- land of extremes (CA)

- to start, down in the Southern Sierra, there is Mount Whitney and to the east is Death Valley. With the summer temps., it'll be 50 degrees at 14,000 ft. while in Death Valley it's 118 degrees. The vacationing 'Euros' put this on their itinerary to check out the 'oven' !  Heading north, Mammoth Ski Area regularly stays open to Memorial Day, due to its 11,000 foot summit.
Next, Lake Tahoe is another 'extreme' by being the largest alpine lake in
N.-AM., and is the second deepest, after Crater Lake. I almost forgot about Yosemite Valley - as it is one of the world's famous scenic locations, along with El Cap. & its big-wall climbs. Heading west, to the coast, is Maverick's big-wave surf spot. This has some of the biggest waves ridden in the world. 
As for myself, I was still skiing on Mt Lassen - with a temp. of 72 degrees, and a scorching 107 degrees, at Redding. This is less than an hour's drive away! The last greatness is of course, Mt. Shasta !  Lou Dawson in his Wild Snow book, lists Shasta as "the best ski mountaineering mountain in N. America".