Skiing - From Vegas to San Francisco

[Mette]

Hi,

I'm from Denmark and planning a trip in January. I was told there's a great skiiing spot between Vegas and SF.. Does anyone know the name of it? And what would be the quickest route between Vegas and SF?
Thanks, Mette

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

There are two completely different ways to get from Las Vegas to San Francisco. The quickest route between the two would be to first head south out of Las Vegas on I-15, take CA-58 west through Bakersfield, and join I-5 north up to the Bay Area. If you're looking for skiing, the area you've been told about is probably Lake Tahoe which has several ski resorts including Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and several others. To got to San Francisco by way of Lake Tahoe, you'd leave Las Vegas on US-95 north and take US-50 west into the lake area, and then use either US-50 or I-80 into San Francisco, or if you can spare another half day or so on your trip up to Tahoe, take the time to go through Death Valley National Park and join US-395 north for some spectacular scenery.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm from Denmark and planning a trip in January. I was told there's a great skiiing spot between Vegas and SF.. Does anyone know the name of it? And what would be the quickest route between Vegas and SF?

The snow at Mammoth Lakes is some of the finest (small grain) in the world and I would bet that is the resort you have heard of. Look at this thread for routing information to Mammoth from San Francisco. In winter time, there is no guaranteed "quick" route, but the fastest would be I-15 to SR-58 to I-5 to I-580 to Bay Bridge and then over I-80 to San Francisco. This is about 560 miles and if the roads are dry and if you were to drive at close to the speed limit and stop only for fuel and a lunch stop, it will take about nine hours. Likewise it is an all-day trip from San Francisco to Mammoth and most of a day from Mammoth to Las Vegas.

I should mention that there is a fun ski area about 45 minutes from the Las Vegas strip -- it is relatively small, but the runs are nice and the locals are friendly. More info here.

Mark