Vibe by California Alpine: A Hidden Gem

Nestled in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, California Alpine's vibe is a unique blend of ancient charm and modern excitement. When we visited, we discovered that mid-mountain was the real base of the mountain, featuring an ancient lodge called the Chalet. While this section was a bit too flat for our liking, the grooming and snow conditions were top-notch.

The J6 and J4 lifts serve the other peak, which is only 40 feet lower than the main summit. The trail ratings at June are decidedly on the 'stretching it' scale, with three double-black diamond trails that we had no trouble or hesitation with. The groomers were in excellent shape, making it a blast to lay down high-speed turns. We were lucky to have almost no moguls due to the low skier traffic.

The snow conditions varied from dry and chalky where it hadn't been groomed to excellent on the groomed trails. We skied every run on that lift during the day and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The J7 lift is the crown jewel of the mountain, taking us up to 10,090 feet.

Above the Chalet, the terrain is relatively flat and not worth skiing unless you're heading down for lunch or at the end of the day. From mid-mountain, we could take one of two high-speed quads up to the left summit or another ancient fixed-grip lift up to the base of the other summit.

At the top, there are two people who help you get off without getting run over by the chair – a unique experience that's definitely worth trying! Our day at June began by handing our skis to the lift ops at the bottom, who precariously balanced them on the arms of an ancient center-bar double.

Unfortunately, covering runs is not possible solely relying on natural snowfall, and snowmaking is used only for patching. The lack of water means they can't do any serious snowmaking, resulting in a skiable vertical drop of just under 1,300 feet during normal or dry years.

However, with a healthy vertical drop of 2,600 feet, we had an absolute blast skiing the mountain's varied terrain. In late February 2015, we visited June Mountain, which had only received about 65 inches of snow that season – but it was still one of the most fun days of non-powder skiing we'd had all year.

California Alpine's vibe is a hidden gem that offers an unique blend of ancient charm and modern excitement. With its varied terrain, excellent grooming, and friendly lift ops, June Mountain is definitely worth visiting – even if you don't get the most snowfall. So why not give it a try and experience the magic of this lesser-known California ski resort?

Vibe by california alpine