This is the kind of place where parents take their kids to ski for the first time, just like parents did the generation before, and maybe the one before that too. The Badger Pass Ski Area, on the south side of Yosemite National Park, is a relaxed charmer, and well worth adding to a wintertime visit to Yosemite, or making a destination in its own right.
It doesn’t get much more friendly and unpretentious than this. Here, you can lean back in a chair on the broad sundeck and look up the slopes to watch your little ones learn to ski or board. Of course, you can ski too—10 runs access beginner, intermediate, and advanced runs. If you’ve never tried cross-country skier or snowshoeing, start now--there are more than 90 miles/145 kilometres of marked trails and 25 miles/40 kilometres of machine-groomed track heading into Yosemite’s wintry wonderland. Cross-country track and skating lanes are groomed from the Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area to Glacier Point—a spectacular 21-mile/34-km round trip.
For an easy (and free) lift to and from Yosemite Valley, ride the shuttle bus that runs from Curry Village, The Ahwahnee, and Yosemite Valley Lodge.