Your pronunciation of Mokelumne is killing me! I grew up in Dorrington 17 miles down the road from Bear Valley. Fairly accurate review, when the snow is good there is so much awesome terrain, especially if you know where to look. We used to have big 50’ jumps when the terrain park was on the backside (bear west) under the triple chair. It’s an excellent mountain away from the Tahoe crowds.
As someone how has been riding Bear for my entire life, you gotta get a better bucket list. It's only fun when it's fresh. They didn't even get a real park built in the 22/23 season even though there was tons of snow. Takes them forever to get terrain open after a big dump. That being said, when it's good, it's really good.
@@wooltron1possibly fixed by being purchased by Cali Pass (the guy who used to run Kirkwood). Like Dodge Ridge and China Peak have not had the issues I've heard locals unhappy about at BV.
@@RD1R The operations seemed a little bit better last year under the new ownership. I was injured though so I only got 2 days in in December. Maybe it improved as the season went on.
Been going to Bear for the last 15 years. It’s only getting better these days. The last two seasons have been absolutely incredible. This place is still a hidden gem in the central Sierra
I know nothing about skiing, I've never been skiing, and I probably never will, but I still enjoy watching all your videos! It's almost like I can travel vicariously through you haha
@@Isaac-nl2et I mean, I’m not against skiing. I just live in Alabama and I don’t know if I’ll ever have the opportunity and means to go skiing. That’s what I mean by “probably never will.”
I’ve only skied Bear Valley six or seven times in my life and have a definite warm spot in my heart for it. But it is SMALL. With limited advanced terrain, unless the lower mountain is open. A great family hill, but not a shredder paradise. It’s good old-school vibe which I love. But it has limited appeal. Tele skiers and backcountry skiers love this area.
I used to ski Bear Valley a lot. Too many power,mechanical and opening issues during the 22-23 season have kept me away. I hope the upgrades happen and they can get this mountain more consistent. Bear Valley is a great place for a group trip on a budget. Many awesome vacation rentals in Arnold and Dorrington, which are an easy 30 to 40 minute drive away.
Worked here as a lifty last season, best time of my life. (Yo wait that’s me at 5:55 😂 you snuck up on me, I didnt get many visitors down there 😅)Though the runs there aren’t long by any means, they’re still spectacular and even gnarly in some cases, and grizzly bowl/snow valley is something you gotta try for yourself someday. Plus, the village side is immaculate. Employee housing was located in the village, so I loved taking home run all the way to my front door
@@alexbones0001 when I was a lifty we laid the ground work during working hours in the lift line, the bartender on the hill always hooked it up when we would meet up with chicks a little after 4!
Heavenly got 226 inches last year Bear Valley got 324. So how do they get more snow? Look at previous years we beat them 90% of the time. It’s only north Tahoe resorts that beat Bear Valley, like Sugar Bowl, or Squaw
Heavenly is east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada, Bear Valley is to the west, and Palisades, Sugar Bowl, Boreal, Sierra-at-Tahoe, and Kirkwood are right on it. The upper west slope and crest of the Sierra are much wetter than the east side because storms usually come from the west and topographic effects increase precipitation on the windward side and decrease it on the leeward side of a mountain/range.
@@beandoggleyou got it. Mammoth, Alpine, Sugar Bowl and Kirkwood sit on the actual crest and the snowfall totals usually show. Look at China Peak, about 20 miles west from Mammoth, but regularly gets similar snowfall totals while being 1500' lower. June is 10 miles away and gets 1/3 less snow cuz it's meaningfully east of the crest.
My home mountain for over 20 years. The Sierra secret. Powder days are amazing when the Mt. is 100% open. Hearing the narrator say "Mokelumne" was painful but otherwise, a pretty good review. Actually, on second thought, this place sucks, go to Tahoe. 😂
During the NA off season you should come to my home ski fields in New Zealand (Queenstown area), it would make you appreciate what you have in the US and Canada a lot more.
Bear Valley is on Ikon for 24/25 no blackouts. I'm relocating north of Reno, but during the holidays I may have to trek there. Thanks for the tips, I'm a sucker for wide open powder glades so a trip or 2 to the village side is a must if i was to catch a pow day! I got lost in a storm in March at SugarBowl and had to hike back up to the village gondola so I've got the experience, I've got to see for myself whether Bear holds it's own to Sugar.
is bear valley not allowed to add a lift to the village side? it seems it would be a smarter idea to add a lift there instead of upgrading the old slow lifts.
They are planning on that in the future, and have been for years. It seems like the new ownership is focusing on improving the core area before making the huge investment the village side would need.
@@PeakRankings Oh for sure. It’s not a resort by any stretch of the imagination. But I think a lot of the smaller “resorts” on Peakrankings are more “ski areas” than resorts. You should have come skied it this year! Who knows when it’ll open again? Although there’s no reason to write a review for such a local mountain. Nobody outside LA County is going to ski Waterman.
This mtn's website doesn't include a trail map or elevations. I've ridden just about every moutain in the sierras including Alta Sierra, but never this one. Makes it hard to commit to this drive which is as far as kirkwood for me.
no idea when its going to happen, but just this past season bear valley redid the unloading area of Grizzly lift in preporation for a larger and faster lift in lower moumtain. I think the plan is to add a non detachable 4 seat lift, but im not positive.
The CALI people have a plan. The plan is a lift from the village to mid-mountain on the backside. I think it will terminate on BV property (not Forest Service land). Then a few years after that they want a lift from that mid-mountain location to Koala Top.
@@davidweaver8506 that would be awesome. Village side on pow days is incredible other than hiking to and waiting for the shuttle. Let's hope it happens while my knees still kind of work.
I visited Dodge Ridge last winter for the first time. (Yay CALI Pass!) It is the exact same drive time from my home in the Tri-Valley. Dodge was much more crowded. I did like the mid-mountain lunch place. I liked that I could see the backside of Bear Valley from high up on Dodge Ridge. There seems to be much more vacation housing available at Dodge Ridge. The snow was better at Bear Valley, but not drastically better.
