Big Bear Lake is THE Southern California ski destination accessible to millions of L.A. residents just an hour and a half by car. Set in the San Bernardino mountain range, the elevation of the mountains reaches nearly 9,000 feet, and includes four seasons weather. Snow is assured each year, but how much is dependent on the weather. There have been years where the ski quality suffered due to lack of snow, so the owner of the two resorts began investing in more snowmaking machines and usually launches the ski season with manmade snow in November.

There are two ski resorts in Big Bear Lake, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain. Both are owned by the same company which also purchased the nine-hole golf course in 2006. Inter-Resort Express shuttle provides free bus service between the two ski resorts. It provides 10-minute shuttle service between Bear Mountain and Snow Summit that departs each resort every half hour during the ski season. Both resorts offer skiing and snowboarding.

Addresses & Contacts:

Big Bear Lake Vacations: bigbear.com

Snow Summit Mountain Resort 880 Summit Blvd., Big Bear Lake, CA 92315 snowsummit.com

Bear Mountain Resort 43101 Goldmine Drive, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315 bearmountain.com

Snow Summit opened its first chairlift in 1953. On October 10, 2002, Snow Summit purchased Big Bear Mountain Resort, including the Golf Course, from Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc. Today Big Bear Mountain Resorts, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain, combine to form Southern California's number one ski resort.

Snow Summit Stats:

31 trails
14 Total Mountain Lifts
2 High Speed Quad Chairs
2 Quad Chairs
2 Triple Chairs
5 Double Chairs
3 Moving Carpet
Top Elevation: 8,200 Feet, Base Elevation: 7,000 Feet
Vertical Drop: 1,200 Feet
Uphill Capacity: 18,550 Per Hour
Skiable Miles: 18 Miles
Terrain Difficulty: 10% First Time Beginner 25% Low Intermediate 40% Intermediate 25% Advanced
Longest Run: 1.25 Miles (Westridge)
Annual Snowfall Average: 100 inches Parks

Fun Zones: Beginner terrain features and jibbing structures.

Westridge and Ego Trip: Intermediate and advanced jumps and jibs. Ego Trip Park is open during night sessions, see website for schedule.

Lodging includes cabins, hotel rooms, bed and breakfast hotels and resorts with prices generally ranging from around $65 to $350 per night, depending on your budget.

Bear Mountain Stats:

Area:
748 Total permit acres
198 Developed acres
550 Accessible undeveloped acres of natural terrain (Deer, Goldmine & Bow Canyons)

12 Total Mountain Lifts:
2 High-speed quad chairs
1 quad chair
2 Triple chairs
4 Double chairs
3 Moving carpet lifts

4 Mountain Peaks:
Bear Peak: 8,805 feet
Silver Mountain: 8,560 feet
Goldmine Mountain: 8,440 feet
Showdown Mountain: 8,000 feet

Elevations:
Top elevation: 8,805 feet
Base elevation: 7,140 feet
Vertical drop: 1,665 feet
Uphill capacity: 16,590 per hour
Rideable miles: 17

Terrain Difficulty:
15% first-time beginner
15% low intermediate
40% intermediate
30% advanced

Number of Pipes:
1-Superpipe
1-Halfpipe
1-Beginner pipe

Longest Run:
Geronimo: 1 ½ miles

Annual Snowfall Average:
100 Inches

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