June Mountain

Quiet and emptiness top the list: the atmosphere is described as about as close as you will get to having your own private ski area. One practical advantage matters more than it sounds - shelter from wind. When lifts at neighbouring Mammoth go on wind hold, June frequently keeps running in full. The staff are friendly and the small family-run feel survives. Around 80 percent of the terrain is pitched at beginners and intermediates, and the top gives views over June and Gull lakes towards Mono Lake.

Lifts are the sore point: the one out of the base is long and slow, and nobody wants to ride it repeatedly in a day, while several older installations are plainly overdue for replacement. The lodges are dated too, and there is far less terrain than at big sister Mammoth. The lower J1 pod, sitting low, holds snow worse than the rest of the hill and is at times partly or entirely unskiable.