Big Bear Blog

Every year I make the same resolutions: Attempting to stick to a bullet-point list of good intentions that I quickly forget because they aren’t much fun to keep. This year I decided to try a different approach – make my resolutions snow-centric! Things I know I won’t forget and I am committed to keeping.

1) Ski mid-week. Or rather ‘call in sick’ more. Mid-week is the best time to ride: Crowds are chill and lift lines are short. A word of warning – apply sunscreen. You don’t want that goggle tan emblazoned on your cheeks when you return to the office. Even if your boss knows, be cool!

2) Ride somewhere new. I get into the habit of riding the same runs over and over again. This year, I resolve to venture onto a run I may have overlooked in the past – like the Wedge at Bear or Log Chute at Summit. 

3) Become proficient at another snowsport. While I am an alpine skier through and through, I took up snowboarding a few years ago. It made for a memorable and challenging season. This year, I resolve to learn to Telemark. There is nothing more stunning than watching my friend Hector lay down some sweet telemark turns.

4) Take a lesson. Even though I have been skiing since I was 5, I know a lesson will fine tune my riding. Last year I took a mogul clinic and learned a few tricks to use my edges more effectively.

5) Ride with the girls once a week. My girlfriends and I have decided to get together one day a week and ride. Sorry boys – it’s just us girls. Not because we don’t like you, we just don’t think you’ll be able to keep up!

6) Learn to tune my own gear. It’s like taking care of your bike – understanding how the equipment functions helps understanding how to use it best.

7) Ride alone more. When I first moved to California I didn’t know anyone else who skied so I rode alone. I moved through the singles line, got in more laps and met some of the coolest riders on the mountain. One afternoon I hooked up with a bunch of locals: We ducked the ropes and skied the trees the rest of the day. In the parking lot, cheeks aching from grins we exchanged email addresses and still keep in touch. While riding with friends is cool, sometimes going it alone can lead to a pretty cool adventure.

Happy New Year!
Earning my turns – Glade Girl

Last week’s storm dumped snow all over the San Bernardino Mountains. It happened again last night, and it completely changed the look of the mountains to a frosty and white atmosphere.

That wasn’t the only change… attitudes changed dramatically once Big Bear received enough powder to open the resorts and bring skiers, boarders and sledders up to play in the fresh snow. Piles of plowed ice and snow line the streets and it’s a slow ride to get through town, but the locals are smiling and enjoying the beginning of the season. Snow is all that is needed; the rest is up to you!

Big Bear didn’t get any snow in November, however it must have been held up until now, because we got all caught up in just two days. Well, I can tell you one thing…we caught up big time…we truly are experiencing winter wonderland conditions.

It doesn’t matter how you play in the powder, everything is better when it’s fresh and we have lots here now and we have more storms on the way. I know times are hard all over…but up here on our mountain…life is good! 

Spreading the love, rev

It just keeps coming down! It feels like this winter is going to make up for past season shortfalls. Layer upon white layer of Utah dry snow: Monday’s storm set up a good base, Tuesday’s temps kept it nice and dry and today’s dump allowed Bear and Summit to open even more terrain. I spent most of the last three days at Bear Mountain looking for freshies and tracking the glades just off-piste.

Mid-afternoon I joined a few friends for laps on Gambler. We quickly laid a trail up ‘boot hill’ so we could get the goods from the top of Chair 3. Winds buffeted us as we dropped skiers-left and kindly filled in our tracks by the time we circled back for more. After we burned our thighs out climbing the ‘hill,’ we looked to Showtime for more knee-deep turns. It delivered. I stayed tight to the chair line and found a few face shots near closing time. This might just be the winter we talk about for years to come. Better get out here soon so you can have an epic story to tell about the winter of 08-09!

Earning my turns – Glade Girl

 Big Bear is absolutely getting dumped on. I would say Big Bear accumulated well over three feet of natural snowfall in the last three days. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say four feet or more. Check out the photo below, the snow actually comes up to my thighs. It’s unbelievable how much snow has dumped in Big Bear. The white stuff is everywhere! It’s is a true winter wonderland right now. What more can I say, there is a lot of frickin’ snow right now! Check out the webcams and see for yourself.

Did I mention the POW POW is going off at the mountain resorts? Get up here now to get some runs on this fresh, fluffy powder. It is unbelievable! Take the day off work, skip school, do whatever you can to get up here, because fresh snow is worth diving into.

If you can’t make it in the next few days I advise you look into coming up for the holidays. It’s going to be a real white Christmas! Lodging is still available. Holiday rates are as low as $159 per night. Check it out at BigBear.com or call a reservation specialist at 800-424-4232. If you are planning to come up midweek and not on a holiday be sure to check out midweek packages starting as low as $69 per person per night.

Get fired up! The snow is here, and it’s going to be a great season, snow kidding!!!

Daniel Pea 
 

It’s really hard to remember everything you’re going to want or need when you come up to the mountains for a visit. Whether you’re biking, boarding or just going for a day hike there are a whole list of items to bring like, clothing, equipment and maybe tools. There’s one thing I recommend you never forget, your camera. Don’t forget to capture the memories of those great times with good friends and family forever.

Sometimes my friends complain because I ask them to stop for pictures when they’re shredding a sweet single track or bombing fresh powder on a steep slope. Usually those same complainers are sitting the closest to the computer when we check out the shots at the end of the day.

Its fun to share photos with every body after a day of playing in the mountains and it’s great to know that we capture those memories forever, including all the action, jumps, crashes and smiles! Come on up and make some memories of your own, and please don’t forget to pack the camera.

Spreading the love and the word, rev

December is always a pretty cool month – great holidays, lots of parties and time with family and friends. It’s even cooler when your boyfriend celebrates his 40th birthday and decides all he wants to do is get out on the bike and ride 1EO1 to Grandview Point. And though Bear and Summit decided to make a bit of snow early this morning, we were stoked to still have the options of summer! We invited our friend Tyler along for a little morning mountain bike celebration.

The ride up was smooth: Recent rain and snow had packed the dirt nicely. At Grandview we stopped for a happy birthday high five and to take in the view of San G’s entire ridgeline. It unfolded in front of us in high definition. Holding snow nicely, we eyed a few lines that would make for some good backcountry skiing this spring. 

Back at the car, Tyler commented that a few of the sweeping turns felt like he was carving on his skis. I couldn’t agree more. Though we weren’t on snow, it felt like we were skiing: Sharing a ride with good friends, descending fast through the forest and having a hard time wiping the grins off our faces – yeah, it’s a lot like skiing.

Happy Birthday Scott! With a beginning like this, your 40’s are sure to be awesome!

Glade Girl

Great news for all you riders and skiers! Bear Mountain is now open for the season. This morning I was at Bear Mountain and surprised to see a pretty decent turnout of people who were out there to get a quick fix of the white stuff. Bear was the first ski resort in Southern California to open for the season with lift # 5 in full operation.

Even though Mother Nature hasn’t cooperated yet, Big Bear’s ski resorts have the best snowmaking equipment on Earth! The last three nights both Bear Mountain and Snow Summit have been blowing snow, and today Bear got the nod. Summit will soon be announcing when it will open for the season. Snowmaking will continue this week. So if you are anxious for a quick fix get your board out or skis and come up and get some runs in. 

So how did I find out about all this great news? I found out because I signed up for Bear Mountain’s text alerts, which are new this year. Text alerts include daily snow report, current conditions, Park report and powder alerts. If you want the latest reports on what’s happening at Big Bear Mountain Resorts text SNOW to #52406 or you could sign up online and manage your account at bigbear.hipcricket.com.   

Bring It,

Daniel Pea

A few weeks ago I took a little tumble on my bike and had to take some time off to let the old bones heal. I was bruised, sore and unable to ride. I stared out the window daily, and tried to do as little as possible. I thought by the time I got better it’s snowboard time!

As it turned out I was mistaken, and admittedly I was actually glad to be wrong.  Last Sunday, I finally got out for a cruise on the mountain bike and it was a glorious Big Bear day, the kind of day that cyclists dream about. Cloudless skies, a slight chill in the air and no wind at all make for perfect riding conditions.

Typically at this time of year we’re thinking more about boarding and skiing than mountain biking, but unusually warm temperatures are making for great biking. The last storm dropped a little snow making the trails hard-packed and fast with little pockets of white stuff, which added to the ambiance and reminded me that it is winter.

I couldn’t have asked for a better day to get back on my machine. It reminded me of something a friend of mine wrote 15 years ago, it goes like this…”Savor the accidental perfect beauties in life in whatever small portions are dished out to you and never question why you ride…only why you don’t ride more.”

So, what I’m saying is don’t question why there’s not enough snow to ski and board, instead ask yourself “why aren’t I in Big Bear riding my bike?”

Come up & savor the flavor
rev