The winter that took its time getting here now won't seem to go away.

With up to 10 feet of snow having fallen on the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe during the marvelous, magical month of March -- and at least a couple more feet of powder expected through the first of next month -- we could be looking at an awesome April.

With that in mind, several ski and snowboard resorts are extending their seasons by at least a couple of weeks beyond the "traditional" annual closing date of Easter Sunday, which this year falls on April 8.

The neighboring -- and co-owned -- resorts of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows have announced that they will stay open on a daily basis through Sunday April 29, with Alpine keeping its bull wheels turning on a Friday-Sunday basis the following two weekends, conditions permitting, of course.

Sugar Bowl also is planning to remain open on a daily basis until the last Sunday in April.

Heavenly and Kirkwood, the Vail Resorts-owned properties at the south end of the Tahoe region, will be open daily until April 15, and then spin their lifts -- on a limited basis -- on the weekends of April 20-22 and April 27-29. Northstar, their sister resort at the other end of the lake, is keeping to its scheduled April 15 shutdown.

The rest of the Tahoe-region resorts -- Boreal, Diamond Peak, Homewood, Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe -- are expected to pull the plug on the largely disappointing 2011-12 winter season on Easter Sunday.