My husband and I are considering moving to Northern CA - somewhere around Santa Rosa area - not for a few years yet.

We both love to ski. We're not experts - we ski intermediate runs mostly out here in the East.

What does CA have for skiing, and how far a drive would it be from Santa Rosa? I know Tahoe is around there, but don't know how far that is, or if it is only expert skiing.

We're also pretty low key and like a "skiier's mountain" - not alot of glitz and glamour.

Wanderer,

You will love Santa Rosa. And skiing is about 4 hours to Tahoe. If you've never been to that area, I would stay in North Lake Tahoe at either Incline Village, or Squaw Valley. Homewood has a homey, low-key mountain and price. Heavenly on the South shore is the glitz. There are tons of ski places. You'll LOVE Tahoe and Santa Rosa. Enjoy!

Good timing on your post...Tahoe just received 4 or 5 feet of new snow over the last couple on days! I agree that the North shore is the place to be, unless you are a devotee of casino-style buffet dinners. Squaw Valley is more of an expert mountain than the others with a lot steep, mogul terrain (love KT-22); no real cruiser runs like you find in say Utah at Deer Valley or The Canyons. We don't get the real light snow they have either, nor do we get the ice skiing you must have back East. It can also get quite windy on the upper mountain. With 32 chair lifts Squaw can move a lot of people. You might prefer Nothstar with its more intermediate fare (my kids call it Flatstar). A lot of people like Sugar Bowl; it's a good mountain and you don't have to drive all the way into the Tahoe Valley.

Just a word on the drive, it's no fun on the weekend. I know; we have been making that drive to Squaw every weekend for the past 6 years (kids are on ski team) and it seems to be getting worse every year. Having said that, HW 80 is still a better road than HW 50 which goes to South shore. If you can ski mid-week that's the way to go.

Tahoe is beautiful, you will love it!

Is 4 hours away the closest ski area?

We are spoiled here with great ski areas 1-1/2 hrs. away -- but of course we don't have that great CA weather!!

Yes, Tahoe is the closest skiing to Santa Rosa. And if a storm blows in on a Sunday afternoon, it can take 8 hours to get back, not 4. From the bay area day trips make really long days - most people do weekends. On the other hand, the skiing tends to be much better than the east coast (better weather, better snow, bigger areas...). Somewhat farther away is Mt Bachelor in Oregon, much smaller crowds, cheaper lodging, and lots of intermediate skiing; we sometimes rent a house in the Sunriver area there to spend a week.

maybe you don't have a CA map and don't realize Santa Rosa is so close to the Pacific (less than 20 miles as the crow flies) and is very little above sea level. For skiing in CA you must get to near 6000 feet minimum and higher is better. The Sierra is the closest skiing (by far) and will be at least 4 or 5+ hour drive on a winter weekend when traffic and road conditions could add 2 or 3 hours more. But other skiing (Mt Shasta and S. Oregon) are much farther away . . . . .