Where to live in California?

On the other side of the tunnel from Berkeley. And yes, I have a house on donner summit like 3 mins from sugar bowl. And 2:15 was in the summer with absolutely no traffic haha, but I'd say in the winter average is between 2:45 and 3. And to the guy that asked about the

peninsula, my dad lives there and I'm a good hour or 1:10 closer

I know there is good surfing there. But if you send some kook from the east coast out into solid Ocean Beach he will die. The waves and water temps aren't as conducive to beginning surfers in Northern/Central Cal as they are in SoCal.

I know it is difficult, but you have to realize there are people who ski Mammoth 30-50 days a year from Socal.  The pass is 650, the pricey part is getting a ski lease, or dealing with hotels all the time.  But people do it.  I drive at least twice a month, and any weekend I don't go I get at least one day a Mammoth.  I am in the office 9-5, and it is tiring but I make it work, and I know lots of other people who do to.  If you go over to TGR you will find a big community of folks from socal who ski Mammoth 30-50 days, and hit Baldy a lot too.  It does take money, but the hardest thing is the drive time.  It's worth it to me though.  Having said that, I do know people who did what you did:  Moved there and stopped skiing much.

I have a ski lease that our group gets for 6 months every year.  It costs about 300 a month per person, with 6 people.  Girlfriends are free, and mine goes with me just about all the time.  I'm lucky that way. 

The other way to do it, without a ski lease, is get a group of 3-4 people together, and charge it 2-3 weekends a month, staying at motel 6, leaving Saturday at 3 am.  I know people who do that too. 

The bottom line is that being a socal/mammoth guy takes a certain level of commitment.  You really have to want to do it.  I don't hit the bars much anymore, which is actually nice.  It means I can ski more and not worry about the hangover.

I went from skiing 120 days a year to skiing 35-40.  I like my life, and I love the surf in the summer, but it is not for everyone.

In college I went to UCSB, and skied Mammoth 2 weekends  a month.  We had a ski team  which had a house.  It was college living, sometimes 20-30 people on a crowded weekend, but we made it work.

The point is, people do make it work down here, and Mammoth is sick, it just takes a commitment.

I would rather live in socal, drive to Mammoth for 30-40 days, than live anywhere on the east coast.  I would rather ski Mammoth 35 days than Stowe 50 days.

I agree wholeheartedly with your point on surfing.  Surfing is VERY hard to learn .  I came from the east to UCSB, and picked it up, but it really takes time.  You have to be able to go several days a week, for a year or two before you start to become competent.  For this reason, norcal is a tough place.  The waves are big, and the weather is nasty.  To learn to surf, you really need to live within 20 minutes of the beach.  There are people who live an hour away who do it, but that is really tough.  It is much easier to live an hour from the snow and be a skier, than an hour from the surf and be a surfer.  Socal has fewer days when the winds destroy the waves, and overall far more surfable days.  It is much easier to learn in a place like Huntington.  If you want to learn to surf, the only place I would want to live up north would be Santa Cruz.

i got racked soooooo hard at natty bridges yesterday...that was the gnarrest spot i've ever surfed.