Location

There is a lot to dislike about Los Angeles - the hideous traffic, the revolting smog, the city’s one track mind (movies, movies, movies) - but this weekend I was reminded of what I LOVE about this city.

On Saturday we took our dog, Lacy, to the beach. It was beautiful down there. The sun was shining, the waves were glassy and clean, and it was warm enough to wear t-shirts. Then yesterday, we drove up into the mountains and went for a hike in the snow. It was perfect - two to three feet of crisp, white, untouched snow. Lacy was beside herself. She spent two hours leaping, bounding, frolicking, prancing, digging, diving, sliding, sinking and generally being crazy.

What astounds me, and what made me fall in love with LA in the first place, is that both the ocean and the snowy mountains are within an hour's drive of our house in Hollywood.

So where did we go to find the snow? We drove up to Mountain High Ski Resort just near the town of Wrightwood. It is Southern California's closest ski resort with no mountain driving. The resort is just 20 minutes off the 15. From LA you take the 10, the 60 or the 210 Freeway East to the 15 North, exit Highway 138 West and make a left on Highway 2. Mountain High is just three miles past the town of Wrightwood.

On this trip we wanted to introduce Lacy to snow so we decided to hike rather than ski (skiing was probably a bit advanced for a dog). There are plenty of places part way up the mountain where you can park and go for a hike. We stopped for a snowy picnic before going 'off-piste' up the mountain through the trees. It was beautiful. And on the way down we found an abandoned, lifeless rubber dinghy which doubled as the perfect snow sled.

On previous occasions we have skied at Mountain High. Although it isn't the greatest ski resort in the world (I'm comparing it to the French Alps) it does have some really fun runs and it is so close to LA that you can justify going up for just half a day if you're too busy to go for longer. They even have snow tubing (which we haven't tried yet but it looks like great fun!) For more information visit http://www.mthigh.com/.

So before you write off LA as a smog-ridden, airhead city, remember that it is far more versatile than you might think. With ocean on one side, mountains on the other and sunshine almost every day, there are numerous opportunities for some great, outdoor adventures.