in the popular Ripperoo Parade. The lovable resort mascot will lead guests through the village, filled with music, singing, dancing and free Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. The fun starts at 4:45 p.m., so plan to leave the Bay Area early. For more information, visit www.northstarattahoe.com.

Also on Friday, a down-home, all-you-can-eat crab feed kicks off the Presidents Day weekend celebration at the Event Center in Kings Beach. Proceeds from the event, sponsored by the Tahoe City Rotary Club, benefit the North Tahoe community. For more information, visit www.tahoecityrotary.org/CrabLovesNight.cfm.

Next month, from March 1-10, North Lake Tahoe celebrates its long winter season with the 32nd Annual SnowFest, the largest winter carnival west of the Mississippi. SnowFest draws thousands of attendees and offers many free activities, including a laser show, a torchlight parade, fireworks and the hometown parades at Tahoe City and Kings Beach. For more information, visit www.tahoesnowfestival.com.

For the score on the North Shore, visit www.GoTahoeNorth.com.

Los Altos resident Glen Putman is a freelance writer.

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