Ski the Sun Belt

Just because you live in the Sunny South doesn’t mean you have to fly north to hit the slopes. There are more than a few spots that boast a quick drive from the sun to the snow.

Lee Canyon Ski Resort

Mount Charleston, Nevada

Thirty miles from the Bellagio Fountain on the Las Vegas Strip sits a ski destination that rivals the best of the Rockies.

Besides being one of the prettiest drives in Nevada, the 45-minute trip from Vegas to Lee Canyon Ski Resort is also a whiplash-inducing study in extremes.

Just beyond the lights of Vegas, chair lifts glide into the indigo sky carrying excited families and seasoned skiers, their laughter and conversations muffled by the quilt of snow that has climbed a quarter of the way up the lift towers.

Here on Mount Charleston, 22 feet of snow made last year among the best ski seasons on record — and 2024 has seen their earliest opening date in 13 years.

The resort has invested $17 million in the past five years alone to upgrade the facilities, including a sleek, glass-walled lodge and two new lifts.

Besides skiing, there’s snowboarding and snow tubing. And if you just want to goof around in the snow, there’s always the Foxtail Play Area, where kids and grownups can sled, build snowmen, make snow angels – and momentarily escape the Vegas desert, where the average temperature is always at least 20 degrees higher than here.

If You Go: The upscale Retreat on Charleston Peak is a 20-minute drive from the Lee Canyon ski area. Still, most guests stay down in Vegas, where there may well be as many hotel rooms as there are slot machines, and drive rental cars to the slopes.

Cloudmont Ski & Golf Resort

Mentone, Alabama

(Uploaded to YouTube by DeKalb Tourism)

There’s no craggy peak to admire above the two gentle 1,000-foot ski runs at Cloudmont, since 1970 a favorite destination for snowy southern comfort. The resort is tucked into the sloping southwestern end of Lookout Mountain, a ridge that stretches all the way to Tennessee. (The locals insist you can see seven states from the top; Johnny Cash immortalized it in his super-dark song “I Drove Her Out of My Mind.”)

Not far away from Cloudmont is Little River Canyon National Preserve, a tourist-choked summer getaway that in winter becomes a snow-blanketed place of solitude.

If You Go: Check ahead with the resort to make sure they’re open: For the past couple of years, skiing at the family-owned slope has been severely limited due to reduced snowfall and reported family illness. There are hotel rooms, lodges, and cabins for rent in and around nearby Fort Payne, a town once known as “The Sock Capital of the World” and, more recently, the home of the country music band Alabama.

Ski Valley

Mount Lemmon, Arizona

Just 60 miles north of the Mexico border, towering over Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, Mount Lemmon’s Ski Valley is a well-kept secret even to many people in Tucson, just an hour’s drive away.

Despite the burning desert just below, Mount Lemmon somehow manages to collect enough snow for a season that can extend well into March. Still, the winters here are unpredictable; that’s why the mountain doesn’t sell season passes. Lift tickets are sold only on-site, not online; the operators want to make sure you eyeball the conditions before putting your money down.

For women skiers, Mount Lemmon holds a special place: It’s named after botanist Sarah Plummer Lemmon, who climbed to the top in 1881.

If You Go: Mt. Lemmon Highway heads for the hills northeast of Tucson; three of the closest hotels to that gateway are Hilton properties: Hampton Inn & Suites Tucson East/Williams Center, Embassy Suites Tucson East, and Hilton Tucson East. There’s food on the mountain, but don’t miss Mt. Lemmon Cookie Cabin for, of course, the cookies. They also have pizza.

Ski Cloudcroft

Cloudcroft, New Mexico

Thirty miles to the west, the relentless gypsum dunes of White Sands National Monument sprawl across the desert landscape. Just to the northwest, at Trinity Site, the first atomic bomb caused windows here to rattle. But in Cloudcroft, 9,000 feet high in the Sacramento Mountains, nearly 8 inches of natural snow form the base for Ski Cloudcroft, New Mexico’s southernmost ski area.

Three ski lifts serve 25 trails — including eight beginner slopes — across a vertical drop of 700 feet. If you happen to visit during December, Cloudcroft prides itself on its holiday events, including a Christmas Village at the Sacramento Mountains Museum.

If You Go: The landmark Lodge at Cloudcroft has been welcoming VIPs like Clark Gable, Judy Garland, and Pancho Villa since 1899. There’s also a resident ghost: Rebecca, a red-haired chambermaid who met a bad end at the hands of her jealous lumberjack boyfriend. About 50 minutes north of Cloudcroft is the beautifully appointed Inn of the Mountain Gods, with lake and mountain views that will make you forget there’s a casino downstairs.

Big Bear Mountain Resort

Southern California

For generations of Southern Californians, it has become a wintertime rite of passage to go surfing in the morning and snow skiing at Big Bear that same afternoon. In fact, movie studios have known for a century there’s no need to schlep camera crews to the north for top-tier snow scenes; Big Bear, just 80 miles east of the Hollywood sign, starts getting snow by the foot as early as October.

Unlike most sunbelt ski resorts, which offer a single snow area, Big Bear has three: Snow Valley focuses on beginners, Snow Summit presents more challenging slopes for intermediate skiers plus spectacular views of Big Bear Lake, and Bear Mountain, with the area’s highest lifts, is recommended for advanced skiers, with Southern California’s only halfpipes and an unmatched vista of San Gorgonio Mountain.

If You Go: Lots of quaint bed-and-breakfasts have sprung up in and around Big Bear. Gold Mountain Manor is as homey as they come, with carved wood furniture and a timbered common room. Wyndham’s WorldMark Big Bear offers a full hotel experience and a complete range of winter activities. And Robinhood Resort, right in the middle of Big Bear Lake Village, is a convenient and less-expensive option.

Mauna Kea

Hawaii

From the snow-capped summit of Mauna Kea, whose name means “White Mountain,” you almost feel as if you could step off the edge and onto the beaches of Hawaii’s Big Island, outlined against the ocean below.

The Mauna Kea ski experience is like no other, and by that I mean you’re skiing atop a 13,803-foot-high dormant volcano that is sacred to the island’s original people and peppered with 13 of the world’s most advanced astronomical telescopes. Also, there are no lifts; you’ll need to carry your skis up most hills, no small feat when the oxygen level is around 60 percent of that at sea level.

Just getting to the summit is no simple matter: By some measures, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on Earth (not the highest — that’s Everest, — and only one person has ever tried to ski down that one). You’ll have to check with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, which limits the number of cars allowed each day and has rules about what they call “snow play.” After making sure the weather up there is safe, you’ll need a four-wheel-drive vehicle to climb the super-steep road, and you’ll also have to stop at a mid-mountain visitors center for a half-hour or so just to get your lungs accustomed to the thin air.

You know what? Just skip the skis. Get yourself to the top of Mauna Kea and soak in the rarified air and the wind whipping off the snow fields. (The last time I was there, I did notice some resourceful kids sliding down a slope on a flattened cardboard box.) Make it around sunset, and watch the profile of the mountain race across the ocean to the east.

Then fashion a snowball, throw it straight up, and go home to tell your friends you hurled one more than two miles into the air.

If You Go: If driving straight up a world-class mountain doesn’t appeal to you, numerous commercial tour companies are approved by the mountain’s administrators. Most will arrange stargazing tours atop the mountain.