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Ski · Nordic · Backcountry · United States
California · lift-served terrain

Donner Ski Ranch

1,441 feet of lift-served vertical, from a base of 6,927 ft to a summit of 8,368 ft. Measured from the lowest and highest lift terminal on this mountain — not a box around a map pin — and cut into 4 five-hundred-foot bands.

1,441
ft vertical
6,927
ft base
8,368
ft summit
8
uphill lifts
1,777
footprint acres

The column

4 bands · base to summit
6,500–7,000392 ac · 5.2° · WSW1,338 mm
7,000–7,500934 ac · 14.4° · WSW1,347 mm
7,500–8,000431 ac · 18.0° · SW1,396 mm
8,000–8,50020 ac · 25.1° · SSW1,458 mm
under 15° easier 15–25° more difficult 25–33° most difficult over 33° expert bar length = acres · fill = elevation
NESW
Bands
4
All lifts
8
Lift length
6.5 km
Steepest band
25.1°
Operator
—
Coordinates
39.3008, -120.3326

Band by band

slope, aspect and winter normal
Band (ft)AcresSlope° RatingAspectDeg NDJFM mm
6,500–7,0003925.2easierWSW2441,338
7,000–7,50093414.4easierWSW2361,347
7,500–8,00043118.0more difficultSW2191,396
8,000–8,5002025.1most difficultSSW2061,458

Slope and aspect are the Horn 3×3 method on a ~13 m DEM. A band's aspect is the direction of the mean unit vector, not the mean of the angles. NDJFM mm is the PRISM 1991–2020 November–March precipitation normal at that height — liquid equivalent, not snow depth.

How this mountain gets scored

the verification station
Css Lab SNOTEL (428:CA:SNTL) is 4.1 km away at 6,890 ft — 1,478 ft below this summit. It reports hourly precipitation, snow water equivalent and temperature at a surveyed elevation, which is the only truth at height that does not have to be interpolated first. Forecasts for this mountain will be scored there, and the score published whether or not it flatters.

Nearby

Boreal Mountain Resort 4 km Soda Springs 5 km Tahoe Donner Downhill Ski Area 8 km Palisades Tahoe Olympic Valley 16 km Northstar at Tahoe Resort 18 km Palisades Tahoe Alpine Meadows 19 km

Fly this mountain in 3D → · ← All 26 ski areas in California · How these numbers are measured

FORECAST SLOPES
Ski and winter sports weather for the United States. Part of the Forecast Network.
BUILT 2026-09-08T19:40:35Z