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It's summer: Time to hit the ski slopes
Trail passes are $3-$18, bike rentals are $15-$35 and guided tours are $50-$120. Lodging is available in two- and three-bedroom cottages at the base of the Tamarack mountain and in luxury hotel rooms in the Members Lodge and Spa. You'll find motels in Donnelly and Cascade.
Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Sandpoint features a "bungee jump trampoline'' that allows even beginners to perform double and triple flips while suspended from bungee cords and bouncing 30 feet in the air. The resort's Mountain Activity Center also has a climbing wall, giant checkers, volleyball, horseshoes, bocce and croquet.
The resort sells a summer fun pass for $15 that covers unlimited scenic chair lift rides, two tries on the climbing wall and a turn on the bungee jump trampoline. Summer accommodations include the upscale Selkirk Lodge at the resort and condo-style units at the slopeside White Pine Lodge, while several motels are located 11 miles away in Sandpoint on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho's largest lake.
On the Net:
- Sun Valley Resort: http://www.sunvalley.com or (800) 786-8259.
- Tamarack: http://www.tamarackidaho.com or (877) 826-7376.
- Schweitzer: http://www.schweitzer.com or (800) 831-8810.
California, Nevada
In a normal year, the mountain bikes would be coming out in the Sierra Nevada.
But this winter has been anything but normal along the California-Nevada line, where 11,053-foot Mammoth Mountain picked up 55 feet of powder. With lakes, golf courses, bike trails and hiking areas blanketed with snow, Mammoth plans to stay open for skiing until the Fourth of July, as it did last year. Then, the place will turn to summer activities.
By the time the daffodils bloom in the town of Mammoth Lakes (elevation: 7,800 feet), the runoff will have filled scores of lakes, rivers and creeks. There are two golf courses -- one 18-hole and one 9-hole -- that offer magnificent views and challenging water hazards.
Horses, 4-wheel-drive vehicles, bikes and anything that floats can be rented. Hiking and rock climbing are popular as well.
Mammoth Lakes has about 8,500 rental units, and half of its tourists come in summer, with 81 percent of them from Southern California. Many own fractional shares in resorts so they can ski in winter and escape the heat in summer.
Along with places to eat in town, Mammoth boasts a European-style village for shopping, dining and nightlife.
At Lake Tahoe, summer activities turn to the lake -- and golf.
A dozen courses are less than an hour from the resorts, including Edgewood Tahoe on the lake shore within sight of Tahoe's casino row, and home to the annual American Century Celebrity Golf Championship.
Two are located on ski resort properties -- Northstar-at-Tahoe and at The Resort at Squaw Creek -- both on the California side of Tahoe's north shore. Northstar's course was designed by Robert Muir Graves; Squaw's by Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Squaw's charming Tyrolean-flavored village offers opportunities for strolling, eating, and shopping.
At Tahoe's south shore, Heavenly Mountain Resort has a gondola that carries riders 2.4 miles up the mountain from the 7,200-foot base to the 10,067-foot peak for eating, hiking and wall-climbing overlooking the lake.
At the 9,123-foot level is an observation deck, and at the base is Heavenly Village, with more than 40 shops, places to eat and entertainment venues. The Nevada line and the south shore's high-rise hotel-casinos are a five-minute walk.
Tahoe offers everything from sunbathing to parasailing. Rent a boat or fish for trout or salmon in lakes, streams or the Truckee River.
On the Net:
- Mammoth Mountain: http://www.mammothmountain.com or (800) 626-6684.
- Squaw Valley USA: http://www.squaw.com or (800) 545-4350.
- Northstar-at-Tahoe: http://www.northstarattahoe.com or (800) 466-6784.
- Heavenly Mountain Resort: http://www.skiheavenly.com or (800) 432-8365.
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