Let's Go: Local ski areas still worth checking out, even when snow dances fail

By: STEPHEN RUBIN - Staff Writer | Saturday, February 4, 2006 9:12 PM PST ∞

The snow dances and carwashes have lost their sway. Last ski season, these rituals exercised unusually great power, along with Mother Nature, blessing the mountains with enough snow ---- upwards of 20 feet in the luckier spots ---- to run a few lifts into May.

But the local ski areas ---- Bear Mountain and Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake, Mountain High in Wrightwood, Snow Valley in Running Springs and Mount Baldy, near Claremont ---- are famished creatures this season, having received only about a foot of snow.

Still, there is hope. Recent prime snowmaking weather has allowed resorts to open new terrain, so there's no reason to artificially end your season after Presidents Day weekend. It's then that March looms ---- when the crowds start to ease, the temps rise and the sun is higher, making for forgiving, slushy snow. Just give your planks or board a good hot wax and keep your tips pointed downhill. Fewer runs will be open come April, but don't you just hit the same couple of trails, anyway? The mountains can still get blasted with "real snow" in the spring. Ask any snow bums what "March Miracle" means to them.

Here's a look at what's happening at the local ski areas.

The snowmaking systems at Big Bear's Bear Mountain and sister resort Snow Summit "drink" from mighty Big Bear Lake. For as much water as the resorts use ---- systems can convert 12,000 gallons of water per minute into snow ---- they don't even reach their seasonal allotment, said Big Bear Mountain Resorts public relations director Marty Ward.

Last season, storms usually dumped more snow on the other ski areas ---- Big Bear is geographically disadvantaged, generally ---- but in low snow years, the lake gives Bear Mountain and Snow Summit a reputed edge over their wells-tapping neighbors. Indeed, only Big Bear's ski areas can brag about having 90 percent of terrain open. Signs on the lift towers remind skiers and snowboarders that this machine-made bounty is still real snow, lest you forget or grumble about the "fake stuff."

Consider yourself a jibber? If you find that question puzzling, then you may be lost at Bear Mountain, where it's nearly impossible to avoid jibs ---- man-made features such as rails and boxes. Riders inspired by Shaun White's pipe heroics at the Olympics can sample two halfpipes at Bear. The all-mountain freestyle park has just opened its largest pipe, the superpipe. But the crowd- and jib-phobic skier/snowboarder can find relative sanctuary on the advanced Exhibition and intermediate Ripchord and Silver Connection runs. When open, the advanced/expert Geronimo run is another option.

If you prefer such options without the potential white knuckles, Snow Summit might be your best bet. Chair 9, accessing beginner and intermediate terrain, can be a very safe harbor. On the other side of Summit, intermediates can brave a busy quad, Chair 1, once to access to the east end ---- Chairs 6, 7 and 10 ---- and stay clear of the base all day.

Crowds become a factor at Mountain High, where the key chair, Blue Ridge Express, can be clogged by 11 a.m. on weekends. But once you unload up top, a little cruising gets to trails starved for attention, such as Calamity, Headwall and Freefall. They are rated advanced, but a comfortably intermediate skier/snowboarder should be fine, especially if the surface is reasonably soft. Sometimes the snow just doesn't cooperate during a cold midwinter dry spell. But come spring, simply let that midmorning sun work its magic. The result can be "hero snow," the sort that gives skiers and snowboarders the confidence to step up it up a notch.

When there's snow, befriend midmountain chair Conquest and stick to the Inferno Ridge and Crest Trail sections. If the east mountain opens, life is even easier. This also applies to the skier/snowboarder who doesn't yearn to become intimately familiar with jibs.

Mountain High also recently opened a small halfpipe and has a tubing hill open at its north mountain on weekends. Should the snow ever come, that north mountain features several beginner and intermediate trails that will not be a busy as the main mountain's key runs.

John McColly, Mountain High's marketing director, remains optimistic.

"We're are just getting into a wet portion of the season," he said. "Conditions are still fairly good considering its 100 percent machine-made snow."

Snow Valley wants more of those cars passing through to Big Bear to pull into its lot instead. The ski area has ramped up its snowmaking efforts and become a player in the terrain park arena, with three areas devoted to the metal stuff. Crowds shouldn't be the issue here that they can be at other places. If the snow ever comes, go to Slide Peak and stay there. Cruisers Mambo Alley and Wine Rock are two recently opened runs that could get congested if Snow Valley ever becomes as popular as Big Bear and Mountain High, but for now bottlenecks shouldn't be an issue.

Last, there is the big sleeping giant known as Mount Baldy. It comes alive every so often, attracting advanced skiers and riders who might otherwise drive to Mammoth Mountain. The ski area has very little snowmaking, so it can't compete with the other resorts for attendance; only beginner terrain is open. But when it does snow, and snow a lot ---- last season saw 27 feet fall on top of its famed Thunder Mountain ---- it is prized for its Baldy Bowl, steeps, glades and chutes.

If you go:

Bear Mountain, 43101 Goldmine Drive, Big Bear Lake; (800) 232-7686 or http://www.bearmountain.com

Mount Baldy, Mount Baldy Road, off Mountain Avenue, near Claremont; (909) 981-3344 or http://www.mtbaldy.com

Mountain High, 24510 Highway 2, Wrightwood; (888) 754-7878 or http://www.mthigh.com

Snow Summit, 880 Summit Blvd., Big Bear Lake; (888) 786-6481 or http://www.snowsummit.com

Snow Valley, 35100 Highway 18, Running Springs; (800) 680-7669 or http://www.snow-valley.com

Contact staff writer Stephen Rubin at (760) 631-6629 or srubin@nctimes.com.

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