First time skiing - where should we go?

the BIG downside og Big Bear is the 4 hr+ trip back down the mountain. It is the 7th circle of hell.



For what you want i.e. sledding, perhaps Lake Arrowhead might be the way to go. If you are up to flying to Tahoe, then Donner.
 
I'm thinking the same thing as ISM, I want to show my kid the snow, so I was thinking Park City, but I hate driving in the mountains even in the summer, is there a nice ski resort in California or Utah that does not require a long ride up the mountains? I was doing some research and all of the ski resorts in Utah seem to be in the mountains...
 
Umm... I'm not really sure, since I don't ski, but aren't mountains sort of required for skiing? I mean, downhill and all...



Taking small children to snow should be either be a short trip, or an overnight cabin sort of adventure. I haven't been there in years, but how about Julian, behind San Diego? Not enough snow to ski, but probably enough for 6 year olds.
 
I meant cross-country skiing, which would only require the snow, right? Still, I'm also checking all of the Lake Tahoe cross-country ski resorts, and it seems like a drive in the mountains is required for all of them...

Has anybody ever taken their toddlers to Lake Tahoe or Utah ski resorts? Any recommendations would be much appreciated!
 
you can cross country ski in palm springs believe it or not. just take the cable car to the top of mt jacinto. you're in the middle of the dessert and ten minutes later, voila, you're in a winter wonderland!
 
Thanks, I just checked Mt. San Jacinto sites, and it does seem like the best solution for my problem with driving in the snowy mountains, that tramway seems great. I've never been to Palm Springs or that little town of Idillywild (sp?) where that tram station is, what is the best place to stay there? I'm looking for some family-friendly resort type accomodations but not too pricey. Thanks!
 
[quote author="blackacre-seeker" date=1230046626]Thanks, I just checked Mt. San Jacinto sites, and it does seem like the best solution for my problem with driving in the snowy mountains, that tramway seems great. I've never been to Palm Springs or that little town of Idillywild (sp?) where that tram station is, what is the best place to stay there? I'm looking for some family-friendly resort type accomodations but not too pricey. Thanks!</blockquote>


Palm Springs is nice, the Tramway is on the right hand side just before you go into Townwhich is 90 miles from Irvine..



<a href="http://www.palmsprings.com/active/tramway.html">Here's some info on the Tram</a>



We like the Hyatt, it's within walking distance from Palm Canyon (Downtown) and it's around $120 per night although a lot of our fave Restaurants have gone out of Business..



Go to the Matchbox for Cocktails and great Pizza etc or the Hair of the Dog British Pub..
 
Will do, thanks for the recommendations!

I know I'm crazy for wanting to go Jan 1-4th because of the crowds, but that seems to be the only time I can take off at work.

Also, do I need snow chains? Where do people get them if you only need to use them once or twice? (Sorry for the stupid questions, but that is really the first time I'm doing anything like this :)
 
best part is you wouldn't even need chains. you're just driving through the dessert, park at the base of the mtn, and take the tram all the way up. the tram cars rotate so everyone gets a spectactular view.
 
Idylwild is on the other side of SanJ, though. you may need snow chains to get up there. There are a bunch of rustic B&Bs;up there.



There is no lodging at the top of the tram station, though, so it is for day trips only. You can stay in a hotel in nice, warm Palm Springs, and ride the tram up daily to play in the snow.
 
[quote author="blackacre-seeker" date=1230051074]Will do, thanks for the recommendations!

I know I'm crazy for wanting to go Jan 1-4th because of the crowds, but that seems to be the only time I can take off at work.

Also, do I need snow chains? Where do people get them if you only need to use them once or twice? (Sorry for the stupid questions, but that is really the first time I'm doing anything like this :)</blockquote>


What acpme said, your Car won't even see any snow....but take a REALLY warm Coat, it's freeeezing up there!!



As an aside, if you're new to snow chains and do go somewhere where you'll need them I highly recommend you practice putting them on at home, at your leisure rather than waiting until it's snowing and you're at the side of the road before going up a snowy road...having said that, quite often in Big Bear you will find Kids willing to earn some extra money at the side of the road installing Peoples' chains for them...



A friend of mine almost tore the front fender off his Car when the chains came loose and gave his paintwork the death of 1000 lashes...
 
So I went up the ariel tramway in Palm Springs yesterday with my boy, his little kindergarten friend and the friend's mom. I chickened out - was going to go to Big Bear but chose not to. I am not the type who is comfortable not knowing EXACTLY where it is that I am headed and, since we only wanted to go sledding down some nice hill and not skiing, snowboarding, or inner tubing, we had no exact site to aim for. (I have spent too much time searching the web for information specific to sledding on Big Bear. It does not exist. It's all about the snowboarding, skiing, or inner tubing.) A friend at work, a snowboarder who loaned me her kids' sleds, had told me to just "go to Big Bear, stop at a shop and ask for advice on finding a good sledding hill". Well, I just couldn't do that. Maybe on my own with no pressure, but not with my kid (and another kid!) in the back seat whining about "are we there yet?".



Some day when he's older and wants to take skiing or boarding lessons, it seems really easy to make arrangements with an exact location/place of business up there. I won't chicken out at that point.



So anyway we drove to the tramway base station - I knew exactly where it was, knew I wouldn't need chains, etc. I didn't realize what a steep climb it was, though. Had to put my transmission in Low gear to go from 0 to 2200 feet elevation in 2.5 miles. That made me nervous given that my transmission is on its death bed (I'm trying to stretch it another couple of months so I can buy a new Volvo in March when the XC60 is released). But the transmission held out and we made it to the station. It was SOOOOOO crowded! And we had to wait 50 minutes for our tram but that was okay because the kids climbed around the rocky area out back of the station. Finally we got onto the tram and were on our way up. At first my son was scared but he managed to get through it by burying his face in my side.



Some gross jerk (or jerks?) let loose with a couple of godawful farts on the ride up. We were packed in like sardines in a can. What the hell is wrong with people? Perhaps it's sexist of me to assume it was one of the young guys on board but I'm almost certain it was. Generalizing, yes, but isn't it true that most women would be too embarrassed to do something like that?



Anyway, so we got to the mountain station with our bags, lunches, sleds and kids generally intact. It was cold outside but not terrible. They held us at the top of the concrete switchback ramp for 15 minutes until the six rangers carrying an injured person made their way up. So we were finally on our way down the ramp, which was quite steep and long. Made it to the bottom, walked out onto the snow a few feet, and immediately started slipping and sliding. The snow was all packed hard and icy. Great for sledding if you have a good hill and a way to get back up. In this case, there was just forest, with little mini-hillocks that we ended up sending the kids down, but for me it was a total let-down. My memories of sledding as a kid in New Jersey involved driving to the local cemetary, climbing up, positioning yourself, and then whooshing down a nice, satisfyingly-long steep hill. Rinse and repeat.



The kids played for about 30 minutes. We tried to have a snowball fight but it was hard to get any snowballs formed - the snow was too hard-packed and icy. So we trudged back up the ramp and went back down the tram.



All in all it was a ton of effort for 30 minutes of ho-hum sledding. I got some good pictures which is good, but I probably wouldn't go again. I think next weekend when my son is at his dad's I'm going to drive out to Big Bear and check it out myself to see if I can't find a good place to head to with my son and his sled for future outings.
 
We got together for wine tasting last nite and one of the twenty-somethings said that if you go to jiffy lube, they are giving out two free tix to mountain high.



I like MT. High b/c of the reduced drive time and when there is decent coverage you can get a whole lot of skiing in, instead of driving and paying quite a bit more. BB is good for when you want to stay overnight, imo.
 
sorry to hear the snow was a let-down on SanJ



fwiw, if you hike up a mile or so on the trail, you get to some good sledding hills, iirc







unfortunately, that kind of icy/slushy snow is what is common in SoCal. if you want the puffy stuff, you either have to go north to tahoe/mammoth or hit the local mountains rather soon after a snow fall. of course, you will need chains to hit the mountains quickly (other than another trip up the tram).





oh, and i spent half an hour in the snow yesterday too! all you have to do is ride your bicycle up to the top of our local 5500 ft. mountain: Santiago peak. It still has snow on the east and north sides.
 
I went to Mt. San Jacinto on Jan. 1, and we loved it! The ride up on the tramway was scary though, there is a bunch of towers connecting the cables, so every time the car comes up to the tower, it is in a free fall for a second or so and swings back and forth, everybody screamed.

I totally get what you are saying about the snow, it was pretty packed and icy, no snowballs, but I bought a sled for 15 backs at the adventure station for my son and we had a blast (we were smart enough to bring a thermos with hot tea and sandwiches, so we were there for about 5 hours. He was so exhausted that he fell asleep standing up in the tram on our way down, had to catch him from falling on the floor.

The only downside (and a tip for those who go):

People who work there at the parking lots would not let us drive to the upper lot that is the closest to the station, made us park all way down, the crowd waiting for the shuttle was huge, so we walked up the mountain for 15 min with all our gear and a toddler in tow, not fun. Sure enough, when we got to the top, we were "pleased" to notice that there were about 20 parking spots available at the top. Next time I'm going to bs my way through saying that I'm just picking people up and don't need a parking spot at the upper lot.

Also, check out the snow forecast before you go on pstramway.com, b/c we were afraid the snow would melt by the time we get there, but there was 2-3 feet of snow even though the forecast said 1 feet.

Don't stay at Palm Mountain Resort and Spa where we ended up staying, such a dump, I don't think I ever stayed in a room that was that bad, smells like mold and everything was falling apart, wasn't even worth $139 that we were paying and good luck finding a parking spot there.

It was all worth it though, I haven't seen the snow for 3 years :)
 
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