Powder Skiing in Las Vegas? It may sound a bit off, but with such low tide conditions in the Sierra I actually found myself in a car headed to Las Vegas the other day. The goal remained to indulge in a form of adult entertainment, but not the kind “Sin City” is so famous for. My buddy Court and I were searching for the elusive white stuff that’s been so lacking in our normally heavily saturated corner of the globe. And I’m not talking about the kind of stuff you can score on The Strip, but rather the kind you can find in the nearby Spring Mountains.
What’s that? You’re completely confused? No worries, I was too, that is until detailed calculations of the recent storm that hammered the southwest led us to a nicely coated range of mountains located about a 30 minute drive north from-I’m really not kidding-Las Vegas. This early season has not allowed many places to boast stellar skiing and riding conditions, which is why a November run to Shasta was in order for a premier split flow migration from Tahoe. But now I’ve found myself in a car, driving way too fast for my liking, hoping there’d be some powder to ski to the south this time down near Las Vegas. As strange as it may sound our calculations were right, and if these current conditions prevail you too might be thinking about a powder focused trip to the city that never sleeps in the near future.
The Spring Mountains normally don’t make all that much sense for the Sierra skier or rider to visit. Why drive past Mammoth and the rest of the Eastern Sierra to visit such a small mountain range, in the middle of the desert, unless you have an ulterior motive to spend time in Vegas? The answer is it doesn’t make sense…that is unless there’s 10-18″ new in the Spring Mountains and there’s 0-0″ new in Tahoe.
Actually, the drive to Vegas from Tahoe isn’t really all that bad (8+/- hrs. from Tahoe and 9.5 +/- hrs. from the Bay Area), and the hallmark peak in the area, Mt. Charleston, tops out at 11,918′. There’s even a local ski resort in the zone, the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, that was going off when we arrived. It’s a pretty small ski area, but then again with So Cal as the only real competition nobody seemed to mind with the recent drop of fresh snow and a few lifts to serve the local terrain. It’s not ideal for sure, but so is no new snow locally with a continuously bleak forecast. Here’s a shot of the minimal resort infrastructure,
with a better shot of the two avi paths that drop down to the resort. These shots were thin on our visit, but looked like great accessible terrain right from the lifts when conditions fill in a bit more.
The Spring Mountains don’t have a huge base right now, but where it was good, it was good! Entry to the Vegas pow-stash is granted through the Joshua Tree infested desert as you slowly gain elevation up the access road into the mountains.
Once we got up above 6k feet super dry, light, fast powder best characterized the conditions. It’s wasn’t always bottomless, but since the snow was so airy it exploded nicely on more than a few turns.
It should also be noted that the competition to track anything up was literally next to nothing. Add in the beautiful limestone cliffs that help identify this unique mountain range with the reasonably easy backcountry access and the Spring Mountains turn out to be a pretty worthy spot to check out that otherwise Sierra skiers would easily pass on.
There are several local campgrounds in and around the Spring Mountains, a few that are even maintained throughout winter, and most of the land in the area is either BLM or USFS. With these options and the cheap lodging available all over Vegas posting up to ride the Spring Mountains is pretty easy. Finding cheap, or extravagant eats is just as simple, so all you really have to do is saddle up for the few hour drive to make a visit happen. The Springs could definitely use some more snow to add to their relatively low base, but if the southwest keeps getting hit and we stay dry for a few more weeks as forecasted it might be a good place to look into to scratch the powder itch we’re all collectively feeling. I know it helped satisfy Court and I for a few days, although just like a good addict, now I’m wondering where to next?
