Skiing June Mountain: The Spirit of Glissé
I still remember the first day I stepped into a pair of skis. I was a nervous ten-year-old, left slopeside by my friend’s mother to wait for a weekend program for kids who had never skied. My friend was nowhere to be seen. He was already off in the fresh snow up the mountain. What I did not know, standing there with cold feet, was that I was about to start a love affair that would last a lifetime.
There is nothing like linking turns down a steep slope in fresh snow and bright sun. “Floating” and “flying” do not do it justice: the cold air, the pole plant at the top of a slope that is daring you, the strain and release of each turn, and the easy flow of letting the skis run. The best description I ever found was in the pages of Powder magazine. I have long since lost the copy, but I remember what they called it: the Spirit of Glissé. Glissé just sounds like skiing.
Where kids find it
June Mountain is a mile from the chalet, two minutes by car. It is a relaxed, uncrowded mountain with about 2,500 vertical feet for every level and views straight across the loop to Carson Peak. Lift lines are short, the feel is family-first, and kids 12 and under ski free all season with a no-cost child pass (details here). It is a wonderful place for a kid to find their own Spirit of Glissé, and a forgiving place for a parent to find theirs again. When you want something bigger, Mammoth is thirty minutes south.
For experienced backcountry skiers, there is one more reason. With a guide and avalanche training, you can ski from the top of June Mountain down through the backcountry to the chalet’s hot tub. That story is on our winter page.
Skiing has been my exercise, my escape and my test of courage. It has meant countless days with great friends on the mountain and after the last run. Somewhere on the open slopes of June Mountain, your kids might find that feeling too. When they do, you will see it on their faces in the lift line, and you will know exactly what it is. Ask about winter dates.