China Peak, CA, Report: Fun in the Sun and Tons of Snow

Chair 1 at the base | Photo by Rene Jerez

This report is from Saturday, February 24, 2024

This past weekend, I drove to Fresno to check out China Peak Mountain Resort, California, a ski area in the gorgeous Sierra National Forest and just a few miles up the highway from the beautiful Shaver Lake. The resort has a base elevation of 7,030 feet and an incredible 1,679 feet of vertical. Located just outside Fresno, China Peak is an enjoyable winter playground featuring six lifts and was miraculously saved from destruction in the 2021 Creek Fire. Now part of the Indy and Cali Pass programs, China Peak is worth checking out and offers a great alternative to those in the Central Valley who have to trek up to the Lake Tahoe area to get their pow fixes in.

Conditions at the base were classic California conditions—no wind, partly cloudy, and nice crisp temps in the low 40s. The snow was in fantastic shape from snowfall earlier in the week and was packed powder in most places. For a Saturday as well, it was crowded but not overly so, and one thing I immediately noticed when I was getting ready in the parking lot was that China Peak has a total party atmosphere. I was getting pumped up to board!

After a short walk from the edge of the parking lot, I embarked on my first run of the day down Chair 1. One thing I did was to go in partially blind after studying the base map for less than a minute, and I had no idea about the Firebowl section of the resort until after I rode up Chair 1 and got to the top. Firebowl is a pretty mellow blue area that was super easy to access from the summit, with a cut trail leading right into the bowl. It is home to tons of uncut and untouched pow, and a now abandoned T-bar lift. There was also little to no crust on the powder, making it easy to ride on. Right off the bat, I fell in love with Firebowl and loved shredding my lines in and around the disused T-bar. I rode Academy down to Chair 5, which I promptly rode up to explore more of the resort.

Chair 5 and China Bowl | Photo by Rene Jerez

Chair 5 and the China Bowl trail were a blast! China Bowl is a groomed black diamond trail that wasn’t seeing much action by guests despite it being Saturday. One thing I immediately noticed after getting to the top was that Chair 5 is extremely close to the summit of China Peak, which looked like a pretty easy-to-boot pack to bring to the top, in addition to a cat track leading to the backside of the mountain. I pondered whether to at least enter in on Firebowl from the cat track, but I first paid my attention to the China Bowl trail. It was so fast to ride on, and the relative lack of guests in that section of the resort meant I could go as fast as I wanted and ride aggressively. The aggressive pitch heavily reminded me of Cornice Bowl at Mammoth, a trail I particularly love! I did a few laps up Chair 5 and a run down Kaiser, which was a lot of fun. After that, I checked out Chair 2. The Tamarack groomer trail was enjoyable, and I did a subsequent lap down before heading back to the base for a quick lunch. Additionally, China Peak has some seriously long cruisers to get back to base, which helps make the mountain feel spacious.

Looking down from the top of Chair 2 | Photos by Rene Jerez

Lunch at the lodge was surprisingly affordable for a ski area, and the corn dogs were amazing! After taking a bit of a break and taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi in the day lodge, I wasn’t in the mood to walk over to Chair 1, so I rode Chair 6 back up instead and Razorback back down to the base of Chair 1. I didn’t ride in Waterfall Bowl, but one thing I did notice is how fun it would be for tree-riding and skiing. I took Chair 1 back up for another Firebowl lap to get to Chair 5 and then did my cat track boot pack to drop into Firebowl. This was probably my first summit hike and drop-in, so I was a bit cautious and nervous walking over, but my worries quickly melted away as I dropped in. There was some serious off-piste bowl riding over there, and tons of fresh pow were still to ride on!

I finished up the afternoon, spending a lot of time doing more laps down China Bowl and Tamarack, and also did some laps down Ullman’s Alley to finish the day off. I was feeling pretty pooped by about 3:00 p.m., so I chilled at the base listening to the live music at the base. I did one final run down Firebowl to finish my day off with a nice off-piste pow run! My day at China Peak was really fun, and I can’t wait to see if I can return later in the season. This weekend and next week should be perfect for skiing and riding with the massive Sierra storms coming in.