Skiing down hundreds or even thousands of feet of elevation in a few minutes is available at all ski areas. Season long, reliable snow is legendary in the Sierra Nevada, but several areas have added snowmaking capability to extend the season. It’s the mix of terrain, difficulty classes, grooming, high speed or capacity chair lifts and resort amenities that vary the for each of the facilities.

Near the crest, a Sierra Nevada winter averages over 34 feet of new snow each year. At any one time snow depths accumulate and hold at nearly eight feet. Some storms have dropped over 20 feet in a few days.

The original downhill ski development in the Sierra Nevada began here over 60 years ago. The Central Sierra Nevada now sports the greatest concentration of ski resorts in California. Commercial ski resorts number in the dozens. The ski-able terrain blankets thousands of acres.

Several areas offer “alpine” Snowboarding or “freeride” opportunities on the downhill runs used by the skiers. Others have dedicated terrain parks for the “freestyle” board riders. See Snowboarding and the individual ski area narratives.

SierraOutdoorRecreation.com currently has detailed descriptions of eight privately operated alpine ski areas here on the Tahoe National Forest and adjacent areas. Each has its own personality, terrain, lift combinations and snow bragging rights. Use the menu listing on the left side of your screen, and click directly to:

• Alpine Meadows Ski Area
• Boreal Mountain Resort
• Donner Ski Ranch
• Northstar-at-Tahoe
• Soda Springs Ski Area
• Squaw Valley USA
• Sugar Bowl Ski Resort
• Tahoe Donner Downhill Ski Area

Alpine ski areas on the Eldorado National Forest and in the Lake Tahoe Basin will be added in the near future.

Winter with Alpine Downhill Skiing opportunities

Exceptional Best Good