Snow sports are very popular with Californians, whether it’s downhill skiing, cross country, snowboarding or snowmobiling. If you move to Silicon Valley, or anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, where is the nearest ski resort? The closest sites are all in northern California, of course – but there are more in SoCal, so if your travels bring you closer to LA or Palm Springs, you will want to research southern California ski resorts.
The shortest travel time for snow boarding, skiing and cross country seems to be Bear Valley, which is about 3 hours east of San Jose and Santa Clara County. Not bad!
A more popular area, though, is a little further: Lake Tahoe. This spectacularly scenic area straddles the states of California and Nevada and people speak generally of “north shore” and “south shore” Tahoe. The resorts are spread around the region and include spots at Truckee and Donner as well as closer to the water. There are 15 resorts in all! Some have higher elevations (such as Mt. Rose), so they will be open later into spring than those closer to the lake. If you want to gamble and see shows, you will likely find yourself drawn to either Reno or South Shore, since they are in Nevada and casinos abound. Some of these resorts have shared season passes (such as Squaw and Alpine). A good site which gives and overview of each one is: http://www.onthesnow.com/lake-tahoe/ski-resorts.html This tends to be about a four to five hour drive unless there’s terrible traffic, an accident, bad weather – in which case, it can be many times as long a drive.
Yet another beautiful place to ski is Yosemite Valley’s Badger Pass. Yosemite, like Lake Tahoe, is a beautiful place to visit year round. (For Tahoe, winter and summer are strong tourist months, and there are often great deals on hotels in the “in between” seasons – between skiing and golf or hiking.)
How long is the ski season in northern California? The weather varies from year to year but often snow skiing season begins in November and finishes in March, but it all depends on the snow levels and temps.
It’s not too soon to begin planning your snow adventures! Have a great season!
