Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb towards it.
~ Edmund Hillary, first person confirmed to climb
Mt. Everest

Last week, a time period of 200 days with temperatures exceeding 70 degrees abruptly came to an end. In doing so it broke the old record by 10 days set in 1885! Pretty incredible! A shift in wind direction allowed a mass of cold, dry air to form over Southern California. Thermometers dropped into the 40s at night and stayed in the 60s during the day. Patches of light precipitation moved in giving us a few brief rain showers and dumping several inches of snow onto the local mountain communities, Big Bear Mountain being one of them. As the local mountains are over 8,000 feet in elevation, winter and late fall brings an outstanding snowfall to the area. Meteorologically and geographically speaking, this is an anomaly due to its close proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Perhaps of more interest to skiers, the slopes are expected to open Thanksgiving weekend!

To produce snow that is both rideable and sustainable requires a specific set of atmospheric conditions over a sustained period of time – typically 48-72 hours – with temperatures of 27 degrees or lower and moderate-to-strong winds. When these conditions are met, snow – enough to cover all designated trails at Big Bear Mountain – is deemed sustainable. Although natural is preferred, all conditions can be met by manmade snow.

Manmade snow is produced by compressing air and water through a network of machines called snow guns. The compressed air atomizes the water while simultaneously cooling it and blowing it into the air where it crystalizes and forms snow. Snow density can be varied by adjusting the air/water mixture to produce wetter, heavier snow for base layers and park features or dryer, lighter snow for better maneuvering on groomed runs and aesthetic purposes. To cover an acre of terrain with a foot of snow requires 200,000 gallons of water.

Big Bear’s ski area uses water from Big Bear Lake. The total amount of water used to produce snow equates to approximately four inches of surface water – taking it is virtually undetectable – with nearly 90% returned to the lake in the spring/summer via ground absorption and a nearby network of stream runoff. Just to get an idea how it plays out…

During the summer the lake averages one-to-two feet of natural evaporation. Using lake water for snowmaking does not impact Big Bear’s water consumption/usage as all water used for domestic purposes is drawn from local wells. No guilt skiing!
Watch for high clouds drifting in today, Thursday. Much warmer weather and offshore breezes are expected to build into Sunday and Monday. Also, very large high tides and big waves are part of the weather menu.

One week, the surf … and next the snow!