Dodge Ridge, CA, Report: Off Piste Pow and Impeccably Groomed Cruisers

Report from Tuesday, January 16th, 2024

This past Tuesday I made the trek to a new ski area that I haven’t been to—Dodge Ridge Mountain Resort, located in the Stanislaus National Forest near the town of Pinecrest. This hidden gem of a resort with a base elevation of 6,600 feet features a nicely sized 862 skiable acres, eight chairlifts, and during last winter when California was getting dumped on nonstop it was consistently one of the top ski areas in North America for total snowfall, boasting an insane 608 inches. Formerly independent until 2022, the resort is now part of the California Mountain Resort Company and participates in both the Indy and Cali Ski Passes.

The drive up to the resort was an easy and short three-hour drive from the Bay Area with little to no traffic, snaking through an endless sea of almond tree farms and cattle ranches until you hit Sonora when it starts to gradually become more uphill as you hit the Sierras. Conditions that morning at the base were amazing, with it being slightly overcast with little to no wind and plenty of natural snow. Going snowboarding the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day has some serious perks, as the resort was light on guests and throughout the entire day it felt like I had my own private ski resort. After a short and pleasant check-in at the ticket office, I headed straight to the Motherlode chair to start my day.

Even though quite a bit of the pow looked already had tracks in it from over the long weekend there was plenty of pow all over the lower sections of the mountains, especially in the steeper sections of Silver Bowl where there was plenty of snow to hit off-piste! There was a good 1.5 – 2 inch laying of fresh dusting over packed powder which was an absolute joy to shred in and leave my lines. The Golly Gully and Ry’s Run trails were also similar with plenty of pow to chop up. I probably spent a good hour just lapping this section of the mountain over and over. The groomed portions of the trail were immaculate and beautiful cord that was just an absolute pleasure to ride on. Despite being a green-rated trail, you can pick up some serious speed on Clementine as well.

After getting my fill of the lower mountain terrain, I rode Motherlode up and then rode the High Road trail down my first black diamond of the day, Waterfall which was a lot of fun to ride! This part of the resort is serviced by a two-seater called the Gold Rush chair which was home to a lot of blue and black diamond-rated cruisers that had amazing snow coverage and were a blast to shred down. There also were little pockets of untouched pow in the trees, and I did make a few ventures popping in and out of them. I enjoyed ripping down Golden Nugget Bowl, and the lack of other guests meant I could do a lot of wide and sweeping turns down the trail.

After getting my fill of the terrain that was available on the Gold Rush chair I made my way over to the Prospector Chair which sits at the mid-mountain lodge. Prospector takes you up to the summit of Dodge Ridge and home to a ton of fun long cruisers! Like all of the other groomed trails available they were in immaculate condition with tons of fresh pow still in the trees. I didn’t hit any of them, but there seemed to be a lot of tree stumps in the trees skier’s right of the prospector chair that, when filled out with more snow, looks like they’d be an absolute blast to grind off of. Stage Coach to Exhibition was my favorite cruiser trail and I did quite a few laps down it before taking a break for lunch.

For my afternoon session I headed straight back to the upper mountain, but this time I did some exploration around the Boulder Creek chair where a lot of the more expert terrain at Dodge Ridge is located. The High Noon trail was pretty tough and choppy on a snowboard, but I can see it being amazing if you’re a big mogul skier. Unfortunately due to the slow start of the season, the Granite Bowl hadn’t opened up yet and needed to be filled in more with snow, so I could only ride down via the Amazing Grace cat track that sits off to the side. By this time of day though there was a little bit of snow, especially in the upper mountain areas and Tuesday turned out to be my first snow day of the season. I spent most of the afternoon doing laps back at the Prospector chair via Rocky’s Road. My favorite run was definitely Bobby’s Freedom Run and with its steep pitch, I could pick up some serious speed there.

I picked the perfect day to check out Dodge Ridge, and I can’t wait to come back later in the season. They offer an awesome, uncrowded alternative to the hustle and bustle of the Lake Tahoe resorts with a more laid-back and old-school sense of what skiing and snowboarding were about before the era of the mega pass. If you’re in the greater Bay Area it’s the perfect ski resort for a day trip!

Snowfall Totals

Screen Shot: Dodge Ridge, 1/19/2023

Weather

Screen Shot: NOAA, 1/19/2023