Best family ski holiday in California
 

We'll have several days spare between arriving in LA and being in
Fresno several days later.

I was initially thinking of Yosemite National Park, which is where I
got the idea of skiing. Now I'm wondering whether this is the best
place to go.

The only place I hear mentioned in this newsgroup is Lake Tahoe, but is
that just becuase everybody here are experts?

I notice there are also resorts closer to Fresno, and also closer to
LA.

Would anybody like to share their opinions?

Tourist wrote:

We'll have several days spare between arriving in LA and being in
Fresno several days later.

I was initially thinking of Yosemite National Park, which is where I
got the idea of skiing. Now I'm wondering whether this is the best
place to go.

Well, I've loved skiing at Yosemite (my aunt & uncle lived in the
park as employees for over 25 years); however, it's always been
the cross-country version, not Alpine. Badger Pass is the
"downhill" ski area there, and I've never skiied it because there
is so much else to explore on XC boards. It looked pretty darn
small to me. In my opinion winter is the best time to visit
Yosemite, simply because the crowds are less and you can actually
get away on trails without being disturbed as much by tour groups.

Certainly Tahoe is a much better alpine skiing-focused area with
many resorts to choose from, if you were hoping to ski your pants
off for those few days.

It really depends on what you want out of your vacation; if you
want to see Yosemite at a quiet time, do some exploring, and
maybe enjoy a day or half-day of sliding down some runs at
Badger, it sounds great to me.

Hope you have a great trip,

Brent


The only place I hear mentioned in this newsgroup is Lake Tahoe, but is
that just becuase everybody here are experts?

I notice there are also resorts closer to Fresno, and also closer to
LA.

Would anybody like to share their opinions?



--
Brent Harsh - KD4PBO /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign: Say
bharsh at ncroadrunner \ / NO to HTML in email and news.
------------------------X-------------------------------
Cary, NC, USA / \ Read my mail with fixed fonts.

Tourist wrote:
We'll have several days spare between arriving in LA and being in
Fresno several days later.

I was initially thinking of Yosemite National Park, which is where I
got the idea of skiing. Now I'm wondering whether this is the best
place to go.

The only place I hear mentioned in this newsgroup is Lake Tahoe, but is
that just becuase everybody here are experts?

I notice there are also resorts closer to Fresno, and also closer to
LA.

Would anybody like to share their opinions?

Nearest Fresno is Sierra Summit (I think) at Huntington Lake. (I say I
think because I knew it as "China Peak" which it was 50 years ago.) I
never skied it, but have hiked all over it in the summer starting in the
1950s - it looks like a nice, medium scale resort in an incredibly
beautiful location.

Next north in the Sierra is Yosemite; Badger Flat is a throwback to the
days when merely sliding down a slope on skis was incredible - it offers
little to the modern skier EXCEPT history and Yosemite. If you've never
seen Yosemite and only have a couple of days based in Fresno, I'd say
skip skiing this trip and see Yosemite Valley. Nothing like it in the
world - when there I meet people from all over the world who have made
the trip just to walk in that incomparable valley; you should, too.

Next North is Dodge Ridge up highway 120 past Sonora; I learned to ski
at Dodge in about 1955 - it's another nice family oriented medium scale
resort. Nice for a day or more, but not a world beater. Note that the
scenery is again wonderful (but I'd say that about everywhere in the
Sierra - I've tramped over a fair bit of the "Range of Light.")

Next North is Bear Valley/Mt Reba (I don't know which name it's going by
these days) up highway 4 past Murphys. Good place, low key, some decent
steeps. Runs a good race program, which is how I know it (as a
racer-chaser Dad.) Recommended. More Tahoe regulars should spend a day
or two at Bear Valley.

Then there's Kirkwood, up highway 88 out of Jackson (Ca) - famous and
needs no introduction.

After that you're at Tahoe and info is easy to find.

There are some places just north-east of Los Angeles - someone else will
have to offer beta on them.