Skiing in California
Ski California?! When you think of California it seems more natural to conjure up thoughts of sunny beaches where the weather is always warm. The concept of snowboarding and skiing in California may seem somewhat strange, but high up in the mountains lie the California ski resorts, which include some of the best ski areas in the USA.
In keeping with the expectations for the state, there is generally plenty of sunshine at the California ski resorts. It is not uncommon for snowstorms to blow through in the evening and for it to be sunny the next day. Powder and sunshine – perfect!
California Snow
The volume of snow in California in some parts is fantastic, particularly with the
Lake Tahoe ski resorts. As examples,
Alpine Meadows has an average annual snowfall of about 400 inches, Sierra at Tahoe gets 480 inches, and Sugarbowl scores 500" of California snow on average each season.
The powder doesn't tend to be as light and dry as Utah snow or Colorado snow, but in the event that the snow is NQR, most of the resorts have immaculately groomed runs. Most of the Tahoe ski resorts also have well developed snowmaking facilities.
California Ski Resorts
Ski California if you think big is best when it comes to ski areas.
Mammoth Mountain is unoriginally “mammoth” at 3,500 acres.
Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Valley) is also massive now that it's interconnected with Alpine Meadows, and
Heavenly is huge with 4,800 acres of ski terrain.
When it comes to California ski resorts, the state not only has quality but also quantity, with 40-plus downhill and cross-country resorts. No wonder there aren’t many cat skiing operations in California – there’s no space left!
Here's a list of ski resorts in California.
Northern California Ski Resorts
- Cedar Pass Snow Park
- Coppervale
- Gold Mountain
- Mt Shasta Ski Park
Lake Tahoe Skiing
Donner Summit area
North Shore Lake Tahoe
South Shore Lake Tahoe
Central California Ski Areas
Southern California Ski Resorts
- Angeles Crest Resorts
- Bear Mountain
- Big Air Green Valley
- Buckhorn
- Mountain High
- Mt Baldy
- Ski Sunrise
- Snow Summit
- Snow Valley
There are various international airports serving the California ski resorts including LAX (Los Angeles International airport), San Francisco and Reno/Tahoe.