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| Mt. Shasta's Winter Wonderland |
By: By Renee Casterline
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In far northern California, well away from the resort-studded Sierra and the traffic of I-80, sits a charming ski park where families can relax and enjoy the mellow pace of a true small town winter experience. In addition to skiing and riding at the Mt. Shasta Board and Ski Park your family can enjoy dogsled rides, ice skating, sledding, cross country skiing, and snowmobiling to complete your winter getaway.
The Mt. Shasta Board and Ski Park is a family-run operation that strives to make visiting families feel safe and comfortable, with three chairlifts accessing friendly terrain and a selection of runs that appeal to all abilities. The park is very proud of its learning programs, and rightfully so. With its “1,2,3 Learn to Ski” package, you can get three days of lessons, rentals, lift tickets and a spring season pass for under $200. For the beginning skier (ages 9 and older) or boarder (ages 11 and older) this means three hours of instruction on each lesson day.
Instructors lead students through drills to become comfortable on their skis or board, then up the bunny hill to learn to turn and stop. When students are ready, the instructor will take them up Marmot Ridge to a gentle, wide groomed run. After three days of lessons, the new skier or rider will be set to ride Marmot’s variety of beginner and intermediate trails. The three lessons must be completed by the end of February, so you can visit several times to fulfill your lesson package and you get a free spring pass to finish out the season.
For those who know how to ski or ride and are looking for more, the park offers freestyle park and pipe lessons to introduce the skills for riding rails, hits, gibs and the half pipe. There is a beginner’s terrain park on Marmot to help you ease in to tricks. You can also check out Revolution Terrain Park’s 300-foot long superpipe that kicks off 1000 feet of features that include hits, boxes, rails and 45-foot battleship rail. (For those not inclined to jump on or off obstacles, 55 % of the park’s trails are rated for intermediate, 20% towards beginners and 25% for advanced skiers.)
There is much more than resort skiing in the Mt. Shasta area, with the full gamut of winter outdoor sports within easy travel distance. On the way to the park, you’ll drive past Snowman’s Hill, a very popular sledding area just at the turn off to Ski Park Highway. Climbing up the hill your nose may run and your legs will burn, but the hike is worth it when you happily zoom down the run with your cheeks red from the chill air. The laughter and shouts of other families enjoying this delightful winter pastime will fill the air as you hike up the hill again.
Also on the way to the park, Dogsled Express offers one-hour rides through the woods, where magnificent views occasionally open up as the quiet, powerful dog team pulls your sled over the snowy trails. The kids sit snuggled under blankets with one parent, while the other stands on a runner with musher Pat Campbell. He’ll point out views of Mount Shasta, Mount Lassen and the granite teeth of Castle Crags.
Nestled in the town of Mt. Shasta, the Siskiyou Ice Rink has a beautiful view of towering Mount Shasta that sets the scene for this classic winter activity. The outdoor rink offers open skate sessions in between hockey practice, teen nights and skating under the stars. Friendly instructors can teach you and the kids to skate on this National Hockey League size rink.
If you’ve landed on your rear a few too many times, you can always build a snowman or have a snowball fight in the surrounding public park. Your time in town may be where you feel the most noticeable difference between a small town getaway and a vacation at the large Sierra resorts. Mt. Shasta and McCloud, the towns nearest to the Ski Park, are never packed with traffic or difficult to navigate. Indeed, McCloud doesn’t have any stoplights, and its broad main street is lined by historic mill buildings that house an elegant hotel, a carefully restored mercantile and the station of the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train.
Mt. Shasta’s downtown has three outdoor stores with equipment rentals and winter clothing, a comfortable coffee shop with a hip, jazzy atmosphere and yummy food, and a local bookstore with a children’s section and fabulous treats. After a day on the slopes or the ice, a body may need some special care and relaxation, or maybe just a cozy place to sit down for a meal and a beer. The Sacred Mountain Retreat Spa in downtown Mt. Shasta offers soothing baths, saunas and massage treatments, while the Evergreen Day Spa at the Mt. Shasta Resort has a full line of body therapies, skin care and exotics treatments. Billy Goat’s Tavern, the new local hotspot, offers tasty lunch and dinner and a 100-beer menu, while the Dugout Sports Bar offers a family friendly atmosphere and menu.
The Mt. Shasta area is a 7 hour drive from Sonoma County if you take Interstate 5. I-5 is well maintained and open in all but the heaviest of snowstorms, with the possibility of snowy roads once you pass Redding. The drive up 101 to Eureka and across to Redding is pretty, but it will add 2–3 hours to your driving time.
The Siskiyou County Visitors Bureau’s website at www.visitmtshasta.org can help you find the right lodging and dining establishments to suit your needs, from family-style dining to vacation rentals, as well as winter activity information. If you have any additional questions, contact the Mt. Shasta Visitors Bureau at 530-926-4865.
To learn about the “1,2,3” package contact the Mt. Shasta Board and Ski Park at 800-SKI-SHASTA or visit www.skipark.com. |
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