Winter sports Nevada County January 2022
With all the recent snowstorms hitting Nevada County here is a list of places in the county where you can enjoy the recent snowfall. The list includes sledding, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding, cross country, tubing, fat-tire bikes, and things to do with the whole family. There are quick links to trail maps and details on what sort of chairlifts to expect as I know this sometimes brings some new enthusiasts anxiety. Don’t worry you’ll be a pro after a couple of tries!
20th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival
20th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival will take place as a hybrid event taking place Jan.13-17 in-person and online Jan.13-23, 2022. This year the festival will be available virtually as well as in-person in the historic downtown areas of Nevada City and Grass Valley, California. This is a Fair / Festival / Gala. Event Location: Center for the Arts in Nevada City & Grass Valley.
SYRCL’s 20th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival – South Yuba River Citizens League’s largest annual fundraiser and one of Nevada County’s largest events where they draw more than 8,000 attendees, filmmakers, activists, outdoor athletes, students, and artists for five days of film and celebration. Considered one of the nation’s premiere environmental and adventure film festivals, the event features award-winning films about nature, outdoor adventure, and environmental activism. As this will be going on online as well the link to the event is here.
Alpine Ski and Snowboard Resorts
Donner Summit Area
Boreal Mountain Resort
Boreal Mountain in Nevada County California is a ski area in Soda Springs, near the Lake Tahoe area of California. It has six chairlifts and two surface lifts, and offers the only night skiing in Tahoe, open from 9am until 8 pm. It is owned by the Powdr Corporation.
The base elevation of the mountain is 7,200 feet and the summit is 7,701 feet, making for a vertical drop of 501 feet. The longest run is one mile. Boreal averages 400 inches of snowfall annually.
With 32 trails, 8 lifts: 2 quads, 3 triples, 1 double, 2 moving carpets. They have a small rental shop, some quit food at their restaurant supplying pizza and chicken tender style food. Is Ideal for big families with RFID passes and still requiring masks at this time. Great for groups with mixed ability levels and my sons first ski resort.
The website offers winter and summer trail maps though I will leave the winter one here.
Donner Ski Ranch
Donner Ski Ranch is a budget-oriented, family-owned ski area located on Donner Summit in the Tahoe National Forest of Nevada County, California. It is owned by Janet and Marshall Tuttle, who purchased it after it went into bankruptcy. The area it is on has been used for skiing since 1937.
With 435 acres, 52 trails, top elevation 7,781 ft (2,372 m), and 8 lifts: 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 moving carpets.
Assessing the trail map, they offer mostly beginner trails though do have some black diamonds for those starting to get more adventurous. This seems great for beginner novice skiers or ones taking it easy and sorta vibing.
The trail map can be found here.
Soda Springs
As the longest-running ski resort in California, Soda Springs Mountain Resort is the best place for families new to snow. In fact, Soda Springs offers Mountain Adventure access to Planet Kids, a dedicated snow play area designed for children ages 8 & under.
Children and tubing aside they do have many ski snowboard runs with the top elevation being 7,300 ft. (2,212 m), 15 trails (4 easy, 3 blue, 6 black diamond), chair lift styles to expect: 1 double, 1 triple, 2 moving carpets + 1 moving carpet at our tubing park.
This seems ideal for small families, what immediately comes to mind is two expert ski snowboarders with some small kiddos.
The trail map can be found here.
Sugar Bowl
Sugar Bowl was founded by Hannes Schroll and a group of individual investors and is one of the few remaining privately-owned resorts in the Lake Tahoe area. This resort has 1650 skiable acres. Mount Lincoln has an elevation of 8383ft.
This place has something for everyone and personally could see holding a year-round pass. There’s plenty to keep you exploring with many many intermediates to advanced runs. 12 lifts with styles to expect: 5 highspeed express quads, 3 fixed-grip quads, 1 fixed-grip triple, 1 gondola, and 2 surface lifts (that I’m assuming are carpets) for young or for beginner ski sport enthusiasts.
I will admit I haven’t yet been here though it is for sure on my to-do list! Their very detailed map will be linked here.
Truckee Area
Northstar-at-Tahoe
North star is located in Truckee California. They have 3170 skiable acres, 100 trails, and an elevation of 8,610 ft (2,624 m). They have 20 chairs with styles to expect: 3 gondolas (1 express, 1 pulse, 1 chondola), 7 quad express chairs, 1 quad fixed-grip, 2 triple chair, 2 tow/surface lifts (carpets), 5 magic carpets.
Other activities include cross country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing, telemark skiing, and fat biking. There are terrain parks and pipes.
A link to their summer and winter trail map options will be linked here.
Tahoe Donner
Tahoe Donner Downhill is a small ski resort with 120 acres of skiable area, 4 ski lifts, and 14 trails, in Truckee located in Nevada County Ca leading to 17 different runs. Chair lift styles to expect: 1 quad, 1 double, 2 conveyors.
Out of the 17 runs, they have 3 green, 11 blue, 4 black, and even two terrain parks. Tiny but mighty I’d day. Ideal for a local trying to get some laps in or someone not trying to do a full day anyway seems like a fun day or two of exploring.
Mountain pap can be found here.
North Lake Tahoe Area
Palisades (formerly Alpine) Meadows
With 34 lifts and 6,000 skiable acres across our two mountains, there are endless adventures to be had at Palisades Tahoe. This is a 70-year-old that was the host of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Honestly where I spent nearly every day off while being a lift operator at a near by resort!
Palisades Tahoe is on the Ikon Pass, which offers access to 47 international ski destinations perfect for those travel van lifers or weekend worriers. In 2021 the resort changed its name, trading in a harmful slur for a name that better reflects its values and legacy.
The highest peak is 8885 ft or 2708m. 29 lifts styles to expect: 1 areal tramway, 1 gondola, 6 six-person high-speed chairlift (detachable), 2 four-person high-speed chairlift (detachable), 1 four-person chairlift (fixed-grip), 8 three-person chairlift (fixed-grip), 4 two-person chairlift (fixed-grip), 1 Rope tow/baby lift, 4 Sunkid Moving Carpet with cover, and 1 People mover (carpet).
They have so many runs that they seem to list their trail ratings by percent. 25% is green, 45% is blue, and 30% is black diamond. They have the front side backside and two mountains and the trail map can be found here.
Offering 90-minute sledding sessions. They are a very modest ski & snowboard hill that also offers Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoeing. Granlibakken’s 74-acre resort or head up to Paige Meadows to experience Tahoe’s backcountry.
They are a full resort that also has a tree-top adventure.
Their trail map can be found here.
Cross-Country Ski Information
Donner Summit Area
The Auburn Ski Club (530) 426-3313 http://www.auburnskiclub.org
A nonprofit organization dedicated to providing quality, affordable, programs to the foothill communities. They have their own groomed cross-country ski trail system and programs and teams for cross country skiing, alpine skiing, and snowboarding.
Truckee Area
Northstar Nordic Center (530) 526-2475. http://www.northstarattahoe.com
Tahoe Cross-Country (530) 583-5475. http://www.tahoexc.org
Thank you for reading!
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