Mount Shasta Ski Park
Mt Shasta Ski Park is located on the side of majestic Mount Shasta, an extinct volcano whose summit reaches 14179ft. At around 300 miles north of San Francisco, it’s a long drive from the city, but a scheduled airline service from San Francisco to nearby Redding airport is available. The ski area is well-maintained, with superbly manicured snow on-trail. (And there’s plenty of dry-powder around off-trail). The south-facing aspect of the skiing makes the most of any available sunshine, and on a sunny day remember to take plenty of sun block for your face.
The small compact Ski Park suits beginners perfectly. The ski learning center is a fully accredited member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America, and the standard of the tuition packages is high. Recommended is the ‘Guaranteed to learn ski/snowboard package (at $70), which includes all day equipment rental, a rope tow pass, and two 1 1/2 hour lessons (one morning, one afternoon). When you’ve mastered the basics at your beginner lessons, head for the Marmon Ridge area. Here you’ll find the easiest trails. Blue Grouse is a pleasant run to start with.
Intermediate Skiers can ski the intermediate runs on Marmot Ridge, like Challenge and Snow Shoe. Then swap valley sides to try the harder runs on Douglas Butte.
If you find these runs too easy, you’re ready to step it up to expert level. There’s a good variety of blacks off Douglas Butte and Coyote Butte, typically with excellent snow. Diamond Back, Black Bear and Z-way are 3 excellent runs starting at the top of Coyote.
There are three terrain parks. The most extensive is Revolution, which offers a great range of features.
The kids’ lessons are split into Coyote, for first-timers and beginners, or Snow Tiger Kids for second level learners with chairlift riding ability.
There’s a good range of accommodation in nearby Mount Shasta town, about a 15 minute ride back down the valley. Pick from a selection of hotels and rentals.
The more adventurous can attempt the ski mountaineering trip to the summit. This requires a high level of skill, considerable experience and careful planning; these are rewarded by and absolutely magnificent outing. Recreational skiers avoid!
(Editors note: planning a trip to Shasta at the end of March, flying with United from San Francisco to Redding, about an hour’s flight. Buying some new ski boots (big feet, so not easy), and a new carry on bag, a wheelie as recommeneded by the most entertaining page about carry ons around (well there’s not much competition) at Wheeled Carry On.)
Best Ski Resorts‘ (from 100BestEverything) rating (out of 5 stars) 2-expert,3-intermediate, 3-beginner.
Tags: ski-north-america, ski-resorts, vacation-spots, holiday-ideas, winter-sports, apres-ski, american-skier, ski-vacation, ski-vacations, ski-holiday, ski-holidays, skiing-resorts, winter-vacation, winter-break, winter-holidays, winter-trip, ski-california, california-ski-vacation, ski-resort, ca-ski-resort, ca-ski-area, california-ski-resort, mount-shasta-ski-resort, mount-shasta
March 14, 2009 at 5:13 pm |
[...] Mt. Shasta Ski Park recently got a nice review on Best Ski Resorts. We’ve had some fine spring skiing at the Ski Park lately, with lots of blue bird days. The [...]