As the most diverse state in the country, it should be no surprise that California, the land of beaches, deserts and large cities, has some of the best backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering in the United States, but for many it is. From massive 8,000 foot backcountry ski descents to multi day ski tours in the largest wilderness areas of the continental US, to highly accessible and mellow backcountry ski and snowboard terrain…California has is all for the backcountry skier. California boasts two major mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevada and the Southern Cascades, both with seemingly endless opportunities for the backcountry skier and boarder.

The best areas in California for backcountry skiing and split boarding can be broken down into four main regions: Shasta/Lassen, Lake Tahoe and the massive Eastern Sierra Nevada/High Sierra. Each zone has its own unique characteristics and rewards for the backcountry skier. And for semantics sake, we include split boarding to be part of the backcountry “skiing” family. Here’s an overview of the fantastic backcountry skiing and split boarding California has to offer.

Mount Shasta

At 14,183 feet, Mount Shasta is California’s largest volcano and considered one of the top three ski mountaineering peaks in North America. Shasta is a place where a 7,000 foot backcountry ski run on velvety corn is a very real possibility. With relatively easy access, a non-glaciated south, West and East sides and continuous descents right to your car, you can’t beat Mount Shasta for late season backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering.

While mid-winter skiing on Shasta’s lower slopes can be very good, the real draw here is the late season big mountain descents from about mid-April till mid-June on good snow years. Proper mountaineering experience or the assistance of a guide or experienced friends are required to summit Mount Shasta. This is big mountain skiing. Generally, the ascent would be on boot crampons with ice axe in hand and skis on the pack, beginning in the dark early morning hours to allow one to catch the perfect timing for a long corn run back to the car.

Two of the best routes for skiing Mount Shasta are the West Face, with sees less climber traffic than the popular South side Avalanche Gulch route and The Hotlum/Wintun Ridge on the North East side of Shasta. The West face is the easier of the two but still a serious ski mountaineering objective. For the West face ski descent you do want to be an expert level skier who is comfortable on exposed slopes up to 38 degrees. Then there’s the truly spectacular Hotlum/Wintun route, also known as the ‘Hottoon’, which many consider one of the top three ski mountaineering descents in North America. You click into your skis just feet from the true summit and in good conditions you can ski approximately seven thousand feet (sometimes more) back to your car. A steeper route of just over 40 degrees requires you to be very confident on your skis in exposed ski mountaineering terrain. Many opt to ski Shasta in a multi-day trip with a snow camping ski base camp. This helps with acclimatization and allows for more skiing.

Lassen Peak, within sight of Mount Shasta, offers some great mid-winter and Spring backcountry skiing. The South side entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park near the town of Mineral is a wonderland of “mini golf” backcountry ski terrain with smaller ski shots off some the local peaks such as Brokeoff mountain. The Northern entrance to the park boasts the best access to skiing the larger North Side of Lassen itself from what’s known as the Devastated Area. And on most years, they tend to open the road through the park before all the snow is gone allowing easy late season skiing access to the shorter East and South aspects of Lassen Peak itself.

skinning towards basecamp on mount shasta

Lake Tahoe

The greater Lake Tahoe area, with its easy access and many mountain towns, may see the most backcountry skiers in California in terms of raw numbers. This is mostly due to its relative proximity to the larger metropolitan areas of Northern California and Reno, Nevada, both of which have sizable backcountry skier communities. Fortunately, there are also lots of options for backcountry skiers to spread out throughout South and North Lake Tahoe.

In the North Tahoe area, centered around the town of Truckee, you have the greater Donner Pass area and the drainages along highway 89 just North of Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows. Perhaps the most popular area around Donner Pass is the Castle Peak zone which, along with Andesite Peak, boasts some forgiving backcountry terrain not too far from the trailhead, which is located at the Donner Sno Park alongside Interstate 80. Alongside Highway 89 going South from Truckee there is the Silver Peak area and the Deep Creek drainage which can offer fantastic backcountry descents and hidden powder stashes. The zone off of the old Donner Pass around Judah Peak and the Anderson Ridge has some good shorter and some steeper backcountry ski descents which can be accessed using the lifts at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort. Alpine Meadows Resort (now part of Palisades Tahoe) also has some great options for out of bounds skiing towards Twin Peaks.

backcountry telemark skiing in tahoe — Tele Skiing through dry powder at Deep Creek

While not technically in California, it would be remiss to not mention the backcountry skiing zone around Tamarack Peak off the Mount Rose Highway just over the border in Nevada. Just above Incline Village, this is one of the higher trail heads in the Tahoe area and a great choice anytime, but especially on low snow years. The famous run Hourglass Bowl among many others can be found here.

Powder skiing near Tamarack peak in nevada

The West Shore of Tahoe is where you can find lots of sheltered tree skiing terrain. While parking can be an issue, it’s a great choice for a weekday. Rubicon Peak and Jakes Peak are the well-known tree skiing descents here. A little further South in the Emerald Bay area you’ll find Maggie’s Peak with its superb backcountry skiing and fantastic views of Lake Tahoe. There is now a new Tahoe area free backcountry shuttle for those who want to avoid any parking headaches.

Along with the West Shore, the South Shore of Lake Tahoe is home to arguably some of the best Tahoe backcountry skiing. The peaks begin to get a bit higher in elevation and you can start to find more alpine ski terrain above the tree line. Famous for the extreme steep couloir known as The Cross, Mount Tallac is classic a ski peak of the South Tahoe area. Other, less steep, descents also don its flanks. Down on Luther Pass you will find some of the best powder stashes in the Tahoe region, the twin backcountry skiing tree runs of Waterhouse and Powderhouse. Each tend to hold cold snow longer than many other areas in South Lake Tahoe. The Carson Pass area off of Highway 88 would be considered the most Southern end of the Tahoe backcountry region. Much of this terrain goes above tree line and great backcountry skiing can be found on Stevens Peak, Elephant’s Back and in the Round Top areas.

backcountry ski touring in Lake Tahoe — backcountry touring up silver peak

Eastern Sierra

This is where the Sierra Nevada begins to get real. Known separately as the High Sierra, the zone from Sonora Pass in the North to South of Mount Whitney in the South is perhaps one of the most extensive backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering zones in the lower 48 states. The skiing is so endless that trying to document all of it would take up an entire multi volume set of books. This is the region where you can find epic week-long ski mountaineering traverses in the largest roadless areas of the continental United States, 8,000 vertical foot ski descents from the summit of 14,000-foot peaks right down into desert sagebrush, or just mellow ski runs in the trees. The Eastern Sierra Nevada has it all for the backcountry skier. Here’s just a sampling of what this amazing area has to offer.

ski mountaineering high Sierra California — Dropping in on MOunt Wood’s “Z couloir”

In the far Northern High Sierra lies the Sawtooth Ridge area near the town of Bridgeport. This alpine zone above tree line is stacked with classic backcountry ski lines such as Matterhorn Peak’s ski dreams, Crater Crest, and couloirs up in Little Slide Canyon among many others. Driving South along Highway 395 brings you to Conway Summit and the access to the Virginia Lakes zone. Once they open the road up in Spring (almost always in time for fishing season opener) to Virginia Lake, you have easy access to an amazing playground of some of the best backcountry skiing terrain in the Eastern Sierra. Dunderberg Peak with its North facing Green Creek Couloir and its South facing steep chutes, South Peak with its amazing views of Mono Lake, Black Mountain with its many bowl and chutes and Excelsior Peak with its long descents into Lundy Canyon offer any aspect of skiing that you’re looking for.

Another classic Spring rite of passage for any serious backcountry skier is the Tioga Pass area near Yosemite National Park. Usually every Spring the Tioga Pass Road is open to the Yosemite National Park gate before they open the entire road. This gives access to many classic steep backcountry ski descents such as the Cocaine Chute and Mt. Dana’s Dana Couloir. Mellower options can be found along White Mountain and False White Mountain.

Moving South again you’ll hit the June Lake Loop which affords perhaps the best winter backcountry skiing in the Sierra. The June Mountain Ski Area and it’s open boundary policy gives one easy access to the famous Negatives area with its numerous steep chutes and bowls and the low angled White Wing ski off the backside of the top lift. Also nearby is Carson Peak that looms over the Loop and boasts the Carson Bowl and the extreme ski descent known as Petes Dream. In Spring, there’s also the 5,000 foot giant ski descents of Mount Wood and Mount Gibbs.

ski mountaineering Sierra Nevada — Spring skiing on Mount giibs far above mono lake

Then there’s Mammoth Lakes. While the lift served backcountry off of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area itself is somewhat limited, Mammoth Lakes has tons of great backcountry ski terrain right out of town. From the low angled tree skiing near Lake Mary to the extensive Sherwin Ridge area just to the South that features the extreme Rock Chute and the popular Bardini Ridge and Tele Bowls. A great early season option is the Red Cone bowl above Lake George since it has a sand base to it and is skiable in a very low snow pack.

Moving South from Mammoth to the Bishop area the terrain gets far too extensive to fully document, but highlights are the Spring backcountry ski descents of Basin Mountain, Mt Tom, the Wahoo Gullies. In winter, the Bishop Bowl and Table Mountain up in the Bishop Creek drainage offer relatively easily accessed and somewhat mellow backcountry skiing.

backcountry skiing June Lake California — Mellow tree skiing in the June lake backcountry

Another notable Spring backcountry skiing area to the South of Bishop is the Onion Valley area out of the town of Independence. Once the road melts out it gets you quickly up to near 10,000 feet with access to great backcountry ski descents on University Peak and Independence Peak among others. Just South of Independence lies California’s 2nd highest Peak, Mount Williamson, home to one of the California’s longest ski descents. After a good winter it is possible to ski from Williamson’s summit at over 14,300 feet all the way down into the desert Sagebrush at 6,000 feet, a descent of over 8,000 feet and a truly spectacular one if you have the lungs for it. Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 does get skied. However, a ski descent all the way from the Summit down the Mountaineers Route can be a dicey proposition except in very good conditions.

touring deep in the high sierra on the evolution loop ski tour

And then there’s the rest of the High Sierra. If you are willing to don a larger backpack and hone in your lightweight snow camping technique, the Southern High Sierra is your oyster. Classic ski traverses such as the Sierra High Route from Independence on the East side to the Giant Sequoia’s on the West side at Wolverton is one of the world’s most classic wilderness ski traverses. But it isn’t the only one. Thousands of square miles of amazing ski terrain and a lifetime of exploration await the committed ski mountaineer in the vastness of California’s High Sierra.

Sierra high route ski tour — high camp on the sierra high route trans sierra ski tour

On a year with consistent snowfall (like this winter) and a good spring snow pack, California arguably has the best backcountry ski terrain in the lower 48 states. Backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering possibilities are literally endless here in the Golden State. As always, you need to seriously evaluate your own skills and experience before venturing into the backcountry on skis or split board. Gain some experience through a mentor or a professional ski guide, take an avalanche course and always be conservative out there in the vast goodness of California’s backcountry skiing.

New to backcountry skiing? check out our Intro to Backcountry Ski Courses in Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes

Looking for a High Sierra Ski Tour or a Shasta Ski Descent? This is the year for it!

Need an avalanche safety course? Check out our AAI avalanche 1 courses in Mammoth and Lake Tahoe.