A look at the Weekend Winners & Next Week’s Place to Be
This week we are going back to Cali(fornia)! At least for our winner of the weekend.
Soda Springs topped out with 31” since Saturday. Mt Shasta received 26” and my little known favorite, Bear Valley received 18” of snow.
In fact, California resorts made up 11 of the top 15 resorts with the most snowfall this weekend.
I am super excited to highlight this California resort.
I have called this week’s resort home and there will always be a special place in my heart for this place.
Bear Valley Resort
Bear Valley Resort, located in 1 of 3 towns in California named Bear Valley. (This is definitely the best).
This resort lies in the heart of the Sierra Mountains between the Yosemite Park to it’s South and Tahoe’s Kirkwood Resort to it’s North. The only access to this outdoor wonderland in the winter is from the west on Ebbetts Pass (Route 4).
Plan your flights to arrive in Sacramento (2.5 hr drive), San Jose (3.5 hr drive), or if you must, San Francisco (4 hr drive).
No shuttles are available from the airport, so rent a car (with chains!) and enjoy the scenic drive. It’s worth it.
Looking for snow?
Last year this resort got a whopping 428” of snow…It averages just shy of 300”. Vail, in comparison, received 329” last year and averages just shy of 250” a year of snowfall.
Established back in 1967, Bear Valley Mountain offers 9 lifts, 122 trails, 2 terrain parks and 1,680 skiable acres of terrain.
Most of the time, you will find many trails are left to early bird powder hounds to cut it up to their hearts’ delight. The groomers, however, are of plenty and mighty fine. 1900 feet of vertical isn’t too bad either.
The unique feature of Bear Valley is the fact that the village and the mountain are on opposite sides of the mountain ridge.Shuttles can take you to the mountain, but you can ski back to your stay on the village side.
The village offers a main lodge hotel with several dining options.
The nearby condos and homes can also be rented out at Bear Valley Vacation Rentals. Bear Valley is a snowbound community so if you rent a home instead of a condo or hotel room, most likely you will want to rent a snowmobile service (or a snowmobile for yourself) to carry your luggage up to the rental.
This is mountain fun at it’s finest.
Besides phenomenal skiing and riding, the mountain road that is closed, offers winter access as they groom the road instead of plow it.
Sledding, backcountry skiing, nordic skiing, and snowmobiling are all available activities to get you out amongst the stunning backdrop of the high Sierras.
Next Week’s Powder
The Pacific Northwest is due for snow, and it looks like next weekend will deliver. Steven’s Pass and Mount Baker look to be big winners.
One of these days, I am going to get to the Legendary Baker Banked Slalom.
They are going to need that snow as this year’s event is coming up on the weekend of February 9th, 10th, and 11th.
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