Page 30 - 2020 Travel Guide to California

WINTER SPORTS
BY BILL FINK
Winter Paradise
Outdoors appeal in any season
SKIING
CALIFORNIA
Snow play isn’t usually foremost
in people’s minds when they
think of California, but the state
has some of the best skiing in the
West. Mammoth Mountain is a
magnet for skiers from Southern
California, and the area around
Lake Tahoe offers more ski resort
options than anywhere in North
America.
Southern California has long been
known as a warm-weather winter vacation
area, with sports and outdoor activities
centered in San Diego and Los Angeles and
desert retreats like Palm Springs. But the
mountains of Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes
and Yosemite and across the Sierra Nevada
range beckon winter visitors who want to
embrace snow-based sports and recreation.
Sports
In winter, Southern California is still an
oasis for outdoor sports and adventure,
from golf to tennis, hiking and horseback
riding, whether in the still-baking desert
around Palm Springs or the perpetually
pleasant vacationland of San Diego or Los
Angeles. But for those seeking winter sports,
there may be no better place on earth than
the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe.
The area hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics
at Squaw Valley and continues to be home
base for many U.S. Winter Olympians who
bang moguls, rip the half-pipes and race on
downhill runs at more than a dozen area ski
resorts. For the regular skiers out there, Cal-
ifornia’s beginner ski trails, group lessons
and smaller hills offer a safe introduction to
the sport.
Tahoe-area ski resorts including Squaw
Valley, Northstar and Heavenly also offer ice
skating rinks and inner tube runs for those
looking for alternate winter activities, best
complemented with a fire pit and toasted
TODD ROBERTSON. OPPOSITE: GALINA BARSKAYA/SHUTTERSTOCK; DELAWARE NORTH AT YOSEMITE
28 2020 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA