Olympic Valley, home of the Squaw Valley Ski Resort, showing a dusting of snow.

After getting off to a slow start, it seems the ski season at the Lake Tahoe area is finally getting going. Last week's big dump assured good skiing and snowboarding for the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Just as the 1976 Judgment of Paris taste test showed the French that Napa Valley produces high quality wine, the 1960 Winter Olympics revealed that the Lake Tahoe area has world class facilities for snow sports. Hosting the Eighth Winter Olympiad was a longshot for Squaw Valley, but it managed to beat out European ski meccas like Innsbruck and St. Moritz. Squaw has changed a bit since then but it is still home to the best skiing in the West Coast.

A few more shots after the jump.

You get a bit of a Euro/James Bond kind of feel approaching the upper terminal of the cable cars.

Open air ice skating near the top of Squaw Valley at 8200 feet.

A winter wonderland.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe from a rest stop on the road to Reno.

Donner Lake is also very nice and it's a little bit easier to get to from the Bay Area. The next few months should be a great time to visit.