Mt. Shasta Ski Park

Mt. Shasta, California
Mt. Shasta, California

Photos and feature by Mary Webb

Our trip to the Mt. Shasta Ski Park promised to be a hit from the start. Weather conditions were pristine for a winter’s day, with blue skies and plenty of snow to play with. Recent snow storms had delivered a good couple inches of snow in previous days, and tall pine trees still gracefully boasted snow covered limbs. It was a glorious sight wherever one set their gaze.

Winter beauty laced with fresh snow beckons some folks to figure out a way to play all day in it, and that’s what we intended to do. We had a couple pieces of gear to evaluate, but that was part of the fun.

Mount Shasta is the geographical reference point for many northern Californians, particularly in the winter.   This great white

Mt. Shasta looms in the background.
Mt. Shasta looms in the background.

landmark beckons outdoor enthusiasts, especially skiers and snowboarders, to visit Mount Shasta Ski Park.  The park is located off Highway 89, southeast of Lake Siskiyou. Shasta Ski Park is a popular destination point for the surrounding communities of Redding, Yreka, Chico and the like.  Starting our morning in Redding, it was a breathtaking view driving up to Mount Shasta, along side the great arms of Lake Shasta along Interstate-5.

Turning onto Highway 89, Mount Shasta leaps out at you.  Seeing the majesty of the mountain built up excitement for the day of skiing ahead of us. Pulling into the parking lot of the Mt. Shasta ski park, the energy started coursing through our collective veins. On the slopes above, you can get a sense of how many options the day might present. It was a day with relatively light crowds, but the slopes had just about the right amount of activity for you to want to hurry up and join them.

We hit it on the mark with the weather. It was 66 degrees where the blue skies greeted us at the entrance to the park and stayed with us the entire day.  After getting the lay of the land and a map of the slopes, we began to route our morning runs. As so many you avid skiers may know, it is important to warm up to the steeper slopes, no matter your skill level.  So we headed over to the Marmot Lift, where several easy slopes are laid out for stretching the legs and getting the blood going before tackling more challenging runs. At the Marmot Lift, we spotted the learning center for children and adults.

Learning Center Student; one of the pets on this trip.
Learning Center Student; she’s a snow bunny we took on this trip.

Shasta Snow Kids are for Skiers ages five to nine and various ski packages are available, which may include lessons, rentals and lift tickets.  During the lessons, children board a moving conveyor belt up to a small mountain where they practice their turning and stopping under the guidance of an instructor.  Skiers and Snowboarders ages 10 and up may participate in the Jr. and Adult lesson classes.  Packages are available in this age group as well.  In addition, Shasta Ski Park offers lessons in Freestyle, Telemark, and Senior’s Specialty Clinics, just to name a few.

Having this school of knowledge under our belt, we proceeded in line at the Marmot Lift to begin our morning warm up. Up here, the views were breath taking as we hovered over snow and trees below us. As we made our final ascent into Marmot Ridge, we had a few minutes to review our map.  The runs are color coded by level of difficulty, and we knew we would start out with the green designated slopes, as they were the easiest.

Guess which run we chose?  The Fresh Air route of course, and it was a great choice!  Nice wide open lane and plenty of powder.  It’s always a confidence builder to loosen up the limbs and cardiovascular system with a couple warm up runs down the slopes of easy street. And by then, we were ready for steeper, deeper, and more demanding snow runs. With a breath of fresh air for us junkies, we decided to make our way over to Douglas Butte lift, taking us to an elevation level of 6600 feet.

Exiting Douglas Butte presented gorgeous tree-lined borders.  Moss covered trees surrounded the steep commencement into

Trail side moss decorated timber grows straight in park-like settings along the ski runs.
Trail side moss decorated timber grows straight in park-like settings along the ski runs.

Highlands Glide, an intermediate, blue colored designation course.  Spraying the trees in our tracks, we discovered another lift half-way down the slope. This lift we eyeballed half-way down the Douglas Butte run is known as Coyote Butte, located at an elevation of 6,880 feet. Coyote Butte is the current apex of the Mt. Shasta Ski Park. And what a vantage point!  It was pure 360 degrees of amazing countryside for as far as the eyes can see. This top-view included a glimpse of Lake Siskiyou off in the distance.

Oh yes, the ski conditions were fantastic and the weather was more than kind in its perfection. When skiing on a clear day with the sun soaking your flesh with UV rays, life can seem like it’s on the good side of super fun, and surreal in many respects. But we all know how important it is to apply good sun block and skin protection for your face and exposed skin, especially when you have youngsters along the trip, and off doing their own snowboarding and skiing adventures.

Down the Diamond

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, especially on this warm user-friendly ski park day!  We were past easy, and decided to take the Z-way down.  All the black diamond way down!  Now then, we jetted all the way to the lodge where we were met with a veggie burger and a well needed beverage at the Coyote Grill.

Coyote Grill at Mt. Shasta Ski Park. Good food, fun staff.
Coyote Grill at Mt. Shasta Ski Park. Good food, fun staff.

Reasonably priced and delicious, the fastidious staff at the Coyote Grill didn’t keep us off the slopes too long.  Plenty of outdoor seating presented an opportunity to visit with fellow downhill enthusiasts as we nourished our slope thirsty souls.

Diamond runs are a benchmark for evaluating the performance of ski equipment once there is confidence the gear is good for more. In this case, this writer had a pair of Solomon Women’s Idol 8 ski boots buckled to her feet. Nice! These Solomon Idol 8’s permitted us to be as aggressive as a fourth-quarter work week, or as laid back as a Californian on Grammy night. Either way, the fun factor is only a matter of how far you want to twist the dial between one and 11. The Idol 8’s went from the warm up runs of Mt. Shasta Ski Park to the double-down black diamond runs with grace.

Armed with a full tank of gas, we set out to get in as many runs as possible. Coyote Butte was this writer’s favorite however, and we were soaring down Eagles Flight for the better part of the remaining day.

When the sun winked from behind the trees in the late afternoon, it was time to say farewell to Shasta Ski Park for the moment. A

A working mountain cabin sits comfortably numb on a kind ski day.
A working mountain cabin sits comfortably numb on a kind ski day.

day of fun is often balanced out by those deadlines and commitments we all live with. This wasn’t a vacation day, it wasn’t a holiday, it was a snow day that promised great snow and tons of fun. So that’s how it ended, with a car full of exhausted souls who were already plotting how they might get back soon. With the evening shadows drifting into the canyons and valleys around Mt. Shasta Ski Park, and that looming giant of Mt. Shasta itself glowing in the last rays of the day, we reflected just a little more.

With the setting of the sun, our thoughts turned to visions of night skiing which is also available at the park.  Various ski runs offer night lighting and are designated on the Shasta Park Ski map.  With an evening sky filled with stars in the Shasta region, we are penciling in this evening adventure on our future travels to the northern region of California.

About Mt. Shasta Ski Park

Mt. Shasta Ski Park provides more than 400 acres of ski loving terrain. About 25 percent of the mountain is geared for advanced skiers and 25 percent delegated for intermediate skiers. That leaves about 20 percent of the mountain set aside for learning how to ski. With 32 ski trails to choose from, there is lots of space to find your own line down your favorite run.

The longest downhill run is almost two miles long (1.75 miles) and there is a Super Halfpipe 300 feet long for snowboarders to romp on. The lifts have a total capacity of 618 seats, so you’re bound to have tons of opportunity to get in as many runs as you can on the Douglas, Coyote, and Marmot lifts; all with three-wide seating.

Mt. Shasta Ski Park gets about 275 inches of annual snowfall. So you can expect to enjoy great conditions with a ski-lift staff of knowledgeable and helpful staff who want you to have a blast. And they work there so they can ski there, so you automatically have a common thread with most of the ski park workers you might run into, or not.

For current pricing and weather conditions, visit their web site at
www.skipark.com

Mt Shasta Board & Ski Park
4500 Ski Park Hwy, Mount Shasta, CA 96067 US

(530) 926-8610

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *