Big Bear 3-3-11

Morning: Snow Summit
Clear and bright sun most of the day, moderate wind, temperatures
about freezing point.

There had been light rain late the day before, which soaked in and
froze overnight. There were patches of black ice on 38 - I saw three
vehicles off the road and several car-sized dents in the snowbanks.

The frozen rain also turned the skiing surface into boilerplate.
Except for a few late-grooming tracks down the middle of trails,
everything else was uncarvable. However, as the day warmed up and the
sun got to the surface, the surface softened, depending on the
elevation, sun exposure and skier traffic. The good parts were
excellent, fast, and uncrowded.

Light lift-line crowds - mostly just walk-on speed through the lines.

Afternoon: Bear Mt.
I swapped over at noon because I thought the higher slopes at BM would
have improved with a little thawing out. The upper parking lot was
full, but some people were leaving already so I drove around until I
found a spot.

The intermediate slopes that had some traffic to kick up the ice were
great, but the steeper slopes were either uncarvably hard or were
filled with fist-sized ice balls that felt like skiing on rocks. I
made a few runs down Geronimo, which was better than the other
diamonds and was getting better with every run. Then I went back over
to Silver Peak late in the afternoon, but the cooling sun and air were
freezing the surface back up again, so I got out while still alive.

I took my 2011 route - 15 - 215 - 60 east to Beamont - 10 west to
right on Oak Glen, left on Bryant, right on 38. I passed the back
side of a Von's on Oak Glen in Yucaipa about 10 to 6, so I pulled in
to see if they were open yet. As I walked up to the door I saw the
sign said 6AM-2AM, but the doors opened, so I guess I was their first
customer that day.

On Mar 4, 2:27*pm, The Real Bev wrote:
On 03/04/11 08:58, Richard Henry wrote:

Morning: *Snow Summit
Clear and bright sun most of the day, moderate wind, temperatures
about freezing point.

There had been light rain late the day before, which soaked in and
froze overnight. *There were patches of black ice on 38 - I saw three
vehicles off the road and several car-sized dents in the snowbanks.

There was only one ice patch big enough to cause trouble on Tuesday, but
it was gone by the afternoon.

The frozen rain also turned the skiing surface into boilerplate.
Except for a few late-grooming tracks down the middle of trails,
everything else was uncarvable. *However, as the day warmed up and the
sun got to the surface, the surface softened, depending on the
elevation, sun exposure and skier traffic. *The good parts were
excellent, fast, and uncrowded.

I want consistency. *Having to adjust to stop-N-go surfaces is tiring,
and I get tired enough as it is.

Light lift-line crowds - mostly just walk-on speed through the lines.

I don't think I've ever seen lines longer than a few people, mostly
caused by the incompetence of the droid scanning the tickets. *What's up
with that, anyway? *What kind of statistics can they amass by scanning
fewer than half of the tickets randomly?

Afternoon: *Bear Mt.
I swapped over at noon because I thought the higher slopes at BM would
have improved with a little thawing out. *The upper parking lot was
full, but some people were leaving already so I drove around until I
found a spot.

The intermediate slopes that had some traffic to kick up the ice were
great, but the steeper slopes were either uncarvably hard or were
filled with fist-sized ice balls that felt like skiing on rocks. *I
made a few runs down Geronimo, which was better than the other
diamonds and was getting better with every run. *Then I went back over
to Silver Peak late in the afternoon, but the cooling sun and air were
freezing the surface back up again, so I got out while still alive.

Maybe I'll go there next Thursday if my other skiing friend gets back.
He used to go to BM all the time, so I can let him show me around. *He's
had a triple bypass and has a handicapped plate, which seems somehow
counter-intuitive since he's the most energetic person I know, but the
parking is nice if we get there later than usual.

I took my 2011 route - 15 - 215 - 60 east to Beamont - 10 west to
right on Oak Glen, left on Bryant, right on 38. *I passed the back
side of a Von's on Oak Glen in Yucaipa about 10 to 6, so I pulled in
to see if they were open yet.

That seems quite a bit out of the way. *I've never seen any bothersome
traffic on the 15--10--Orange route. *Coming back down via 18 through
Arrowhead at ~1:30 was nice, but had more traffic.

The route through Beaumont is only 2 miles longer than going through
Riverside, and it avoids the 91-215-60 interchange traffic mess.