Dave wrote:
Thank you for the info. It really helps our decision.

On 27 Oct, 18:53, lal_truckee wrote:
Dave wrote:
What is the skmiing like at Badger Pass?
Beginner - charming.

Are the trees skiable? It looks from the map like there are a fair
few trees, and if it is such a begineer resort I thought they may be
fairly empty.

How far is it to the valley its self? Are the routes passable in the
winter?
Road to ski area is kept open. Not far from valley to lodge, but slow
driving even in summer (winding.) You do stay in the valley which is
scenic beyond belief; a single visit to an outlook point should hold you
for a decade or two - nothing in the world compares. And you'll pass
such views to/from skiing.

That is the impression I get, it does sound quite amazing.

Alternatively you can ski Bear Mountain (excellent skiing) and/or Dodge
Ridge (good skiing) for a few days and tour Yosemite for a few days
rather than trying to do both at once. Check a map. You need to fly into
San Francisco or Sacramento anyway; no roads over the mountains in
winter so Reno is out.

I assume you mean Bear Valley (http://www.bearvalley.com/). Is that
much better then? It is a pretty long way between them, but perhaps
we can stop off.

I forgot to mention: Bear Valley is embedded in the Gold Country - lots
for the non-skiers to tour/do while the skiers ski, before all head to
Yosemite.

That sounds like a solution.

Or just leave the non-skiers in the valley daily while the skiers go to
Badger. I hesitate to to push this solution since a "keen" skier would
miss the great skiing California has to offer, but perchance your skiers
have made numerous visits to North America and are tired and old and
ready for "charming" skiing over exciting skiing?

One of the skiers lives over there and is working for the rest of the
holiday period. The other skier (me) shall be spending most of the
rest of the 3 weeks around then bumming about in south lake Tahoe
and / or Colorado so I will not be missing out too much I am quite
willing to sacrifice a few days great skiing to a few days skiing and
impressed non-skiers.

In that case, I'd suggest spending the days with the non-skiers touring
Yosemite Valley and looking about the Gold Country; can the skiing - you
skiers will get plenty elsewhere and Badger is historic but not in the
least challenging (if you can't get up any speed even the trees are not
much fun.)


Thanks again,