11th May 2023
There are record amounts of snow with some resorts open into July and beyond. We’re heading to Mammoth Mountain and Palisades Tahoe. But first a city break in San Francisco. NEW
We have skied several times in California, but never this late in the season.
Mammoth Mountain has received well over 18m of snow this winter – it’s annual average is around 10m.
Palisades Tahoe has also seen more than 18m of snow.
Both resorts are still open and both are on the Ikon Pass, which we have for the season, so no new lift pass needs to be bought by PlanetSKI.
With so much snow, and the vast majority of the resorts in Europe now closed, it seemed the perfect time for a visit.
Especially as few other people seem to have had the same idea.
We had the whole of economy pretty much to ourselves on the 10-hour flight across to the west coast of America with United.
Heading to California. Image © PlanetSKI
Lets hope the ski slopes are just as empty.
We saw a glimpse of the snow as we flew over Idaho on the way to California.
The snow awaits. Image © PlanetSKI
We advise anyone coming this far to do more than skiing, and San Francisco happens to be one of our favourite cities in the USA.
We are a ski web site but we would recommend anyone coming to ski in California to spend a few days in San Francisco.
We’re heading to the mountains at the weekend but first we’ll be posting on what is to offer in the city.
On first sight San Francisco looked as impressive as ever.
San Francisco, California. Image © PlanetSKI
And down on the ground:
San Francisco, California. Image © PlanetSKI
San Francisco, California. Image © PlanetSKI
San Francisco, California. Image © PlanetSKI
In the meantime we’ve been looking at how winter has gone in the USA this season.
California has seen its second snowiest winter on record.
Kirkwood, Palisades Tahoe/Alpine Meadows, Mammoth Mountain, and Mt. Baldy are still spinning some lifts.
In Mammoth 69% of the runs are still open.
Throughout May, both Palisades and Alpine Meadows will be open for spring skiing Friday to Sunday.
Then during the week, Palisades will be open Mondays & Tuesdays and Alpine Meadows will be open Wednesdays & Thursdays.
Mammoth Mountain. Image c/o Christian Pondella
The National Ski Areas Association has just released some preliminary figures for the 22/23 season with a impressive 6.6% increase in skier visits over the 2021-22 ski season.
The NSAA divides the country into six regions:
- Rocky Mountain
- Pacific Northwest
- Northeast
- Pacific Southwest
- Southeast
- Midwest
A link to all of NSAA’s data can be found here.
Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest set visitor records.
The Rocky Mountain region — which includes Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico, and Montana — also set a new record for skier visits for the second consecutive season, at almost 28 million.
PlanetSKI visited Park City,Utah, back in March.
Park City, Utah. Image © Rob McAteer
Despite a middling snow year, the Northeast saw an increase over last season.
The Pacific Southwest, which includes Mammoth, notched its third-highest skier numbers ever.
With resorts still open visitor numbers will climb and PlanetSKI is delighted to be adding two more skier visits to that total.
But first it’s San Francisco and we hope to show you why every UK skier heading to California should spend a few days in the city.
More to follow…
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This article was originally published by Planetski.eu. Read the original article here.
