By Kathryn Reed

Five California resorts ranked in the top 20 for best North American ski area by readers of Ski magazine.

This is the 22nd annual survey. All the info is in the October issue.

Deer Valley took top honors.

The top California resort is Squaw Valley. They call it a skiers’ ski mountain with “unlimited challenges.” It came in No. 8 overall.

Next is Mammoth at No. 9, Heavenly No. 13, Northstar-at-Tahoe No. 16, and Alpine No. 30.

In specific categories Tahoe area resorts scored in:

Grooming — Northstar No. 4, Mammoth No. 6;

Terrain-variety — Squaw No. 2, Mammoth No. 4, Kirkwood, No. 19;

Value — Alpine No. 8;

Lifts — Mammoth No. 1, Squaw No. 8;

Access — Alpine No. 10;

Apres ski — Heavenly No. 3;

Off-hill activities — Heavenly No. 2;

Family programs — Northstar No. 4

Scenery — Heavenly No. 1, Squaw No. 7;

Terrain parks — Mammoth No. 1, Northstar No. 2.

Clearly the readers of Ski magazine are not considering Sierra-at-Tahoe, Homewood, Mount Rose or Sugar Bowl. They all deserve to have a spot in some of the above categories.

What seems more alarming is the categories the Tahoe resorts didn’t score in, like weather. With more than 300 days of sunshine, how can Tahoe resorts be excluded?

Other categories where Tahoe resorts didn’t measure up according to Ski readers are: snow, service, on-mountain food, lodging, dining, and overall satisfaction.

But then I don’t know anyone who has taken one of these surveys, so how authentic are the results?