Active Travel Expert, Phil, experiences skiing in California, USA. Take a look at his report.

Sunday night: It was late, misty and cold when I arrived at Northstar in North Lake Tahoe.  The 3 hour drive from San Francisco was a surprisingly easy journey in my rented Subaru.

Luckily the directions to the after hours check in were excellent as well as directions to my carpark and unit. Just 20 minutes after arriving in the resort I was exploring my 1 bedroom unit which was luxurious.  The accommodation at Northstar is beautiful, ski in, ski out and the village has everything you need in the way of food and retail therapy. The local town of Truckee has more restaurants and some excellent ski shops which have great deals on ski gear.

Monday: The day dawned clear with a hint of new snow. The view was stunning with fog rolling over the tops of the hills from the lake.

Northstar has a really nice range of groomers and no crowds, so the order of the morning was carving on corduroy.  From the top of the Cornstock Express chair it was easy to do laps of the runs as they drop off the West ridge.  Easing into the blues “Ax handle”, “Stump Alley” and “Luggi’s” then onto the groomed blacks “Corridor” and “The Plunge” had my legs well warmed up. No queues and the express lift meant laps of this area were fast!

The Corridor, Northstar, California, USA

Then it was time to catch up with the free mountain guide at 10am. I always find that doing the free tour (most resorts have these) with a local mountain host is well worth the time. Hosts tend to be older knowledgable locals who love showing newcomers their local hill. They tend to find stuff which isn’t obvious and are always good for a yarn.

After a quick warm up on “The flume” and “Lower grouse alley” we headed over to the backside to explore some of the black runs.

“Challenger” and “Sierra Grande” are typical of Northstar’s backside, long groomed black runs where you can let your skis run if you’re brave and practice your carve turns if you’re less brave.

By this time it was appropriate to sample the fare at the Summit smokehouse. Chilli and a roll for $10 is pretty much standard fare in most American ski resorts and the café didn’t disappoint. After lunch it was more of the same until suddenly the lifties started roping off the lift lines. With this beer o’clock had arrived.

Northstar has a really lovely village which is based around the ice skating rink, perfect for basking in the sun with a refreshing beverage.

Tuesday: I was off to Heavenly at South Lake Tahoe. The great thing about these resorts is that they’re all covered by the Epic pass. This meant I could ski the morning at Northstar, then jump in the car at 3pm and cruise down to Heavenly enjoying views of Lake Tahoe on the way down.

By 4pm a storm was brewing and powder was looking promising for the next day.

I checked into Forest suites and then checked out the hot tub. Forest suites are a great value property in a fantastic location, just a short walk to the Heavenly gondola, restaurants, ski rental shops and a supermarket.

Phil, Active Travel Expert at Heavenly, Lake Tahoe

Wednesday: It was time to sample Heavenly’s long runs and epic views of Lake Tahoe, and the Nevada prairie.

Heavenly is like two ski resorts. One in California and another in Nevada.  When the top lifts closed due to wind,  I chose the Nevada side which has the Olympic downhill with 2000 vertical feet of run. An excellent day of skiing followed with dustings of powder as the weather deteriorated and the slopes became progressively emptier.  With tree cover on most runs even the worst American weather is mild by NZ alpine standards. That night I treated my weary bones to a relaxing hot tub followed by genuine Italian lasagne at Izabella Ristorante, yum!

Heavenly, South Lake Tahoe

Thursday: The mission was a 3 hour drive to Mammoth Mountain which is one of my favourites. I skied the morning at Heavenly, and then set off at around 1pm. The route crosses the main Sierra Nevada range from Lake Tahoe to the Washoe Ranches trustland, and then follows the Sierra Nevada range south, taking in alpine lakes, moody prairies and random one horse towns with names like “Lee Vining”, “Mono Lake” and “Topaz lake”.  With snow falling on the mountains and black clouds overhead the scenery was epic.

Heavy snow met me at Mammoth Lakes and once I’d ensconced my Subaru in the undercover parking at Mammoth Mountain Inn I prepared myself for the next day by finding another hot tub and a burger at the bar.  Mammoth mountain Inn is one of the original hotels at the resort, situated in a great location (ski in, ski out) and offers an excellent range of accommodation (from hotel rooms right through to 3 bedroom condos), awesome value for money and an excellent bar and restaurant. You can also easily get down the hill into town by free bus for a meal.

Friday: At Mammoth, the dawn arose with boot high powder and cold conditions which promised to keep the snow light and fluffy. With 28 lifts and 3500 acres of terrain Mammoth is seriously well “MAMMOTH”!

Mammoth Mountain, California, USA

The summit was closed due to avalanche danger so I started off with a couple of runs up the Panorama Gondola as the snow continued to fall. Gondolas are great in cold inclement weather as they are enclosed and warm (great for kids)! The also tend to be high, meaning you get a good overview of the resort and terrain.

I then worked my way skiers right taking in each of the 5 main ski bases on the mountain, “Main Lodge”, then “The Mill”, then “Canyon Lodge” followed by “Eagle Lodge”.

With the clouds drifting in and out, the tree skiing was epic with fluffy boot top powder. The great thing about Mammoth Mountain is the glades in between the runs.  All the terrain tends to be nice “fall line” run’s which tend to naturally lead to the chair lifts. There is minimal traversing on skis as the lifts tend to traverse left or right while the runs follow the fall lines and are pretty straight.

As the day continued I found some secret stashes amongst McCoy station on the aptly named “Knee deep “run. Again suddenly the slopes were becoming deserted, the lifties were pulling out the lift line tapes and beer o’clock (also known as hot tub o’clock) approached.

It was tired but happy legs which found the hot tub that night.

Lower Dry Creek Run, Mammoth Mountain

Saturday: The day dawned cold and clear, perfect for skiing but I had an appointment with a plane in San Francisco.

Breakfast in the café and then on the road for the 7 hour drive back to San Francisco. Once again dark clouds provided epic scenery. My route followed highway 395 to Lake Tahoe, then I chose Highway 50 which offered a scenic drive down a canyon from South Lake Tahoe.

Once back in San Francisco I had a couple of hours to find some random American objects. I successfully found an aircraft carrier museum, the USS Hornet which is reportedly the most haunted ship in USA, a plane on a plinth and “DOGzilla” Team Oracles giant 120 foot America’s cup trimaran on a plinth outside the Oracle world headquarters.

Randomness satisfied it was off to the airport to catch my United Airlines flight back to New Zealand. A great trip!!

Vought F-8 Crusader, Plane on a Plinth, San Francisco

To book a beyond ordinary ski/board experience to USA including flights, transfers, accommodation, lift passes and activities call the Active Travel Experts at travel&co NZ Toll-Free: 0800 555 035