Local ski resort available for quick day excursion

Just a few miles away from Fresno, China Peak offers attractions for snow sports enthusiasts, as well as for anyone who is looking to have a good time. The resort is located near Huntington Lake in Lakeshore, California, and is the Central Valley’s premier ski destination.

First opened in 1958 China Peak was named after the mountain, Chinese Peak. Later, in 1981 the resort was purchased by the Snow Summit company and the name was changed to Sierra Summit. After that, it was sold in the spring of 2010 and the original China Peak name was restored.

Lyndsie Stocker, a worker in the guest services building shares about why she wanted to work at China Peak. Stocker has worked at China Peak for quite a while and has experienced all of the changes the resort has been through. She also explains the positives and negatives she faces at her job.

“As a kid, I grew up skiing here, and I really liked the mountains so I thought it would be cool to work here,” Stocker said. “I have been working at China Peak for ten years and I have really liked it. I just love the winter, the happy people, and the resort life. Most of the time people are easy to work with, but there is always some of those people who don’t cooperate. Overall, I really like my job at China Peak.”

China Peak also offers an inn with slopeside lodging just steps from the lifts. At the inn, there are multiple room arrangements, as well as a complimentary breakfast for the guests. Not only does the resort have an inn, but they also have an RV park.

Growing up in a country known for its skiing, Anna Pettersson is surprised by the quality of the resort. Pettersson is a first time guest to China Peak and she enjoys the open ski areas and all the snow.

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“I grew up in Sweden,” Pettersson said. “I lived right next to the skiing slopes and so I got in a lot of practice. In fact, I have been skiing with my family since I was seven months old. This is also my first time to China Peak. My host family has been showing me around and I have really liked it. I like the large open skiing areas as well as the snow which is pretty good for America.”

The resort draws in many, including a number of first timers. China Peak provides quite a few different lessons to assist the many different needs. There are 450 skiable acres, seven ski lifts two moving carpets and one ski pull. However, very rarely are they all open due to poor snow conditions.

Working at China Peak is a great way to improve skills. For Tony Vasquez, working in the rental shop gave him the opportunity to improve his people skills. Vasquez is working his second year at the resort and likes the weather, the fresh air, and the people.

“I always wanted to try snowboarding and working at China Peak was a way that I could do it for free,” Vasquez said. “Another reason that I wanted to work here was to improve my people skills. I have been critiqued by my main employer who said I needed improvement in that area, so I thought the rental shop was a good place to improve those skills.”

China Peak does not have every luxury that other ski resorts have, but it definitely has plenty. Skilled skier Rick Insco has been to many other ski resorts but still loves China Peak. Insco lives just a few minutes away so it is convenient for him to go skiing pretty often.

“I love that fact that I can escape from town and come up to China Peak to enjoy a beautiful day in the sun to ski,” Insco said. “I have been skiing for over 30 years and have skied all over the place. However, there is nothing quite like China Peak. One thing that I wish China Peak had was a detachable quad which is a different kind of chairlift that would increase efficiency.”

Avid snow boarder, Daniel Ayres, ’17, feels that China Peak provides a great atmosphere for anyone who visits the resort. However, he dislikes that in previous years their snow has been artificially made. For him, the fact that it is man made puts the resort further down on the list for the best ski resort.

“I have only been snow boarding for about four years,” Ayres said. “However, in those few years I have gone up to China Peak a lot. In fact, I will probably go up about 20 times a season. I have never tried skiing before, but it looks like a lot of fun. In my opinion, skiing looks easier than snow boarding, but it also looks really interesting. Also, China Peak is the only resort I have snow boarded, but I hope to sometime in the future visit others.”

China Peak is not just open in the winter, it is also open in the summer time. They host weddings and mud runs. They also have disc golf and mountain biking courses.

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This writer can be reached via email: Braden Bell