Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25044
colu mn: urban access sa n fra ncisco + los ang eles text: rick blick photo: gretchen coombs horseback ride the coast Ride the awesome trails and beaches along the California Coast. Inside a one-hour drive north or south of San Francisco you can find multiple stables that offer lessons and rentals. All are reasonably pr-iced and quite thri lling. Some options: Chanslor Sta bles, 707-875- 1 hour radius 3520 (great beach and canyon rides); Miwok Stables, 41 5-383-8048; Golden Gate Park Stables, 41 5-668- 7360; Del Mar Equestrian Center, 41 5-726-6995; Roy Markegard Riding Center, 41 5-726-4928; Mar Vista Stables, 41 5-991 -4224. skate the streets The world's most hi lly city offers some of the best urban in-l ine skating in the country. From the rolling hills of Golden Gate Park to the madness of the Friday Night Skate which attracts up to 400 blading maniacs, this is one great skate town. Friday Night Skate meets every Friday at the Ferry Bui lding (at Embarcadero and Justin Herman Plaza) at 8: 30PM. You will meet some great people while ro lling through Pier 39, Chestnut and Union street bars, Broadway and Stockton tunnels, on to Union Square and SoMa, finishing off back at the Ferry ' Building. Takes about two hours. Sundays at Golden Gate Park are epic as well. Other great skate spots include the Presidio area near the Golden Gate Bridge and Crissy Field. Where to rent (all 415 area code): Skates on Haight, 752-8375; Nuvo Colors, 244-9800; Skate Pro, 752-8776; Marina Skate & Snowboard, 567-8400; Golden Gate Park Skates & Bike, 668-1 117. ski the west A short 200-mile drive from downtown San Francisco is some of the best skiing and snow boarding in the country. The season usually starts in mid-November and can last all the way till June. Strong winter storms start off the coast of Alaska and work their way down the Western mountain ranges dropping up to 40 feet (480 inches) of nat ural snowfall a year at any of the following resorts in the Tahoe region. North Lake Ta hoe: Squaw Valley USA is the steepest and most extreme, 91 6-583-6985; wind protected Northstar at Tahoe is the family moun ta in, 91 6-562-1 01 0; Alpine Meadows for fine pow der-and it now al lows snowboarders, 91 6-583- 4232; Sugar Bowl is closest to the Bay Area at Donner Pass, and is one of. Californ ia's oldest ski resorts, 91 6-426-9000. South Lake Ta hoe: Heavenly Va lley has the area's biggest vertical, 702-586-7000. Ki rkwood Ski Resort for the steep ch utes and usually great powder, 209-258-3000. 3 hour radius 5 h 0 u r radius surf hawaii The Hawaiian Islands are just a four-a nd-a-ha lf-hour di rect flight from San Francisco. The North Shore's big winter swell started early this year-with monster surf raging back in October. Unusual: the South Shore-normally quiet until sum mer-is also seeing some winter wave action. Thanks EI Nino!