Massive Snow To Palm Trees In 80 Minutes

Up on Echo and Donner summits, the current snow depth is around 15 feet (30 feet of snowfall compressed down over time). If you drive down the West Slope, you get to the Central Valley floor and its palm trees in about 80 minutes. That isn't unique in the world, but it is very rare.

Big Snow to Palm Trees in 80 Minutes

There are many places where you can drop lots of elevation in a relatively short drive. For example, you can go from over 10,000 feet on Maui to sea level in less distance. But there isn't huge snow up on the Haleakala summit.

There are likely places in the Andes and the Alps and the Himalayas where one can go from snow to palm trees in a relatively short distance. But most of those places don't get that much snow.

So the next time you make the drive, take a moment to marvel at the contrast between Tahoe snow and the warm palm-tree climate just down the mountain!