ChrisC
Well-known member
I went to Bear Valley, CA for the first time. Although Kirkwood is visible from the mountain, but there is NO WAY to get from Tahoe to Bear Valley. Hence this place feels stuck in a time warp -- somewhere around 1985 -- when the triple chair was cool and the high-speed quad not widely prevalent.
The lodge is rustic, the lifts definitely old and everyone seems to know each other --- although it all works on some level. This is definitely off the beaten path of Tahoe.
Mountain Layout:
The Day Lodge and parking is at mid mountain. There are two steep, beautiful bowls below the lodge. Beginner terrain and some short steeper shots from the summit. On the backside, there is rolling intermediate terrain.
Snow:
It was typical California snow 1.5 weeks after a storm. Northern aspects were still nice and powdery. The sun helped the east and west exposures soften (and then harden). Temps were sunny 40s and typical.
MAJOR AWARD TO BEAR VALLEY:
This places actually shows there summit base depth measuring stick! It's right where you got off of any of the summit lift. It read about 10.5 feet. The groomed trails a few feet from it away werea bout 2 ft lower.
Overall, I was really impressed with the expert terrain -- the lower mountain bowls. There was a lot more than I thought there would be. People were hiking to ski in some nice corn snow. The bowls are almost on par with anything in Tahoe -- 1200 vertical feet of great steep terrain. Like a Squaw KT22 -- same elevation, exposure.
The lodge is rustic, the lifts definitely old and everyone seems to know each other --- although it all works on some level. This is definitely off the beaten path of Tahoe.
Mountain Layout:
The Day Lodge and parking is at mid mountain. There are two steep, beautiful bowls below the lodge. Beginner terrain and some short steeper shots from the summit. On the backside, there is rolling intermediate terrain.
Snow:
It was typical California snow 1.5 weeks after a storm. Northern aspects were still nice and powdery. The sun helped the east and west exposures soften (and then harden). Temps were sunny 40s and typical.
MAJOR AWARD TO BEAR VALLEY:
This places actually shows there summit base depth measuring stick! It's right where you got off of any of the summit lift. It read about 10.5 feet. The groomed trails a few feet from it away werea bout 2 ft lower.
Overall, I was really impressed with the expert terrain -- the lower mountain bowls. There was a lot more than I thought there would be. People were hiking to ski in some nice corn snow. The bowls are almost on par with anything in Tahoe -- 1200 vertical feet of great steep terrain. Like a Squaw KT22 -- same elevation, exposure.
