Issue #18/2024-25

Skiers, the epitome of spring skiing!

Last ski trip of the season... to California!

There are many resorts being praised for end of ski-season parties: A-Basin, Killington etc., but there is no better real spring skiing, than in California! There are two places - Palisades Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain in Sierra Nevada! Palisades are not that tall (up to 9000', but received close to 400" of snow this season. Mammoth peaks up at 11,000' and preserves snow much better. It is colder there. Both close after Memorial Day weekend, this year.

I was dreaming of getting there, for spring skiing, for many years. I had to cancel fully booked trip in 2020, because of COVID pandemic. Last year I finally did it! With my buddy Gustaw, who managed to get there even before, but was assisting me last year, too. He couldn't do it this year again, but Lech and Leszek were my companions this time. And what a great trip it was!

We flew to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) from Boston. Direct, inexpensive flight! As it was afternoon fight, we landed in the late evening, then we got a car from Thrifty (AirTrain Blue line from Terminal) and we were quickly on the road . Palisades Tahoe, previously also known as Squaw Valley (two Olympic Winter Games there) is about 3.5 hours drive from SFO. We decided to get to Fairfield and stay there overnight (1.5h from SFO). We knew, that the spring resort schedule kicked in the day we were flying (4-29-2025), so the operation hours of Palisades (and Mammoth) has changed to quite early hours: 7:30am-2pm. We had to be in Palisades very early to use it most. So, after short night of sleep and quick breakfast, we were on the road again. We landed on the main parking of the resort, close to Conference Center, changed clothes there and were ready. Short walk to Funitel (gondola with two supporting cables for wind stability) and we ended up in Gold Coast Lodge, middle of the mountain, where most of the springtime activities happen. The High Camp Lodge and Tram top station is further up, on right side, but we decided to take Funitel, instead. From the Gold Coast area, the view opens on Palisades - the main, dark ridge, looming over the Sun-, North-, Chicken- and Siberia-bowls with most difficult, expert trails down. It gave the resort its politically correct, present name. Unfortunately, not served with the lifts at this time. During the spring season the access to this large resort is limited. The Alpine Meadows - the sister resort, usually connected with Palisades Resort with Base to Base Gondola was closed for the season. From Palisades Village only Funitel and KT22 Express were running. Higher on the mountain Gold Coast and Siberia Express were active (the last for only short time, though), the Headwall Express was closed for the season, Shirley Lake Express on the right was also on. So, we explored the space between Siberia and Gold Coast Express. Plenty of good skiing there, but snow was getting stickier with every passing hour(sunny day)! Then, we moved over the ridge, on the right, to Shirley Lake Bowl. Good skiing, but Granite Chief lift at the bottom wasn't running, a bit of disappointment... I remember skiing Granite Chief with Marek, years ago. It was impressive with large, haystack size rocks and some mandatory air. But skiing was fun nevertheless, it was quite warm and additionally, in typical Californian fashion, all kind of skiers in funny costumes were showing off their skills and creativity! Real fun! We didn't have time to stay longer at Gold Coast Lodge for a beer and views, because we had to go on the road again. There is a long run down, back to the Palisades Village, Leszek & Lech went also to top of the KT22 chair and did very technical and bumpy trails from the top - GS Bowl, Nose and Schimmelpfennig. Then, three hours plus ride to Mammoth Lakes, our main destination, awaited us! On the way there we dined at the Carson Valley Casino in Minden, Nevada. And most importantly, we filled up the gas there. The gas prices in California are out of this world, sometimes reaching $7.50/gal. Insane! In Nevada, they were more in line with East Coast prices - around $3.70/gal. After a long drive through high terrain (up to 8000') we made it to Mammoth Lakes in the evening, enjoying the beautiful ride along scenic highway 395. Desert at the sundown was painted in many warm colors, from yellow to deep red and brown, some blue, as well. Mono Lake with great coastline and tufa towers was really worth seeing! We also passed Tioga Pass entry in Lee Vining village, the mountain pass leading to Yosemite National Park, the pass opens sometime in June...

In Mammoth Lakes, we stayed in Juniper Spring Resort, run by Mammoth Resort. Huge, four story buildings clustered together, which appear like little town. With ski-in, ski-out abilities during full season, unfortunately, not during spring season, so, not now. The Eagle Lodge is just on the right side of main building. About resort - all amenities are there: inside- condos with kitchens and outside - heated large outdoor swimming pool, two hot tubs and grill space. Heated garage, great lobby with fireplace, simply impressive!

Look at this info about Palisades Ski Resort:

Palisades Resort Review from Peal Rankings:

Palisades Resort Video from Peal Rankings:

Pros

Unique topography

Lively base village

Top-notch spring skiing experience

Large overall footprint

Cons

Wind exposure, especially on beginner and low-intermediate terrain

Serious congestion issues in some areas

Variable openings for lower-elevation expert terrain