Miguel Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 I'll be spending the winter in Temecula, CA...between SanDiego and LA. Can anyone recommend the best carving mountain within a 2-3 hour drive. The only one I'm even remotely familiar with is Bear Mountain. I know about the big resorts and will travel there occassionally but am loking for something more "local". BTW....I just retired and will be hitting it up during the week. Thanks, Miguel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 Miguel, I would say the best mtn for carving locally would be Snow Summit. Bear Mtn has the Silver Chairwhich has a nice carving run and they also have Geronimo but Snow Summit has quite a few runs that are fun for carving. I tend to hang out over at Chair 7 and Chair 10. These chairs are located on the east side of the resort and stay fairly quiet compared to the rest of the mtn. Bear Mtn, Mtn High and Snow Valley seems to cater to the soft boot crowd more than anything. They are always bosting on the radio about how many, tables, rails, boxes, step ups, spines and other features that just don't interest me. There is a small carving contingent from Souther Cal that rides in Big Bear, post a comment on the ride board when you go. I am sure we can ride together at some point in the season. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 Snow Summit has the best grooming and carve-friendly runs if you can avoid the fascist SLOW IT DOWN ski patrol Bear has some good runs too, but is more park oriented for the knuckledgraggers and when it DUMPS (rare in SoCal obviously) hit up Mt Baldy for some off-trail surprises. Mt High sucks ass. My opinion of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullwings Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 The slow down nazi patrol is only on one run at Snow Summit. That run is Summit Run, and that's only on the weekends when its crowded. It's a green run designated for beginners, so don't even bother if they have the slow signs with the nets up. All the other runs are cool. And like Aaron said, Bear Mt. and Mt. High cater mainly to the soft boot park crowd with all the jibs and rails they have set up everywhere. Oh yeah, and Mt. High does suck ass, major ass. I had a season pass there last year and only went up there 5 times (to break even). After that, I spent all my time at Snow Summit with two trips up to Mammoth. So, go to Snow Summit since all the other places suck. Anyway, happy carving to all you SoCalers this season, I'm still sorting things out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted October 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 I was about to buy a season pass at Bear....seems like that would have been a mistake. I'll check out Snow Summit....look forward to making some turns with you guys. I'll be back in touch when we get some snow. I brought four boards with me and hope to use them all. I can't wait to take advantage of my retirement status and lay down some mid-week turns. Speaking of retirement....I highly endorse it. Miguel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Snow Summit is overall more carve friendly and has a regular crew who are just a great bunch of guys. Geronimo at Bear Mtn, though, is by far my favorite run in Southern California. Steep, wide, well-groomed and uncrowded (at least during the week). Snow Summit and Bear have a cool thing where if you leave by 1 PM they give you a pass for what equates to the difference between a 1/2 day ticket and a full day ticket. Like a half day pass for the GOOD half of the day. Pretty sweet if you don't have a season pass. Mtn High is closer to Temecula by about half an hour and is open 7 nights a week but does all kinds of stupid, annoying/dangerous things at a managerial level like putting the largest jumps all over the main, easy Blue run down from what is often the only lift operating besides the bunny hill. So you have tons of complete beginners being funneled cluelessly into the landing zones of these medium to large jumps, total carnage. I've seen more horrific collisions at that place than everywhere else combined but still go there after work pretty regularly, in spite of the mob-rule lift lines, because there are a couple of fun runs that are too steep for the beginners and don't have terrain features for the jibbers. Solitude in Bedlam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted October 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 I just went to the site and discovered that Snow Summit and Bear are covered by the same season pass....sweet! A mid week pass is $299. Miguel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Miguel, that is the pass that I have also, I prefer to do my riding midweek. Not only is that pass good for Bear Mtn but it is also good for any night session that Snow Summit has, even through the holiday period when the 299.00 pass is blocked out. The good thing about going at night is, the night session starts at 3:00 and ends at 9:00, the day session ends at 6:00 pm so that is three hours that you can ride most of the mtn. At 6:00 pm they start kicking the day skiers out and then you can have the mtn to yourself!! I like the night sessions. You can turn up the speed quite a bit and not get yelled at. Hiya Blake, gonna see ya on the mtn this year I hope!! Still flying planes from a desk?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 It is more like sitting in a refrigerated shipping container surrounded by 11 computer screens with a stick, throttle, 2 keyboards, 2 trackballs, 3 radios and 2 phones. The long delay between control input and flight control activation because of the satellite link takes some getting used to. The airplane itself is about the same dimensions as an F-16 sideways with Schweitzer-glider style wings, a laser target designator and Hellfire missiles. Everyday you have to be on your A-game because it is for real, but "slipping the surly bounds and touching the face of God" it definitely is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted October 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Miguel, that is the pass that I have also, I prefer to do my riding midweek. Not only is that pass good for Bear Mtn but it is also good for any night session that Snow Summit has, even through the holiday period when the 299.00 pass is blocked out. The good thing about going at night is, the night session starts at 3:00 and ends at 9:00, the day session ends at 6:00 pm so that is three hours that you can ride most of the mtn. At 6:00 pm they start kicking the day skiers out and then you can have the mtn to yourself!! I like the night sessions. You can turn up the speed quite a bit and not get yelled at.Hiya Blake, gonna see ya on the mtn this year I hope!! Still flying planes from a desk?? Sweet...I'm used to riding at night back in NY State. Bring it on! Night riding can be very cool...there's a certain serenity to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 I have the same Snow Summit/Bear Mtn pass -good deal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullwings Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 I have the same pass too, with Sundays added on... haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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