California/Nevada Big Bear, Mountain High, Waterman, Baldy meet up thread 20/21

[Mothertucker]

Yup! Feeling super stupid!

I'm probably one of the few that refer to it as that. I only go over there maybe once a season to scavenge.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I'm probably one of the few that refer to it as that. I only go over there maybe once a season to scavenge.

I am aware of the name. I just blanked it out. We only ski there if we have a beginner or a little with us.

 

[Mothertucker]

Will Pat and Bob be out today?

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

Will Pat and Bob be out today?

Yes we will. We will look like this.

 

[Rostapher]

How’s the storm treating Big Bear area? @Pat AKA mustski @Mothertucker?

Baldy reported a foot at The Notch, i.e. the real base, at noon which is very promising with more to come!

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

How’s the storm treating Big Bear area? @Pat AKA mustski @Mothertucker?

Baldy reported a foot at The Notch, i.e. the real base, at noon which is very promising with more to come!

We go quite a bit of snow so far. Over a foot already and they should have received more at the resort. We won't go until tomorrow. There is a boatload of visitors up here this weekend and the driving is hazardous. Most of them do not have chains.

 

[Larry]

If you were to guess, which day would have less people Wed the 30 or tmThur the 31st up in big bear

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

If you were to guess, which day would have less people Wed the 30 or tmThur the 31st up in big bear

There will be crowds either way. They come up and stay all week to celebrate New Year's Eve. I would LIKE to believe that this year would be different, but I have not seen any such indication. In my experience, New Year's Day is the least crowded ski day because everyone is hung over. I'll let you know how it seems tomorrow. Are you thinking of hitting Summit or SV?

 

[Larry]

There will be crowds either way. They come up and stay all week to celebrate New Year's Eve. I would LIKE to believe that this year would be different, but I have not seen any such indication. In my experience, New Year's Day is the least crowded ski day because everyone is hung over. I'll let you know how it seems tomorrow. Are you thinking of hitting Summit or SV?

SV. True, maybe new years day would be best with hang overs and all. I might also wait until next Monday when things should slow down again

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

SV. True, maybe new years day would be best with hang overs and all. I might also wait until next Monday when things should slow down again

SV hasn't been too bad. The biggest issue is the guest services window where you go with your Snowjam membership to redeem it for a lift ticket. Get there at opening and try to be at the front of the line. Right now they are charging $10.00 for parking, but you can apply it for a credit for food and drink or in the sportstore. I'm not sure when they will stop charging for parking on weekdays ... probably next week. I haven't found it too crowded there, but it may get busy with all the new snow. It will definitely slow down next week.

 

[snwbrdr]

Drove to Big Bear for the hell of it (I just wanted to drive in the snow)... man....people are such f'ing morons. I don't know how many of them got past chain control, because many of them I saw were stopped on the road, chaining up in the snow.
Driving in snow at big bear by thisistan, on Flickr

I saw an unchained FedEx truck that probably hit a Dodge Charger that has chains on... I hope the Dodge Charger owner goes after FedEx for additional damages.

Driving in snow at big bear by thisistan, on Flickr

Driving in snow at big bear by thisistan, on Flickr

And...a lifted Grand Cherokee on all-terrains crashed into a ditch, that required a chained up truck to pull out.

Driving in snow at big bear by thisistan, on Flickr

Helped out a family from SFV put on cables on a Benz GLE 450, since their stock continental all-seasons weren't cutting it up in at Big bear city in a parking lot, since I needed food and coffee... they could of stayed from the weekend, but were not prepared for the snow, so they just bought snow chains.

...and was I using chains in the R2 condition? Hell no. I gots AWD and All-weather tires (Nokian WR G4 SUV)... I don't drive with chains until R3, as I had no issues driving in today's conditions.

And.. a Taco in front of me that I can hear it scraping the fender liner (too loose), exploded... and on the way back... some cable caltrops
Driving in snow at big bear by thisistan, on Flickr

The white car in front of me was the family I helped... they got in front of me because I pulled over to take this picture:
Driving in snow at big bear by thisistan, on Flickr

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

Yup. ^^^ that is why we stay home when it’s crowded and snowing up here. We drove up Friday nights - for years- in many storms. There are too many fools to even mention! Roads are R3 right now, but that should drop back down to R2 tomorrow.

 

[snwbrdr]

Yup. ^^^ that is why we stay home when it’s crowded and snowing up here. We drove up Friday nights - for years- in many storms. There are too many fools to even mention! Roads are R3 right now, but that should drop back down to R2 tomorrow.

All the slush probably turned to ice right now...good thing I'm not driving out there right now... putting chains on with a head light probably isn't fun..

 

[Popeye Cahn]

Personally, whatever condtitions exist there arent worth it for me. Let the young and foolish at heart have at that crap.

 

[snwbrdr]

Personally, whatever condtitions exist there arent worth it for me. Let the young and foolish at heart have at that crap.

As much as I prefer fresh pow, I don't hit the slopes during the holidays... too crowded, especially ski areas that are easily accessible from the LA area (close distance).

Mammoth is an easier drive than Big bear lakes, but the distance/time can detract many from going out.

I heard baldy was a disaster area yesterday
Hundreds of people caught in the snow at Mount Baldy (turnto23.com)

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

As much as I prefer fresh pow, I don't hit the slopes during the holidays... too crowded, especially ski areas that are easily accessible from the LA area (close distance).

Mammoth is an easier drive than Big bear lakes, but the distance/time can detract many from going out.

I heard baldy was a disaster area yesterday
Hundreds of people caught in the snow at Mount Baldy (turnto23.com)

Yes, I heard it was insane. People running out of gas because they kept their engines running to stay warm. Then they abandoned the vehicles- 50+ is what I heard. It took all night and into the next day to clear it all out.

As for powder at BBMR - I call that 15 minutes of fun!

 

[snwbrdr]

Yes, I heard it was insane. People running out of gas because they kept their engines running to stay warm. Then they abandoned the vehicles- 50+ is what I heard. It took all night and into the next day to clear it all out.

As for powder at BBMR - I call that 15 minutes of fun!

It's more like "Unprepared" people that ski'd there... no chains were carried, no extra blankets, etc... if they all were smart, they would have made it down and back into the rain.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

Definitely best to avoid Big Bear this weekend. We went to Summit this morning thinking New Years morning, everyone would get a later start than usual... Nope. The traffic was crazy and the amount of cars driving up was insane. We are going to hunker down for the weekend.

ETA: Heads up y'all. The new variant strain is in Big Bear. You need to read the article to see that it's in our town - not just the county. https://sbcovid19.com/wp-content/up...k3w8nbCaBheqHBMzrNJqmFy2iceTvxk1ZEAN7JFhw7uPg

 

[Popeye Cahn]

ETA: Heads up y'all. The new variant strain is in Big Bear. You need to read the article to see that it's in our town - not just the county. https://sbcovid19.com/wp-content/up...k3w8nbCaBheqHBMzrNJqmFy2iceTvxk1ZEAN7JFhw7uPg

A number of cases have been found here in SD. Apparently the WHO is suggesting that 3 layers is best against the current strain.

BBMR is offering a free day of skiing on your birthday, mine is in 2 weeks mid-week I may skip work...

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

If any of you followed the bomb scare story on the news last night... that was my house! Crazy tweaker in the neighborhood was trying to break into our house and threatened some teens. She told them she had a pipe bomb in her backpack. Then she hid the bag under our truck. The whole neighborhood was evacuated but we couldn’t get our car out. A neighbor gave us a lift to by a hotel for the night. All is well- there was no bomb in the bag. The police and hotel folks were super nice. The sheriffs paid $100 of our hotel bill and the hotel waived the dog fee. I prefer my adventure on the slopes!