I’ve only known California as a sunny summer vacation in Los Angeles or San Francisco. This winter, I was hoping to change that with two ski trips over the months of February and March. I was excited to see what kind of snowboarding California had to offer.

Mammoth Mountain

Mammoth Mountain came up a few times as one of the best places to snowboard. With a name like Mammoth, I expected it to be a massive hill but it was much smaller compared to Whistler and Big Sky. 

For president day long weekend, a 3-hour drive from Reno took us to the base of Mammoth Mountain. Unfortunately, the area hasn’t seen any snowfall for a while. January was quite dry and it hasn’t snowed in February since. On the bright side, this meant that roads were clear and it was an easy drive. Our condo was spacious, clean and close to the hot tubs.

Our snowboarding days were mild and sunny. The views at Mammoth were beautiful and I’d say better than Colorado and Utah. The rocky peaks and evergreen trees were contrasted by dry desert hills. I’ve never quite seen anything like it. 

The terrain was actually great —perfect steepness and width but the snow definitely could be improved. There were many thin covered spots and icy areas. Crowds were good but likely due to the poor conditions. 

Après-ski was fun. The base of the main village had a live DJ and people were having a good time. There was a small village to wander like Big Sky. It wasn’t as lively as Banff, Breckenridge or Park City though.

While I would go back one day I’d likely head to other Tahoe area resorts first since it’s closer to the airport. There are still many new resorts to explore.

Mono Lake

We stopped by a saline soda lake in Mono County California. It was a quick stop to see limestone towers sticking out of the lake. It would have been nice to explore around the lake but of course, we didn’t have time for it. This part of the drive definitely reminded me of Black Rock City.

Lake Tahoe

On our drive back to Reno, I wanted to see Lake Tahoe, a popular lake known for its surrounding ski resorts. I found a popular state park, Sand Harbor and made Chi stop for a quick break. 

The views of this park were stunning! The water was turquoise clear with snow-capped mountains up in the distance. I instantly fell in love with this lake and have been daydreaming to go back since. 

I’ve grown to love interesting rock formations —it brought me to Seychelles last year, and Sand Harbor had plenty of round rocks sunken in the sand and poking out of the crystal clear blue water. 

We were also fortunate to have minimal crowds as we strolled the area. I imagine summer to be packed but I am hoping to visit then so we can kayak and swim in the lake. 

Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows

Since we didn’t actually snowboard around Lake Tahoe, we made another journey to the area with our mountain collective pass, specifically to Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows, the biggest ski resorts in the Tahoe. We checked the forecast and was happy to see snow predicted for our second weekend in Tahoe.

We arrived Friday night and after a 50-min drive, we settled in our studio rental. We woke up to cloudy skies on Saturday with flurries in the forecast. The convenient on-demand free shuttle took us to the base of Squaw. This is a separate ski area to Alpine Meadows. Visibility up close was fine but we couldn’t see the mountain range or lake. The runs were icy and crunchy until the afternoon when the snow was coming down. Conditions were getting better as the day went on. 

We discovered a less-traveled area on the backside and was surprised to make the first tracks mid-day! We glided down the ‘Hill’s – 2nd‘ run at least 2-3 times. Squaw was fun but I think I actually like the terrain better at Mammoth.  

The village at Squaw was small but there were some spring deals at their stores —The North Face, Patagonia, and other small boutiques. It was lively après-ski at the base of the mountain.  

On Sunday, we woke up with 2” of new snow and we planned to catch first tracks at Alpine Meadows. But after learning the shuttle would take 15 minutes to pick us up and then we’d have to transfer to another bus, we decided to drive ourselves. 

We didn’t make first tracks but luckily found a great powder spot on the backside by ‘Scott Meadow’. We glided down this untouched powder spot at least 3-4 times. It was smooth and buttery! I loved it. The view on top of Lakeview Chair lived up to its name. We were finally able to see Lake Tahoe!  

We moved onto the Sherwood Chair and took the ‘Ray’s Rut‘ run. It was not groomed, a narrow traverse and not fun. We moved back to the front side and Alpine Bowl before calling it a day at 2pm since trails were getting quite tracked out.

We wrapped up our final snowboarding trip this season with an AYCE buffet dinner at the Atlantis Casino in Reno. Even with its high ratings, I expected a mediocre buffet. But it was a surprisingly tasty and great value with their crab legs, clams, oysters and mussels for only $26.99!

Squaw and Alpine were both good resorts suited for beginners or intermediates. The vertical drop is incomparable to Whistler, Big Sky or even Mammoth but at least you can finish a run without stopping. While the powder runs were fantastic, I think the most unique aspect of the resort was the lake views and the free public on-demand shuttles (operates like uber). To be honest, I’d favor Mammoth’s terrain over Squaw/Alpine if snow and distance from the airport wasn’t a factor. 

---

Snowboarding in California was fun but definitely could have had more snow. We were rewarded with sunny days and nice mountain views. I can see myself coming back but likely not anytime too soon. 

And that’s a wrap to our trip-filled 19/20 snowboarding season. From Banff to Lake Tahoe, we really made up for that missed season in 2017. Since starting snowboarding 10 years ago, I’m happy to check off many destinations out West from Colorado, California, Utah to Banff and Whistler… I guess it is time to start going international?