Skiing in the Sierra Nevada

US travelers who want to ski but don’t want to pay out for overseas flights will find a huge range of options in the Sierra Nevada this year.

Many of the winter resorts there have upgraded facilities including a new Olympic level run being developed at the Sugar Bowl, which tourists will be able to access in between Olympic athletes’ training sessions. There’s also a new chairlift at Boreal and surface lifts to two new peaks at Kirkwood, plus another to the top of its bunny terrain. The Flying Jenny lift at Mount Rose has been extended further up the peak and the lift at Northstar at Tahoe has been nearly doubled in length to the new Martis Camp.

There’s a new daily Horizon Air flight from LA International to the Mammoth airport, removing the need for skiers from the Bay Area to drive for 7 or 8 hours to reach the slopes.

There are many new or improved runs at the Donner Ski Ranch, Heavenly, Mammoth, Mount Rose, Northstar at Tahoe and Ridge. Other new attractions include a Munchkins Ski program at Alpine Meadows for children as young as 3 years old; the Bear Tracker at Bear Valley which features a 14-person snow cat to the “secret stashes;” a new restaurant, Baxter’s Bistro & Lounge, in the Northstar Village; a Web-based interactive radar application at Sierra at Tahoe allowing guests to compare weather patterns at the base with those at the summit; and private runs led by certified back country guides at Squaw Valley.

All in all, if skiing is your thing, you could do worse than give Sierra Nevada a shot this year.

Source