Now it's not just me is it ... but this sounds like a ski resort for JR Ewing lookalikes, right? Not only are snowboard straps mandatory, but lack of a ten gallon hat is frowned upon!

Enough with the jesting ... Donner pitches itself perfectly as a budget family ski resort with lift tickets at least half the price of its bigger Lake Tahoe competitors. For this reason, we used the resort as the perfect technique training resort, good for carving improvement and jump tweaking.

Plus the view from the top's not all that bad also. With Donner Lake as a glorious backdrop, and the the dependable Tahoe evergreen forest all over, it seems like a dreamy view for half the price.

Another perk for Donner is they make a small but capable terrain park at the base of the resort, which for the majority of vacation boarders proves to be a very enjoyable challenge indeed. Much fun was had watching aspiring wannabes experimenting with 180s and tail grabs in the confines of an unpretentious boarding resort.