snow skiing weekend in big bear

2/6/2019

Vintage Jacket (similar here) , North Face Fleece (old, similar here) ,
Amazon Ski Goggles , Gloves (old, similar here) , and Costco Ski Pants (old, similar here)

Growing up my family and I went skiing every year for President's Day weekend and man are those some of my favorite memories! Since moving to California, this is the first time Patrick and I have been able to make it out to Big Bear Mountain to ski. Sometimes it is hard to bite the bullet and just plan the trip, so here is my full guide to a snow skiing weekend in Big Bear to make it a little bit easier for you.

W H E R E W E S T A Y E D & W H Y

We booked the cutest little cabin throughBig Bear Cool Cabins. We stayed in
Cornerstone Cabin in order to be walking distance to the slopes and have a pet friendly space with a hot tub. Our backyard was literally a forest that Finley loved running in.
See my post here of our day in the snow. They have filters to choose hot tub, dog friendly, or whatever your needs are. I found the best deals here over Airbnb or VRBO. Also the biggest perk of booking through Cool Cabins is to get discounted lift tickets!! We saved so much money purchasing our lift passes through them.

G E T T I N G A R O U N D

I highly recommend finding a cabin within walking distance to the slopes themselves or to one of the free parking lots that has a shuttle. We went during snow, so it was nice to not have to think about driving anywhere on the mountain. We also took Uber/Lyft to eat or go out in the Village. We ate at Hacienda Grill for Mexican food and margaritas which is super close to Bear Mountain Resort. Getting to and from the mountain make sure to always check the road conditions here. There could be a snow chain mandate required so make sure you have them and know how to put them on. We ordered these from Amazon for our Chevy Volt since it has low tire clearance.

B E A R M O U N T A I N R E S O R T

We skied at Bear Mountain Resort and man was I pleasantly surprised as to how many medium blue slopes and harder black diamond slopes there were. I was expecting a very tiny mountain but they did not disappoint for an easy weekend skiing. We got our ski rentals at the resort so that we would not have to carry or keep up with them. We found them maybe $10 - 15 cheaper if you rented elsewhere but we thought that carry them was not worth that savings. It's up to you! If you reserve online 72 hrs in advance you get a discount as well.

There are lockers downstairs across from the ticket booth to put shoes and belongings in. We packed a book bag with additional layers just in case we got super cold or needed to shed some layers. You never know so I like to be prepared! There is also a restaurant and lodge to eat, drink, and rest. No need to really leave the resort during the day since they pretty much have everything right there.

S K I C L O T H E S

It was 30-34 degrees with wind and snow when we went. I like to dress in layers because you honestly never know the temperature or how it is actually going to feel while skiing. I like to start off with a base layer of leggings and a tight under armor, thermal layer, long sleeve tee. I typically have on two pairs of thick wool socks. Then I layer over a fleece pull over or sweatshirt. I packed an extra pair of jogger sweat pants in my bag just in case but ended up not wearing them. I layered by ski pants and ski jacket on top with gloves and ski goggles. The ski helmet kept my head pretty warm but some extra layers to consider to bring in your book bag are: scarf, ear headband or beanie, and face mask.
Here are some great options I suggest below: