The Los Angeles sights, attractions, and vistas that are postcard-iconic seem countless, given our region's size, girth, and greatness, but it is hard to top one postcard that's shown staying power throughout the years: The snow-capped San Bernardinos in the distance, with downtown LA or a line of palm trees in the foreground.
It's a reminder that our sunny playplace is just a couple of hours away from some cold-style recreation, a fact that Ski Dazzle plays a part in reminding us about each early December. As it will again, on Dec. 4, 5, 6, and 7, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Would a non-SoCaler be surprised to hear that a huge ski and snowboard expo lands in sunny LA each year? Perhaps, but our driving-close slopes, which include Big Bear, Snow Summit, Mammoth Mountain, June Mountain, Badger Pass, and even Tahoe, tell a different tale: We like winter here in the land of rays and beach days.
Ski Dazzle will have board after board (after board after board) for sale, poles of all sorts, helmets, togs, and bargains on the whole plethora of items one needs to take the mountain.
Plus? Free lessons on the 60-foot Snow Summit Ski School Ramp, film previews, wintry cooking demos, instruction for the littlest snowbirds, and other flurry-worthy happenings dot Ski Dazzle's schedule.
And look for reps from all of the snowy hotels and destinations, from across California and beyond our fair state's borders, to talk up their slopes, lifts, and after-ski fun times. You'll leave laden with brochures and trip tips, so that should get you daydreaming about your next new resort.
For sure, those frosty peaks beyond the downtown skyline -- we're looking at you, dear Mount Baldy -- tempt SoCalers to leave their surfboards and sunny ways behind for a colder day. It's good that the 51-year-running Ski Dazzle schusses by every now and then to help us gear up, literally.
