For this weeks Show Us Your California contest by Hive account@thesocalhive I head up into the San Bernardino mountains for one last snowboarding trip to...

Bear Mountain!!

So as I said in my Snow Summit post last week, I've been trying to get in my last few days of snowboarding before winter comes to an end. And barring some freak late season storm I think this will be the last trip for the season. I headed back up to Big Bear, CA again, but this time I went to Bear Mountain. Both Snow Summit and Bear Mountain are owned by the same company so my season pass works at both which is super cool! I was able to get up there early and was on the mountain just after they opened the ski lifts. I hopped on Chair 9 (aka Bear Mountain Express) and spent the morning shredding all the runs on the west side of the resort.

Views on the drive to Big Bear

Arriving at Bear Mountain

Bear Mountain Map

Views from Chair 9

The top of Chair 9

Looking off the backside of the mountain

Selfie on Chair 9

Views from Chair 9

It was a beautiful morning and I was glad I got there early. Because by midday it was getting warm... which makes for nice weather, but not the nicest snow. In fact it had been warming up so much over the last week that the whole middle section of the mountain (Chair 4 which is usually has some of my favorite runs) was not even open. So after a refreshing beer break at the base of the mountain I headed over to the east side of the mountain and rode up Chair 8 to Bear peak, the highest point in the resort at 8,805'. There I spent the afternoon racing down the "Geronimo" run. Which is a really nice long and steep run which I love. And I also like that the steepness keeps the crowds away so I can jump right on the lift with no lines. Allowing me to get in lots of laps! I was having a blast and was really enjoying the beautiful weather, but the snow wasn't... and before long it was getting really sticky and slushy... which is not really the best snowboarding conditions. So sometime mid afternoon I decided to make my last run of the season and then call it quits.

Skiing down to the base of the mountain

Enjoying a beer break at the base of the mountain

Riding up Chair 8

Views from Chair 8

Views from Bear peak

Overlooking Big Bear Lake

After I was done snowboarding, since the weather was so nice, I just had to head down to the lake and relax on the shore for a bit before making the drive back home down the mountain.