Big Bear or Snow Summit? That's always my question every time. What's the difference? Well, they are affiliated. One lift ticket can go to both resort. In my opinion, if you love park and can do tricks and are quite advance, I would suggest hitting up Big Bear - half pipe, boxes, jumps, etc. Well! not that Snow Summit don't have any.. just not as much I guess, and no half pipe. If it's really your first time snowboarding or 2nd, or 3rd, or just trying to master your "leaf" or "carve/S," I would suggest going to Snow Summit. The view is just as awesome- you can still see Big Bear Lake. Bunny Slope- It's REALLY FLAT. If you're a first timer, should just go on the bunny slope a few times and really try to learn at a higher area- but that's just my opinion. You never go wrong going to Snow Summit though. Awesome staffs, awesome terrain, awesome view. It's just awesome! You can also rent boards, boots- snowboarding Or Ski equipments(I believe). read more

Don't trust the Mt Bike trail language regarding difficulty - I have 10s of bruises that prove otherwise. Clip here is from the green "easy" trail. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8flbiOF5Ugw&feature=youtu.be read more

Fun Sky Chair ride is about 15 minutes up the mountain. Once your up there took a hike up the mountain trail. Lots of places to eat, drink, and hang out. I'm sure the view is more beautiful in the winter with all the snow. For every adult you pay for, a child is free. Great scenery and vibe. read more

Snow Summit - Ski Resorts Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

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Great place to snowboard/ski in SoCal! Noticed that I said SoCal, because for someone who lives in NorCal, this isn't the great spot at all. My friend (who lives in SoCal) really wanted to go snowboarding so we decided to go here. It is SoCal and it was warm..warm like I could just wear a long sleeve and be okay type of warm. I think this place is good for beginners though there are some spots that may be a little more advanced, but not too much. It is a good spot if you really wanted to snowboard and you live in SoCal. Overall, it's definitely not the best nor the worst "resort" I've been to. It's a close enough drive (2ish hours) for SoCal residents. read more

Had a terrible experience with the Adventure Academy for my child over the holiday weekend Feb 17. They overbook and did not have enough instructors. There were young children on the ground asking for help for long periods of time, being ignored. Nearly impossible to speak with anyone in charge and was just told the parent company didn't want to limit the class sizes. My child barely got an instruction yet they charged $200. Abysmal. read more

I have skied and snowboarded since 2 years old (30+ years) and have been to over 50 resorts. This, by far, is the worst run operation I've ever visited. I wanted to like it and heard great things, but was extremely disappointed with my visit. Let's start with access - bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the poorly marked free parking and/or more bumper to bumper traffic wrapping through neighborhoods to "premium" parking ($20?) near the base lodge, which just so happened to fill up prior to us entering. The traffic officer sent us all the way back down the hill in traffic to free parking, which again, is poorly marked. After getting frustrated, our not-so-merry band ended up driving back to the Airbnb and walking a mile to the resort (where we met others in our party who were still waiting for tickets). **Free pro tip for Snow Summit: give your people a click-counter down below (at snail-pace it's not tough for one's thumb to keep up) and turn cars away from premium parking once full. I know infrastructure is poor, but this is a common sense solution.** It's a rip-off in my opinion, this premium parking is free at every other resort. Just more revenue. Lines were insane at the ticket window and rental shop - get here early if you want a glimmer of hope to make a chair past 10 am. The staff in general are rude and could care less about the concerns of paying customers. I had numerous staff shut down and turn their back to me when I tried to ask a question. Exception: Lift operators and ski patrol were nice and helpful when patrons fell off the lift. If you're a beginner or intermediate rider/skier and live near Vegas or Los Angeles with low expectations, have at it. For $115 ($88 in advance), spend a few more bucks for a real resort experience. Cheers. read more

We rented a house to go skiing this weekend and when buying lift tickets it said limited tickets sold so we thought it would mean not being overcrowded with covid ect. Well we got to the mountain around 8 and it opens at 9 no parking to be found anywhere and then was stuck sitting in traffic that wasn't moving. Needless to say by the time we got to the mountain to ski after parking very far away and walking with all our ski stuff it was 12:45 and the lifts close at 4. The tickets where double the usual price so for 6 of us almost $1,000 plus the cost of rentals and a house it was a very expensive trip just to try to ski for one day. I don't think we will be returning there it was a nightmare and not organized at all. Also the lines to get on the lifts were 40 min wait so only went down the mountain 3 times for $3500????? Rediculous. read more

I want to start by saying that I found the resort beautiful. It is well laid out, clean, and absolutely gorgeous. The three stars reflects the quality of the resort and the poor lesson I had. I had a 9:15 am snowboarding lesson and read online, "The most important thing for guests taking lessons is to arrive on time. If you are renting equipment please allow 1.5 hours to pick up your gear and lift/lesson ticket." and, "Bring your reservation number to the designated rental location from 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. the day before your reservation or before 8:30 a.m. the day of your reservation (noon for afternoon lessons)." So we showed up at 7:15 am per the parameters detailed above on the Big Bear Mountain Resort website. The problem with that? They don't open until 8:30 am. So everything they have put online is false and was a huge waste of time. We went into the rentals office when we arrived to ask how we were supposed to get the ticket that is required to get what you need to rent. The guys in the office were beyond rude. When I explained what was going on, their response was, "Well you'll be the first in line when the ticket windows open." It was a gigantic screw you. Once we got what we needed (at 8:30 am) and got to our lesson, Paul was our instructor. He was odd. His teaching techniques were strange, at times he was a bit aggressive, and he didn't seem to listen to what people were telling him their boundaries were aka what they were comfortable with. We were highly unimpressed and ended up learning more from friends we were with that were skilled snowboarders. read more

Been a snow summit customer for many year, but this time was the worst ever, took my family to snow summit on Christmas day, we got there early and try to avoid the crowd, when we got there, we been told the parking lot is in a different place behind CVS. (normally their parking lot is closed by) no big deal, so I follow the instruction and went to a empty place like war zone, there are pothole everywhere, some of them is big as the size of a tire, on top of that the parking lot was wet and muddy, I was going like 5 mph to slowly go in, the staff works there doesn't know how to direct the traffic at all, the guy was directing me to the middle when his other co-worker tell me to park on the side. after we parked we got all the gears, but the ground was so muddy we go mud all over our pants and boots. After we done boarding, we went to the car, and got our car all dirty. Not only that, there is no exit sign or direction for you to get out of the parking lot, right after I pull out the parking lot, I heard there is some noise from the bottom of the car, when I get out the car, I found a big long metal wire in my tire, It's from the muddy parking lot, so that place is not only muddy, wet, but full of construction material. I did not sign up for this shit, I paid to enjoy my day and taking this kind of shit, SNOW SUMMIT is a business, so run like a got damn business, I suggest dont' go there till they fix their shit, otherwise you won't be enjoying you day at all. read more

I love this place! We've been coming here this season almost every weekend! They have a good variety of food and they are pretty good, haven't had any bad experience with food here. They have a decent size locker room with restrooms. And if you get thirsty, water is not far from the slopes. They are available by the bar and totally free. The only thing I didn't like about this place is how crowded it gets!!! Like the bunny slopes would be full of people just sitting in the middle. read more

Avoid the instructor name Chris if you want to get a group class. Chris was the rudest instructor I have ever seen. He was not patient at all, he wasn't teaching anything, he only rushed through all the theories and then he kept yelling and insulting our family members (he really expected everyone to ski perfectly for the first time)  and then totally ignored me! We booked a 2 hours class but he only talked to me for like 5 minutes and then I never saw him again until the end. read more

My girlfriend and I had an absolutely incredible time this past weekend at the final weekend of the bike park! I haven't been there in over 20 years and was completely blown away at how much its grown! I purchased our lift/park tickets online. We got there just after opening time, and easily parked by the lot attendants directing traffic. We got to the ticket windows and only had to wait behind 1 or 2 folks to get our lift tags. They had lots of windows open and were very efficient. Staff was all very friendly, fun and efficient. At lunch we sat back and drank beer and ate lunch from the really convenient shacks nearby in a really cool area with adirondack chairs and shaded seating. A live DJ was spinning good music. There were a couple open stores nearby to shop a little bit. They had a rock climbing pillar, bungee trampolines, ziplines, and all kinds of other cool stuff for families to bring the kids and hang out for the day. Granted because the lines were pretty long we were only able to hit 2 runs on the trails, but its understandable being the final weekend. Overall just a perfect experience, and we will definitely be back next season, possibly with season passes! read more

I've been coming to Snow Summit since 2000, maybe even earlier than that. Back then, you could score a lift ticket for a full day from Ralphs for $25. Now, it's like $56! But no bother because comparatively, I really and truly believe that Summit outranks the neighboring Bear Mountain if you're a beginner/intermediate rider -- why? I just prefer the runs at Summit much more. Longer, more gradual and it just feels a little more chill. But what really propels Summit over Big Bear is the fact the chair lift is open during the SUMMER. Yes folks, these guys want to make their money and with tons of uncovered ski runs that reveal hiking and mountain biking trails at their beck and call, who the hell wouldn't? A few weeks ago, $12 got me a round trip ticket up to the Snow Summit Viewhaus and back (15 minutes one way) where at the top provided all sorts of options for hiking, picture taking and exploring. I was damn sorry I didn't rent a mountain bike to fly my way down! But no bother once more -- riding the chair lift DOWN the mountain is just as insanely awesome. It provides EXCELLENT views of the surrounding area and you can catch aerial views of Big Bear lake and see for MILES! read more

Review for Snow summit ski school for kids (Adventure Camp). We purchased the camp for our kids online in advance. The directions say to arrive 1.5 hours early but they open the doors, or did for us on a Monday, at 8 a.m. all the gear for the kids is at the camp so you don't have to go to the rental office or window for the lift tickets. I wasn't sure so hopefully that helps someone. They do ski or snowboard lessons and you specify which at the time of purchase. My kids are both 11, yeah I feel guilty I haven't taken them skiing yet but what can I say, it's a drive from San Diego. Anyway, you drop them off and leave, pick up time is 3:15. The first hour or so they practiced on the mini slope behind the building and then moved over to the larger kids slope where the regular lifts are located. I imagine they move kids as they are ready. My daughter said they grouped the kids by ages. For lunch the kids said they had mac and cheese, chicken strips, pudding, water, and juice boxes. They also had snacks. The kids both said the instructors were really nice. One even did magic and made funny jokes. Their only complaint was that the boots hurt their feet. My son has bad flat feet with pronation so for him I think this really made it worse. In hindsight I should have bought him boots and not used rentals, but I think for most kids it would be fine. Parents can watch from the picnic tables. Be the end of the day they were skiing and having a good time. I would recommend the ski camp for kids. read more

I had a blast! I had been here a year before and had tried skiing. I wasn't too fond of it. So this year I decided to try snowboarding and take a lesson first thing. I believe my instructors name was Chris. He was excellent. He let me learn at my own pace and tried to find ways of comparing different techniques with things I was familiar with. I would definitely recommend going to him for your lessons (if you can request him). The bunny hill is very nice, it isn't too difficult to get down. The other lift that was open had many different trails you could go down. I was able to make it down on my first day (only the easy ones!) I would definitely recommend Snow Summit for first timers! I had a ton of fun!! read more

*This is for Ski Patrol Only My friend was hurt on one of the runs and could not get up. Another one of my friends ran to 2 ski patrol guys and told them what happened. They did NOTHING and went away. Finally my friend who was hurt got up since no one was coming to help....then we asked another ski patrol guy that our friend is hurt and he looked and said "he's walking" (then he too went away). (My friend ended up walking all the way down to first aid...he ended up in Urgent Care that night) Ski Patrol...useless! read more

I'm officially addicted to snowboarding! After a weekend boys trip it's safe to say that I've caught the bug and Snow Summit was the perfect place for both novices and veterans alike to hit the slopes close to SD. The runs are well maintained and there's a pretty broad spectrum in terms of degree of difficulty. Although I was inexperienced and dabbled mostly on the intermediate levels my more advanced buddies we're quite satisfied with the challenging runs. There's a freestyle park with all sorts of rails, boxes, and jumps for every level from beginner to professional. Even though I landed on my ass several times I gave 'em a go due to the ground being fairly soft. If you're just starting out like I was I highly recommend hitting up the bar for some liquid courage before and pain killers after. Above all...the one thing I really have to shout out about Snow Summit was the customer service. Everyone...and I mean EVERYONE was extremely helpful. From the rental attendants to the bartenders to the lift ticket scanners to the woman working in the pro shop... I encountered nothing but friendly and helpful service. Even when I laced my boots up wrong a random instructor helped me out without making me feel foolish. If I need to get out of SD for a day trip Big Bear's my new fav. It's easy to get to if you don't hit traffic and an awesome way to combine boozing and exercise. Just make sure to wear a helmet. read more

Even though it felt like skiing on a limeade slurpee I had a freaking blast at Snow Summit. I thought we would get 86-ed here but no such thing. My friends and I rocked the mountain and everyone was happy to be in our company. We took more double shots of tequila than we did runs. Chasing them down with Corona's was even more refreshing. We met some lovely folks here. Some semi-locals and a couple adorable guys from Palm Springs. The staff here is super friendly and promote a good time. I give the ski patrol an A+ for finding the wounded and helping them put their skis on. read more

For one of the local resorts that hosts Southern California's ski and boarder population, this place is prime. Owned by Bear Mountain resorts, the same group that owns Bear Mountain just a short drive away, Snow Summit is the mountain that I first learned on, and is more... family friendly in my opinion than the more hard core feeling over at Bear Mountain. In fact, if I had to relate the two parks, I'd equate Bear more with a skate park (think like Vans or Woodward) and Snow Summit with more of a Vail/Breckenridge feel. Everyone that I talked to with the park was really nice, and when I was up there this past Wednesday (day of the biggest snow fall dump in quite a long time up in bear) everyone was really helpful. Just a reminder for people that come up here who have never boarded before - take a lesson. Don't ask your friends/family/sig.other to teach you, as that will just be painful and end in tears. read more

83 dollars for lift ticket for literally one run being open. Mammoth Resorts buying Bear Mountain resorts is the worst thing that ever happened to this place read more

Review based on MTB park. Trails are great. Best ones I've done so far. They've done a great job mixing in natural elements and man made structures. I love the flow with the tabletop sections on Party Wave. Definitely not a beginner park. I'm not a pro or very good at all but can handle bikes ok. It was a challenging course and each run was better than the last. Took a couple spills that didn't feel to great but nothing broken. I took a star off because the guy in the rental place had an attitude about me damaging the bike... which I did. That's why I purchased the insurance beforehand. He could've explained the situation and asked for help on the repair bill, I would've been fine with it. The attitude about it was unnecessary and unprofessional. He ended up letting it ride which is why I didn't take another star off. I enjoyed my experience. They should be more clear about what you're purchasing when signing the rental agreements. I hope to go back and give them more business soon. I'd also recommend them having bike services available at the summit. To get a flat on a rental bike, realize there's no kit provided, hike up the trail, then ride the lift down is a hassle. Just a recommendation. The summit amenities were great. read more

Snow Summit - Ski Resorts Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

I have a major problem with the season pass prices, winter and summer passes are WAY over priced for what you get. Why would you not have Locals discounts? This is not a Resort, the food here is seriously bad and the "mountain" is more like a hill. I'm not sure if this has been the normal for Summit or if it's because Mammoth "Resorts" took over. If you want more for your dollar I'd recommend heading to Snow Valley. Oh, and Bear Mountain isn't any better than Summit....at all! read more

Yes, I know Snow Summit does not compare to slopes in Utah and does not have powder like Colorado but for backyard fun this place rocks! Snow Summit is L.A.'s premier mountain resort; it is the place for everyday skiers and snowboarders looking for a family friendly winter playground. Snow Summit has fantastic beginner slopes like the Bear Bottom beginner's area, low intermediate runs such as Summit Run, wide intermediate cruisers such as Log Chute and challenging advanced terrain on the Wall and Olympic. Snow Summit's wide variety of interconnecting runs allows you to explore the entire mountain without ever returning to the base area! Gotta love L.A....you can you surf in the morning and be on the slopes by noon! Stay away on weekends, way too crowded! read more

This year Snow Summit been good to me, espicially with all the snow they got. The runs are not too bad either. But non the less Snow Summit comes second to Mammoth Mtn. But if u want to venture out for just one day to go boarding Snow Summit is ur best bet. The park hits are not that big either. Good for beginners to get ur air on. There little kinks to bonk too. Or rails to slide on. Goodtimes. Right now is good time to go up too. But try to plan ahead and go during the weekdays. Uncrowded during the week.....cya up there. read more

What the HECK is wrong with the management here? We arrived before 9am to get our lift tickets and rentals ready for the 9:45am lesson... and it took SO LONG just to get things paid for. Then after we paid for everything, we had to wait in ANOTHER line just to get our rental stuff. There's actually a line to get your boots, and a separate line to get the board/skis, etc. After getting our boots, some dude directs us to a different shop b/c it was "faster" even though there was no one left in the first shop and a line in the second shop. Did they run out of equipment? Could he just not figure out the wait times? Ok whatever, we get our stuff, miss both the 9:45 and 10:45 lessons and just decide to teach ourselves. Luckily we are pros at having a great time on our own :) So then of course, the lines at the lifts are extraordinary. We asked the lift operator if there was a spot on the mountain that was still semi beginner but didn't have outrageous lines for the lifts. Oh by the way, we are all pretty good snowboarders but wanted to try skiing for the first time. We were fine managing a bit steeper terrain. He told us to go to Chair 2 and then ski down to Chair 9. Chair 9 is over by the park area and the runs don't go all the way to the base, hence being able to skip the long lines at the base where all the noobs ski. Being good listeners, we did exactly that. When we were skiing down from Chair 2, we noticed that that whole side of the mountain was pretty empty and had untouched or freshly groomed runs. By the time we got to Chair 9, guess what? Not operating. Seriously?! So then we had to go up the cat walk (for a while) back to the rest of the mountain. Thank goodness we were on skiis and could kinda push ourselves up the slope. Anyways, once again we had a great time because trying skiing was awesome and painless and we're good at creating our own fun anyways. BUT, Snow Summit kind of blows and it's kind of surprising given that they're owned by Mammoth now and Mammoth is one of my favorite resorts of all times. 1) They need to make sure their staff knows basic facts about the mountains and the daily conditions/operations and 2) They need to fix their system of getting people on the slope. End of rant. read more

We took our younger kids here and tubing was fun but that was about it for them. We wished they had like a small area for younger kids with just snow to play in. The people who were in charge of the tubing were really friendly and efficient. There is a good amount of free parking too. And they had guards directing you so it was pretty easy. read more

I really like big bear and snow summit is great. I went on my birthday for the free lift pass back in March which was awesome. There's a lot the small area has to offer along with its surroundings. One thing I do wish though, is that they would update the lodge a bit- make the fireplace area by the cafeteria bigger with some lounging couches or something along those lines. I haven't eaten from the cafeteria so I don't have any comments on their food, but overall, love it but would definitely appreciate some upgrades :) read more

My fiancé purchased a lift ticket in advance online, we got to the mountain and when she went through the scanner at the lift it didn't go through due to her forgetting her old day pass in her pocket. One of the employees proceeded to help us out and figure out which was one old and which one was new, she threw away which was actually the new one which gave us problems at the next lift. We went to customer service to get it figured out and the employee at the front desk didn't bother to greet us when walking in. All the staff were just chit chatting about nothing work related, the employee after about 2 mins of us standing there proceeded to say "what do you guys need?" We proceeded to explain the situation and he then asked for ID which my fiancé didn't have on her. He gave us a look like it was the end of the world and then proceeded to be condescending towards my fiancé which was very inappropriate and I told him I would appreciate if he didn't talk to her that way. He then said "I'm just doing my f***ing job" and then I said your doing your job with a sh***y attitude and at that moment they called security. This whole inconvenience wasted about 1 hour and 30 mins. They got us the lift ticket but my fiancé was beyond upset and ruined the rest of her day, the vice president of operations basically told me I wasted my own time and that I should just go ride while I can. At the end of the day customer service was horrible and beyond rude and it turned into he said she said and the vice president said there's nothing to do about it. Was treated with disrespect from almost everyone I spoke to. One of those moments when you spend money on something and you know you didn't do anything wrong and you get treated like Sh*t by the business when they messed up and they say go F yourself. The staff here gets worse and worse and the customers have to deal with unhappy staff. read more

Normal travel time is 2 hours and with traffic it shouldn't take no more than 3. Today was 4 hours and overflow parking was unavailable. Big bear/snow summit just sold lift tickets to everyone without thinking maybe, just maybe they sold too much. I had to turn around after a 4 hour drive. Fml! Attempted to call ticket office and spoke to Deborah, she argued with me and told me to keep trying the parking lots. I asked if they would refund my lift ticket but said they can only give a voucher for a another day. What if I'm super traumatized and refuse to come back for some time? Instead of dealing with their crap, I'm going to file a chargeback. Snow summit, your logistics and planning suck balls. read more

While we aren't locals we are "weekenders" and have been loyal and enthusiastic customers (skiers and boarders) of Summit and Bear for years and years. Mammoth is now on-scene and some cool improvements have been very noticeable. A new cool food theme and energy to the familiar and sort of out-of-date restaurants and food services...a new tube ride for the kiddies....lots of snow this year (Yeah!)...but at the same time some not so cool changes from years past. There is a very apparent effort by the new ownership to help out the bottom line. Everything is substantially more expensive than last year. There are lots of attempts to help separate you from your money with new options and ways to help spend your money (can't fault them for that really) but the nickel and diming really hit home when we were now charged to park the car in the parking lot. Not the VIP lot you could choose to park in past years, but just the regular old parking lot. $20...really...to park? Then spend maybe another $400 or so for the day for the family to ride and have lunch? Why Mammoth management chose to play the airline fee, nickel and dime game when the ski industry is crying about the droves of customers whom are being lost from the sport each year because it is too expensive is a mystery to me. While the snow is great, the cost might just have broken the "too expensive" ceiling for us. For this kind of money we will go to Deer Valley and park for free. read more

My deepest gratitude to Nancy and her manager, Erin!!! Ladies, thank you so much for the wonderful customer service. You both helped turn a miserable experience caused by (Un)Cool Cabins into something positive. Words can't even translate how appreciative I am right now! To upper management at Snow Summit, Nancy and Erin are wonderful employees and should be commended for their compassion, understanding and courteous customer service skills. read more

With Chair 9 broken, a third of the mountain is shut down. I would not recommend coming up until it's fixed. The lines at all the lifts are horrendeous. read more

Great place to learn how to ski! I had my first group lesson with Pat Turner and he was absolutely amazing! He was very friendly and patient with new skiers but at the same time taught us pretty quickly. read more

Scenic ski lift to the top of the mountain is terrific, the mile loop trail hike is lovely. However, the 1.4 mi hike back down the mountain is absolutely punishing. Beautiful, but my knees almost couldn't take it even wearing braces. There's no break from the constant downhill, which doesn't sound like a problem, but really ends up being brutal. Fantastic views though. Kids got the adventure day passes for zip lining, free jumping, rock climbing and trampoline. It was fun, but be ready for the zip line/free jump to take a while for harnessing all the kids etc. Seems like a well run facility with great staff. read more

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Necessary Accompaniment: "California Sun" by The Rivieras The San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains are something out of the twilight zone. Marching eastward from Malibu, the Transverse Ranges rise as a stone wall, wringing every last drop of moisture out of the atmosphere, barring Southern California from the vast desert countries to the north. Chaparral gives way to undulating hills and mountains carpeted in forests of Ponderosa and Pinon pines, the ground rising from sea level to well over 8,000 feet in a linear distance of two miles. The vertical relief is staggering, and although the distance between the base and the summit is small, the contrast could hardly be larger. CA-330 twists and snakes along mountain ridges, poking above the smog layer and into an alpine oasis where small towns of false front buildings and decades-old vacation cabins replace the mobile homes and public housing of the inland empire. Although it's California Kitsch to the extreme, this is very much "The Rim of the World." And every mile of asphalt brings a new adventure. Nestled on the south shore of Big Bear Lake (one of several reservoirs scattered across "The Rim of the World"), Snow Summit's spindly runs slip down a thickly forested hillside - 240 acres of trails averaging 3/4 of a mile in length, and a vertical rise of 1,204 feet. Compared to other western resorts, Snow Summit seems like a joke - it's tiny, the runs are short, the pitch is quite uniform - but when taken for what it is (namely, a local southern California resort in a mountain range that receives, on average 65 inches of snow and that's it) it is a bit of a miracle that it exists at all. I learned to ski here in my younger and more happy days. And then I graduated to Mammoth and never looked back: why pay 70 bucks a day to ski something so small when I have a season pass to one of the nation's better resorts? Mammoth Resorts' purchase of the Big Bear Mountain Resorts, however, has drawn me back again... mainly because I don't have to pay extra for them. And that's a plus in my book. The ski runs themselves provide a measure of variety - there are some "river runs," a "bowl" of advanced runs, and lots of groomers that lead from base to summit. These runs are surprisingly steep - a steepness exacerbated by the hard-pack snow, causing one to gain speed with surprising quickness. There is enough variety here to keep skiers busy, and there are enough lifts to disperse the crowd across the mountain with ease. However, expect to spend about twice as much time on the lift than cruising down the mountain - only two lifts are express, and most of the runs are over quite quickly if your cruising speed resembles that of a jackrabbit with no sense of direction or control. That said, it is a fun novelty to be skiing in Socal in the morning and taking in a sunset at the beach later that evening. And the runs are plenty exciting for an intermediate skier. Advanced skiers, however, may find a drought of offerings for their label - expert trails are only expert because of the presence of moguls. The views are spectacular from nearly every run - Big Bear Lake is always right there in front of you, and the desert ranges beyond seem to stretch on forever. Snow Summit possesses a "village" of a sort containing a number of restaurants (a "pub," a cafeteria style restaurant, and a barbecue) along with ski school shelters, rental shop, locker rooms, and ticketing. Compared to Mammoth, everything is centralized and logically arranged for one-stop shopping, which is a pleasant surprise. Two mountain top restaurants - yet another pub and a yet-to-open barbecue specializing in roast hog... no joke - round out the offerings, and will be the subject of future reviews. I will echo previous reviewers, however, in commenting that there is definitely a LARGE premium to be paid for dining on mountain... taking away a lot of the value arising from convenience. Parking sucks. On a TUESDAY I was forced to park halfway down Summit Boulevard. Main parking lot is free on weekdays... if you get there early enough. Luckily, Snow Summit runs a flatbed truck tram (covered, with handrails) at 15 minute intervals. So unless you have to leave in a hurry, the crappy parking is mitigated by that perk. Thank God. Overall service levels aren't as friendly as at Mammoth. Some lift operators are friendly and excited, positively radiating with an amiable, local vibe (or imbibing on something behind the scenes). Others, however, are drones - especially in the outlying areas. They clearly hate their jobs. And it simply sucks some of the joy out of the experience for the guest. Snow Summit offers a welcome respite from the madness that is Mountain High, but don't expect big mountain fun. If you make the drive with your expectations adjusted accordingly, and you don't mind hardpack, you'll have a good time. -1 star for parking, -1 star for wobbly service. read more

Snow Summit - Base area map - Ski Resorts Near Me - Big Bear Lake, California

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MOOOO!! If you arrive late enough that the VIP parking lot fills up and you have to take the "shuttle" from the outside parking lot, don't forget to mooo as you step onto it. The "shuttle" is actually one of those open trucks that are used to transport livestock. If you're lucky, you may get on one that has a canopy. Hooray! So basically, you pack in like sardines and stand with your snowboard or skis as the shuttle takes you about 3 blocks away to the resort. You're like immigrants crossing the border. That has got to be illegal or something. The mountain was good for me: a beginner trying to become an intermediate (I wonder if it will ever happen). There are only 2 main lifts and I only did the green runs down the mountain, which were very crowded. It was semi-dangerous with all the people sitting in the snow but it's ok because then I didn't feel bad for taking a break after a fall. The worst part was probably the douchebag skier that was spraying ice on everyone that was sitting. I thought he just accidentally did it to me, but then I saw him do it again to another snowboarder in front of me. Seriously dude, get a life! I hope he heard me when I called him the A-word. Tips: -Free check-ins for snowboards and skis until 5 p.m. -Lift ticket is good for here and Big Bear -If you turn-in your lift ticket before 1 p.m., you can get a partial refund -They have trash cans that you can shoot into from the lifts -You can see the bra tree if you take the "all mountain" lift read more

In terms of Southern California Snow Board parks this is probably the best. The drive here isn't too bad if you take the back way, which is exiting University Drive, passing by Redlands and then making right on Lugonia. Less curves and less freaky. If you go on a weekday, as I went this past Tuesday, it was awesome. No lines!! I went on like 10 runs. The bad part was the snow, it was a little rougher and not fluffy (so dont fall!!). But thats going to be hit and miss when snowboarding in southern cali. Ive gone when its been powder and snowing, but those days there is usually alot more peeps. Also when your snowboarding, you can get really great views of Big Bear Lake, so bring a camera. Another thing I like about Summit is there are less jumps and tricks, which Im no longer into in my old age, but If your into that I would suggest Bear Mountain. Also if you go on the weekends, you may have to park far and take those cattle trucks - I hate those things. Food in the Resort is kind of bland, and pricey but your not coming here for the food, its just something to hold you over. One last thing, if you go on your birthday, the lift ticket is free. read more

Don't, push, me, 'cause, I'm, close, to, the, edge! I'm, try, -ing, not, to, ski, off, the, ledge! I couldn't get Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" out of my head as I was struggling to get my ski legs back, which had been in hibernation for over a decade. You would think playing hockey would have kept my legs strong over the years! I knew if I ever wanted to get back into skiing, I'd need to start out slow. I couldn't just jump into the middle of Mammoth's black diamonds, so I took a nice weekend trip to Big Bear, and the place I went to ski was Snow Summit. There are a few nice places to go skiing and snowboarding in the Big Bear area, but what I liked the most about Snow Summit is that it's set up as what I call a "incremental" resort. If you start out as a beginner and feel confident enough to try something a little bit harder the next time you take a lift up the mountain, you have many different ski runs to take, all the way up the mountain! Bear Mountain has its beginner and intermediate routes, but not as many. I think it was set up mainly for expert skiing. If you're looking to really push yourself to frustration trying to ski with the big guns, Bear Mountain may be the place to go for you, but if you want some easy carefree skiing with many routes to choose from, I can tell you that Snow Summit will not leave you bored. And if in case you end up bored, it's probably time to move on to Mammoth, but for now it's nice to know Snow Summit is there. Also, a food note. The lodges serve some good, tasty food at a reasonable price. It's all served cafeteria style so you don't even have to wait, just pick it up, pay for it, sit down and eat. Now, if you really want to enjoy a good lunch, take Lift #1 all the way to the View Haus at the top of the mountain. There, whether indoors or out, you can dine, drink, or just chill out while admiring the absolutely beautiful views of the mountains to the south. read more

So I am going to contribute to the long list of upset people with this resort. I came two weeks ago and they had oversold the slopes with 35,000 tickets sold over a weekend. The place was a zoo. It took my son and I 45min to get lift tickets, 2 hours to get equipment and average 45 minute each time we went up the mountain. In total I was able to make five runs, all of them trying to avoid crashing into other people. To make matters worse, the resort shuts down at 4pm. Are these guys kidding? So I gave another opportunity and came today wednesday. Very small crowd thankfully but the process to get tickets took 20min with only one person ahead of us. Ski rentals another 20min and to get the equipment fitted took 30min. Wayyy too long. These guys dont know what they are doing compared to a Tahoe or any of the resorts in Utah and Colorado. Very poor experience. read more

Had a blast for our first time snowboarding and skiing The cost was a little much multiple options for beginners and novices will definitely go again read more