Snow fun doesn't require blizzard of preparation

It's cheap, it's easy, and boy, is it fun - sliding down a hill on a saucer.Inner tubes and sleds make for inexpensive family fun with little to no skill level involved, and a number of parks and resorts just a short drive away are open for winter business.Perhaps the cheapest thrill, aside from jumping out of the car at first site of a snowy spot, is the impromptu snow park facility adjacent to the Valero Station in Cisco Grove. Clusters of families having fun are easily visible from Interstate 80, and that view tends to draw more motorists headed to and from weekend destinations. In the Know: Where to go to snow-tubingBoreal Mountain Resort - Playland Sledding areaWhere: 19659 Boreal Ridge Road, TruckeeOpen: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. dailyCost: $15Call: (530) 426-3666Web site: www.rideboreal.comNorthstar at Tahoe - Tubing CenterWhere: 100 Northstar Drive, TruckeeOpen: 12-4 p.m. daily Cost: $17 first hour, $9 each additional hourCall: (800) GO-NORTHWeb site: www.northstartahoe.comSquaw Valley USA - High Camp Tubing AreaWhere: 1960 Squaw Valley Road, Olympic ValleyOpen: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. dailyCost: $10 for tubing (doesn't include cable car pass)Call: (530) 583-6985Web site: www.squawvalleyusa.comKirkwood Mountain Resort - Slide Mountain Tubing HillWhere: 1501 Kirkwood Meadows Drive, KirkwoodOpen: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturdays and holidays, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. SundaysCost: $10 per hourCall: (209) 258-6000Web site: www.kirkwood.comHeavenly - Adventure Peak Snow ParkWhere: Corner of Wildwood and Saddle, South Lake TahoeOpen: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. dailyCost: $20/hour tubing, $7/hour sledding; price does not include ticket for Heavenly Gondola Call: (775) 586-7000Web site: www.skiheavenly.comSoda Springs Mountain Resort - Tubing, Planet KidsWhere: Exit Interstate 80 at Soda SpringsOpen: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. dailyCost: $15 tubing, $10 Planet KidsCall: (530) 426-3901Web site: www.skisodasprings.comSierra-at-Tahoe - TubingWhere: 1111 Sierra-at-Tahoe Road, Twin BridgesOpen: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Monday-ThursdayCost: $17 for two hoursCall: (530) 659-7453Web site: www.sierraattahoe.comYuba Gap SNO-PARKWhere: 41776 Yuba Gap Drive, Immigrant GapOpen: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. dailyCost: $5 parking permit, $1 per personCall: (530) 389-8241Web site: www.sno-park.comCisco Grove ValeroWhere: 85 Cisco Road, unit B, Cisco GroveOpen: DailyCost: free, tubes and sleds available for purchaseCall: (530) 426-3221"They want to enjoy sledding and the snow," Kamal Narayan, Valero manager, said of families who stop by. "Weekends are crazy here, they're busy."Sleds and tubes are sold on site, but visitors aren't charged to partake in the snowy slope fun on the hill and meadow adjacent to the gas station. The Valero Station is located at 85 Cisco Road, unit B, in Cisco Grove. Another low-cost option is to take your pick from an extensive list of California SNO-PARK sites available at www.ohv.parks.ca.gov. The California Department of Parks and Recreation operates 21 sites in Placer, Nevada, Alpine, Sierra, El Dorado, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Fresno counties. SNO-PARK permits are required for each vehicle parked at a site and are sold as $5 daily permits and $25 seasonal permits. Nevada County SNO-PARK sites include: the Donner Summit SNO-PARK, located beyond the Boreal Inn frontage road; the Donner Lake site, located on Donner Pass Road at the Donner Memorial State Park; and the Yuba Gap SNO-PARK, located at 41776 Yuba Gap Drive in Immigrant Gap.Because the park is privately owned, a $1-per-person charge is added to the $5 vehicle permit, according to store manager Lisa Silsby. Visitors are welcome to bring their own tubes and sleds or to purchase them on site. "It's a cheap family activity," Silsby said. "You can do it with your kids. Everybody enjoys it - It's fun."The Yuba Gap SNO-PARK is open daily.Many area mountain resorts also offer tubing and sledding options. For a few more dollars resorts take the work out of huffing and puffing up the hill with tow ropes to pull tubers to higher elevations for steeper rides down the hill. Both Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe resorts offer tubing on an hourly or two-hour basis, and use of a tube is included in the hourly fee. "It's really a great time for all ages," said Nicole Belt, communication managers for both resorts. "We see everything from kids to groups of teenagers to adults and lots of families." Weekends and warmer days tend to be popular tubing days, Belt said. Sierra-at-Tahoe allows adults and small children to double up on a tube, but a 36-inch minimum height requirement is enforced for all Northstar tubers. Belt suggested that tubing is a good reward or alternative for children who tire or lose interest after a morning skiing or snowboarding, a suggestion shared by Savannah Cowley, Squaw Valley USA spokeswoman. "It's a great alternative for a family who comes to a ski resort and has members who don't want to ski," Cowley said. For the price of a cable car ride up to the High Camp Tubing Arena and a $10 tubing fee, Squaw visitors can slide down the hill to their hearts' content on one of the resort's custom snowtubes."They're those big, huge rubber tires and we have tons of them," Cowley said. Sledding seems to be a popular amusement at Boreal Mountain Resort, home of the Playland sledding area, according to Jon Slaughter, marketing coordinator for Boreal and Soda Springs mountain resorts. "Kids of all ages and adults do it," he said. "It's really fun and they just hike up and down all day long."Tubing takes many forms for children at nearby Soda Springs, where younger children can visit Planet Kids. The kid zone offers, among other things, a smaller tubing hill, a tube carousel and mini-snowmobile rentals. "The tubing and sledding are good family things where you can go out and have fun," Slaughter said.Loryll Nicolaisen can be reached at lorylln@goldcountrymedia.com.