Snow Summit

Love snow summit for snowboarding but hate the food. Bring your own or eat somewhere else.

I have to take back what I said about Snow Summit. I actually enjoyed my experience when I came here about 1.5 weeks ago. I had always thought for some reason this place had the most disgusting bathroom but I was mistaken. There are MULTIPLE TO CHOOSE FROM!
You may think I emphasize this quite often in my trips to ski resorts but if you are going for a day trip this is quite important. I had a blast here their routes are quite long and perfect for those trying to practice how to carve properly.
I’m glad I gave this place another shot. I can’t wait until next season!
Shred on!

This is a great place to go skiing. The rental shops are quick and helpful people, as long as you don’t run into the more lewd and perverted individuals. The slopes are also so much fun to go down. It is the closest thing to flying without wings. On one of the bunny slopes when I first went the employee there asked everyone with fervent gusto if I was ready. Even though I was there for a few hours he asked every time. The bunny slopes on the far left and the magic carpet are great places to learn how to ski and all the proper mechanics of control. When you’re first learning it is best not to use poles regardless of age just so you know how to turn without them and how to control yourself using only balance. The view from the summit is spectacular. Going down is difficult and when you’re learning you will fall, be sure and get back up, there’s nothing quite like flying down a mountain.

Little Pioneers Ski School (Ages 3 – 4) is not a school. At least not for beginners at all!
Our 4 year old son enrolled in a class this past Saturday afternoon. I and my son still do not know who his instructor was (what I was told when I am making reservations — 3 kids per instructor). No such groups formed. The instructor name in the report card they provide after so-​called class is Sammy we have not seen, I guess a.k.a. Sammy the Ghost!
The «so-​called» instructors only try to direct the crowd to the magic carpet and help falling kids get up (if they notice!). There is no form of teaching at this class other than some shouting «Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!» or «Slow!Slow!». That’s pretty much it and that’s what you pay quite a bunch for!
1) The skis for a bunch of students arrived 15 minutes late to the slope including my son’s.
2) A guy handed my son the skis and that’s it, he left! He had to wait another 5 minutes or so until somebody else noticed he does not have the experience and strength to put the skis on. Kudos to my son, he himself tried.
3) An unfortunate event happened and another boy just fell in front of my son while he was finally and hardly (himself) heading to the carpet ride entrance first time. These two guys started suffering in order to untangle. 2m away, there is an ‘instructor’ and she cannot see this for another 2 – 3 minutes when I had to intervene and point her the scene.
4) When they finally noticed my son is a beginner (he built up quite a speed in his first ski down the little slope, fell, and started crying), a lady (Sammy, is this you?) grabbed my son and another young kid suffering/​crying and rode the carpet with them. I think she was able to calm them down a bit on their way up. Yes, kids calm down when nice ladies be friends with them, talk to them, teach them! But the way she tried coming downhill with them, holding hands with one kid on each side was, well, I do not know what to tell. I can tell, that’s not how you teach properly, that’s not instruction, and that’s not how one can learn. That led to more falling, tangling, more upset kids, more crying, heavily.
So after an hour of my son crying, and multiple personnel eventually admitting that this is not a class for beginners (exactly opposite of what I was told at reservation time) and we should not be there at the first place, I had to take him out of class. I wanted him to end the session on a good note, but there was no way this was going to get better.
And another thing I want to note: They used the same slope for kids school and adult beginner lessons. This is a small slope for tens of novice adults and kids to share at the same time. This is an open invitation to unfortunate accidents. I still cannot believe what I saw.
I would not enrol anybody in this so-​called school again. They told weekdays are much better, but I seriously doubt that. A proper ski school should limit the number of students and make sure the same quality can be maintained any day of the week. I thought that’s why I was required to make a ‘reservation’ on the phone the week before.
I definitely recommend a deeper investigation on the class nature before paying the bucks and letting your kid getting excited about skiing and the class. You and your kid will not be heart broken and you will be roughly $ 100 something bucks richer.

This past Friday, I went snowboarding for the first time in five years. Double checked my bindings in the morning and thought that maybe I’d have an issue with the plastic on the straps as they were pretty old and had that yellow tinge that indicated brittleness. Hoping for the best, I hit the slopes with my friends. It was a gorgeous day, and the snow was pretty awesome. The slopes were busy but not too packed – plenty of room for this beginner to learn her way down the hill with friendly guidance.
Halfway through the day, after a few runs, everything was still going great! Then we took a bathroom break at the top of a hill, so I fully I unstrapped from my board. When I went to strap back in, whatdayaknow, my front left binding strap snapped off. :/​
The Snow Summit staff member informed me they didn’t have any way to fix it at the top of the hill, but was very kind and walked me over to the lift and sent me on my way down.
I made my way to the repair shop and was greeted by Mikey and Allen, who were currently working on another project (some poor chap leaned his board against his exhaust and melted off the wax…). When I showed them the problem, Mikey examined it and said I should probably just rent some bindings for the day because the cost of repairing would be silly compared to just buying a new set later. I said that was fine if he thought that was best and jokingly quipped that maybe he could just pull off straps from some old board sitting around. He actually paused to think about it and asked me to hold on to see what he could do. A few minutes later, he came back with a pair of Burton toe straps and said he’d be happy to replace them for me, and he did it for me at a killer deal!
Mikey was obviously an expert at his craft and knew his stuff. We had really great banter while he replaced it for me. The replacement process was really quick, and he and Allen made the whole experience really fun and even educational while I was in there. Before you know it, I was back out on the slopes (after a beer break at the lodge, of course ^.~), falling on my butt again learning how to carve.
My day at Snow Summit was so much fun, and I was able to continue the second half of it because of the guys at the repair shop. Mikey & Allen, you guys are absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much!

Had a great weekend learning how to Snowboard! Arrived around 8:30 to find the regular lot full so we opted to pay $ 20 for the VIP parking steps away from the entrance. Friendly service from the lady who looked up my online reservation. Ken was amazing in making us feel welcome and helping us figure out how to assemble and attach the lift tickets to our clothing (We were newbs).
We signed up for the 4hr snowboarding lessons and I’m glad we did! First half started at 9:45 and was led by Brad and Aaron who did an amazing job in calming everyone’s nerves, teaching us the safest ways to fall (Important!) and all the basics. We took a quick truck ride up to a closed off area for beginners where we practiced our skills and received instruction uninterrupted. What made Brad and Aaron great was that they were personable, good with names had no problems answering questiona and covered all the basics.
After lunch and some time resting our battered bodies (Plenty of falls) it was time for the 1:45pm start time for the second half of lessons. The instructors had us split into advanced vs. Beginner groups based on demonstration of basic skills. Our group instructor was Gabe who gave us great instruction on fine tuning our basics (Stance, weight shifting, etc) as well as teaching us new skills. He was great because he made an effort to learn our names, spent a good amount of time demonstrating the skills (No matter how many times he was asked) and helped us make the necessary adjustments based off his observations.
Overall a great experience. Full bar and food vendors available on site. We rented our gear elsewhere but they do rent gear. Lessons were well worth it and the place was packed by 11am so I can only imagine how busy it is on holiday weekends. Look forward to coming back and seeing if I can fall less than 10 times!

It’s my birthday! Thanks for the free all day lift ticket! Weather is warm, snow is a bit slushy but it’s not crowded at all!
If you don’t like crowds, stay away from weekends.
The staff is great. Great runs in Southern California.
The food is good. Drinks are awesome! The hot Apple Pie is great on a cold day (hot adult drink) and Bloody Mary are some of the best drinks in town!

Went here for night boarding on Sunday ²⁄₁₄. If you went during the day, you can pay just $ 15 more for night board. I really like night boarding better, because there’s less people there. I actually like snow summit better than bear, it had more decorations. But the snow was not soft at all, ouch. The beginners run was so quick. takes like 5mins to get up there and a second to come down, lol. I love the intermediate run though! super long ride
— — — — — -
went again a day after the snow & it was so fluffy!!! falling was not a problem, because it felt like falling on hundreds of pillows
lift 2 was a busy run. go on any others

Let’s begin by saying this was my first time skiing. Therefore, I am no expert in my review. However, my SO has had his fair share of skiing and he felt the same way as me.
Upon arrival, we went to get our tickets & purchase our gear. The lady in the window was very efficient yet not very happy or friendly but that’s okay.
Once we went to pick up our ski gear everyone inside was extremely friendly and helped us with everything we needed.
We thought our experience overall was good. The prices are a bit high but the experience was good. The only thing I have to say is that the snow was very slushy and made it somehow hard to ski on, especially for a beginner like me. My SO also kept making it a point how slushy the snow was, and so were people around us. However, this might be due to the fact that it hasn’t snowed in a few weeks. Maybe if the snow was fresh we wouldn’t have had that problem.

With Chair 9 broken, a third of the mountain is shut down. I would not recommend coming up until it’s fixed. The lines at all the lifts are horrendeous.

***Make sure you do NOT do a snowboard lesson with Spencer! ***
Suggestions:
1) make reservations online to speed up the process
2) get your lift ticket online
3) if you arrive early enough, there is limited free parking to the left of the paid lot. ($ 20 lot.)
4) arrive at least 2hrs before your lessons if you are renting from Snow Summit.
5) bring your own goggles & gloves
6) invest in a GOOD pair of water PROOF gloves. (I spent $ 50 a pair at Sports Chalet and they did nothing more than keep our hands wet and cold after falling! I was told about $ 150 is the price for really good gloves)
7) have your tire chains/​cables in the car and be ready for a slow commute home! (Took us 7hrs to get back to Glendale. It took 2hrs to get there!)
I took my 3 sons to try snowboarding for the first time, Sunday Jan 31. We were all excited and ready to learn. The staff member who printed out our passes and lesson tickets was extremely friendly and up beat! The staff in the rental areas for «Adventures» (kids under 12) and the adults rental area were all very friendly and helpful.
(That was the extent of friendly staff that I encountered!)
It was difficult for me as I am a single dad taking a 13, 11 and 8yr old on their first snowboard trip. My younger two had group lessons that started at 9:45am… As did my 13yr old & I. I asked a staff member what time the «adventures» (kids) start lining up for class and where exactly I should leave them so they would be in the correct line. «I WON’T WATCH THEM!» was the rude man’s response! I was merely asking for clarification but this guy chose to bite my head off instead!
I finally found where I should have the 11 & 8 yr olds wait (under the yellow flag) and they had a nice instructor from what they told me.
Adults meet under the Blue flag to the left of the chair lifts (if you are facing the mountain). Spencer (The Jerk) showed up and class started about 10:15am. Grant it, I feel for the money paid and the number of students in the class, there should have been at least 2 or 3 instructors… Spencer lacked patience and was the epitome of someone who can do a task but canNOT teach how to do it! His safety rules (although important were more of a tongue lashing) and his teaching of the basics was more of a cliff note version on speed! He started off by racing through how to tell which foot goes to the front of the board (regular or goofy). Based on his «lean forward and whatever foot steps out to catch your balance goes up front» was incorrect. I am «goofy» foot yet according to his idea, I was «regular.» Needless to say, I had a very difficult time.
The worst was his attitude about the weather. Constant complaining about the cold. WHAT??? It is in the mountains! In the winter! And its a SNOW sport!!! Duh!!! If you want warm and cozy go work in the rental department! We never made it onto a lift and never saw the bunny slopes. But Spencer sure pushed his «awesome private lessons» if you want to hire him for a lot more money! Yea sure and I’ll hire a mute to teach me to sing!!!
All in all, the mountain was beautiful. Easy to rent equipment & return equipment. 50% of the staff is friendly. And I saw a lot of families having a lot of fun… My boys and I included! No way a few bad attitudes would ruin our experience.
We definitely will be going back just because the mountain was awesome and had so much fun snowboarding… Falling!!!

Ugh, do yourself a favor and avoid coming here during peak times on El Nino years which include between Christmas and New Year’s and MLK weekend. I came both times this year, Over MLK, there wasn’t even parking available at the Brownie satellite lot. The line for kids rentals can be up to 1.5 hours long… ugh! Once you get to the front, you learn that they do not rent adult gear there. You get to wait in ANOTHER line at Slopeside Rentals for that, further cutting into your fleeting ski time. So when you make a reservation online, that means they’ll have your stuff, right? Nope, no size 13 boots in the place for me over MLK. Well, they may have released them when I was standing in the kids’ rental line for 1.5 hours, so I had to choose between 12.5 and 14… great. You should see my blisters.
I also do not recommend the 5 – 7 year old beginner ski class. There were about 30 kids in his class, and they combined it with the 3 – 4 year old class, which really limits the content. There was a lot of waiting your turn between action. They never even got on the magic carpet lift all day. Save your money and do a shorter private or semi-​private class.
If you must come on a holiday, consider a half day, which allows you more time to deal with parking, tickets, rentals, lessons, etc. Or consider renting your equipment at home before you leave. I will say that the staff was calm and cool and the lift lines weren’t too bad, once we finally got out to the slopes. Oh, and be on the lookout for beginning snowboarders sitting on their asses like landmines literally everywhere. Not fun when you’re trying to show your kid how to carve a decent turn…

Came here on a holiday weekend. SO CROWDED. All the lots were full and had to park all the way at Fox Farm which is past Brownie (where we thought was already far). They load everyone on the truck and take u up to the resort. I love that they have that instead of having people hike up.
Staff is friendly and handle the craziness with control and calmness. The lines for slopes– crazy packed. Whether you’re going to the way top or staying at the bunny slope.
Glad that there’s a bar/​pub at the top of the mountain (taking the #2 lift) less crowded and you can ski or snowboard down after.

Necessary Accompaniment: «California Sun» by The Rivieras
The San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains are something out of the twilight zone. Marching eastward from Malibu, the Transverse Ranges rise as a stone wall, wringing every last drop of moisture out of the atmosphere, barring Southern California from the vast desert countries to the north. Chaparral gives way to undulating hills and mountains carpeted in forests of Ponderosa and Piñón pines, the ground rising from sea level to well over 8,000 feet in a linear distance of two miles. The vertical relief is staggering, and although the distance between the base and the summit is small, the contrast could hardly be larger. CA-​330 twists and snakes along mountain ridges, poking above the smog layer and into an alpine oasis where small towns of false front buildings and decades-​old vacation cabins replace the mobile homes and public housing of the inland empire. Although it’s California Kitsch to the extreme, this is very much «The Rim of the World.» And every mile of asphalt brings a new adventure.
Nestled on the south shore of Big Bear Lake (one of several reservoirs scattered across «The Rim of the World»), Snow Summit’s spindly runs slip down a thickly forested hillside — 240 acres of trails averaging ¾ of a mile in length, and a vertical rise of 1,204 feet. Compared to other western resorts, Snow Summit seems like a joke — it’s tiny, the runs are short, the pitch is quite uniform — but when taken for what it is (namely, a local southern California resort in a mountain range that receives, on average 65 inches of snow and that’s it) it is a bit of a miracle that it exists at all.
I learned to ski here in my younger and more happy days. And then I graduated to Mammoth and never looked back: why pay 70 bucks a day to ski something so small when I have a season pass to one of the nation’s better resorts? Mammoth Resorts’ purchase of the Big Bear Mountain Resorts, however, has drawn me back again… mainly because I don’t have to pay extra for them. And that’s a plus in my book.
The ski runs themselves provide a measure of variety — there are some «river runs,» a «bowl» of advanced runs, and lots of groomers that lead from base to summit. These runs are surprisingly steep — a steepness exacerbated by the hard-​pack snow, causing one to gain speed with surprising quickness. There is enough variety here to keep skiers busy, and there are enough lifts to disperse the crowd across the mountain with ease. However, expect to spend about twice as much time on the lift than cruising down the mountain — only two lifts are express, and most of the runs are over quite quickly if your cruising speed resembles that of a jackrabbit with no sense of direction or control. That said, it is a fun novelty to be skiing in Socal in the morning and taking in a sunset at the beach later that evening. And the runs are plenty exciting for an intermediate skier. Advanced skiers, however, may find a drought of offerings for their label — expert trails are only expert because of the presence of moguls. The views are spectacular from nearly every run — Big Bear Lake is always right there in front of you, and the desert ranges beyond seem to stretch on forever.
Snow Summit possesses a «village» of a sort containing a number of restaurants (a «pub,» a cafeteria style restaurant, and a barbecue) along with ski school shelters, rental shop, locker rooms, and ticketing. Compared to Mammoth, everything is centralized and logically arranged for one-​stop shopping, which is a pleasant surprise. Two mountain top restaurants — yet another pub and a yet-​to-​open barbecue specializing in roast hog… no joke — round out the offerings, and will be the subject of future reviews. I will echo previous reviewers, however, in commenting that there is definitely a LARGE premium to be paid for dining on mountain… taking away a lot of the value arising from convenience.
Parking sucks. On a TUESDAY I was forced to park halfway down Summit Boulevard. Main parking lot is free on weekdays… if you get there early enough. Luckily, Snow Summit runs a flatbed truck tram (covered, with handrails) at 15 minute intervals. So unless you have to leave in a hurry, the crappy parking is mitigated by that perk. Thank God.
Overall service levels aren’t as friendly as at Mammoth. Some lift operators are friendly and excited, positively radiating with an amiable, local vibe (or imbibing on something behind the scenes). Others, however, are drones — especially in the outlying areas. They clearly hate their jobs. And it simply sucks some of the joy out of the experience for the guest.
Snow Summit offers a welcome respite from the madness that is Mountain High, but don’t expect big mountain fun. If you make the drive with your expectations adjusted accordingly, and you don’t mind hardpack, you’ll have a good time. –1 star for parking, –1 star for wobbly service.

For an amateur who never landed on a snowboard before, my experience here was quite overwhelming, exciting and traumatizing.
Utilized the employee discount for the Snow Summit and few of us in the group rented out gear. For a snowboard, helmet and snowboard boots, it costs around $ 40 for the whole package and all day affair which is 9AM-​4PM. I guess with all the hundreds of people who rent the same deal, this is the standard price. The staff are super helpful and knowledgable, and they are around whenever I needed them. Airlift team, you guys rock! Rental shop guys, you are amazing!
Bunny slope. This is where I started and for an hour of falling to the ground with a great impact to my tailbone and wrist, I was able to learn how to control the snowboard. For the next hours, I found myself going to the higher slopes and tried the whole long course accompanied by frequent falling and screaming. It’s normal I guess. I will then check myself for bruises for the next few days.
Tip: Capture each moment, be prepared mentally and have fun! Oh, and apply sunblock, please!

I snowboarded this Sunday and today after the el niño storms that passed this week.
Usually, I have great experiences with Snow Summit/​Big Bear in general, but I have mixed feelings especially after yesterday.
–Sunday–
Traffic was TERRIBLE. Usually, it’s a 2-​hour drive from the San Gabriel Valley to and from here. However, it took 3 hours to Big Bear and… wait for it… five – FIVE – hours to drive back home. There’s one road that leads from LA to the resort, and basically all of LA County congested that one road. I could have gone to Mammoth in that time.
The resort itself was packed. Major props to the staff for remaining patient and courteous with the crowds. It took 20 minutes to wait for lifts… BUT the wait was worth it because the snow was so, so, so, so sooooo powdery. It was also nice and cold so it was comfortable to board without getting overheated.
Free gear check-​ins are nice for taking lunch breaks.
Lesson of the day: never come on the weekend after a storm. What a shame, the snow was so nice.
–Monday–
Drive was great, two hours back and forth.
The mountain was empty, so my boyfriend and I waited at most 30 seconds for a ride. The snow was icier than Sunday but reasonably soft. My better-​than-​usual Big Bear experience. I will for now on continue visiting Snow Summit on the weekdays if I can help it.

+ Reasonable prices
+ Accessible parking w/​free shuttles
+ Free shuttles between Snow Summit and Bear Mountain
-/​+ Not the biggest of ski/​snowboard resorts
-/​+ Access to the resort sometimes requires cables/​chains/​snow tires
Being a Southern California resident, I’m happy that Big Bear/​Snow Summit is reasonably close. While it isn’t the best or biggest resort, you can’t complain when you’re swimming at a beach one day and skiing the next. You are at the mercy of mother nature as this resort doesn’t always get a ton of snow. There are snow makers, but the conditions must be perfect for them to be used.
There are 2 main lifts from the main are of Snow Summit which take you to the top. From the top of those lifts, you have access to pretty much all of Snow Summit. There are smaller lifts on the side, but they don’t get too much action.
If you’re an expert skier or snowboarder who is always looking for the next challenge, you may not have much fun here. If you’re like me who is just looking for some hills to bomb down, then this is the place for you. Take caution as there are sometimes quite a number of people on the «Summit Run» route. Many are beginners so try not to run into them. If you are looking for obstacles or a terrain park, there is a small one at Snow Summit, but there are definitely more jumps/​obstacles at Big Bear. You can take a free shuttle there, and it takes about 10 minutes.
I would recommend getting to Snow Summit early (especially if you are renting equipment). You want to park right at the base of the mountain. Otherwise you’ll have to park farther away and take a shuttle. That can be a pain sometimes.
For cheaper prices, check out Costco. For the ²⁰¹⁵⁄₂₀₁₆ season they have a 4 pass for $ 189. It is fully transferable. Last season they had a 3 pass (non-​transferable) for $ 149. Definitely worth stopping at Costco before a trip to the mountains.

After 22 years, I finally attempted to snowboard. I was hesitant because I’ve heard about experienced snowboarders being rude to beginners but it was a very pleasant experience! We paid $ 119 for the 2 hour lesson, lift ticket, and rental package.
Knocked off one star because of lack of organization. They send you an e-​mail confirmation with no time and nowhere on the website was there a schedule. We called about three times and finally got a hold of someone at 9:30am who said we could «try to make the 10:00am class» but we were better off making the 2:00pm class because rentals take some time. (Keep in mind our lift tickets expire at 4:00pm so after our 2 hour class we’d have to book it to the lift).
Arrived around 1:00pm. We followed the signs to Snow Summit where there was free parking and shuttles that took us to the top. Checking in and getting our rentals was a breeze since we had purchased them online the day before. They have small lockers available for $ 7.00 and then large lockers for about $ 10.00 I believe.
The class was fun but if you’re on a tight budget I would just look up on YouTube the basics and then practice on the small hills. If you want to spend the money, the class gives you the opportunity to meet and learn with other adults who are beginners too. We ended up never using our lift tickets and practiced on the bottom hill. Next year we’ll probably just come and use the bottom hills again until we get better. Some people in our class went up on the lift but we were so tired by 4:30pm we stayed near the bottom.
The instructors were very nice and patient. I’m glad I took the class once but probably wouldn’t pay for it again. Happy boarding!

I finally made it. My first snowboard experience and I have no comparison whatsoever if this place is a treasure or just super bad.
For me yesterday was a start to a new great friendship between me and the snowboard. I knew I would love it. Having so much snow, a perfect view, great people and great weather surrounding you, there can’t be anything you can complain about. The trails are very nice as well as the people working here.
I just followed my friends, who are all experienced and later I found out, that I we took the intermediate trail all the time, which was totally fine. There were indeed a couple of areas where the snow was a little harder but that’s nature so stop whining.
Now since I’ve done it once I wouldn’t mind to snowboard every weekend. But at the same time I get it why some people don’t go, because the fun indeed is very pricey. $ 79 for a day pass and $ 36 for rentals (board and boots) = $ 115 for a couple hours of fun.

We had a great time on the mountain (knowing the snow conditions). We come several times a year. But I have to say customer service at every place I went was awful. We rented equipment for a friend. Bought 7 lessons and had to get our season passes out on a lanyard. All RUDE!!! Get a new job if you can’t be friendly!
BUT: Chris Beltran our instructor was amazing! 5 stars for him only.

Além dos preços exorbitantes dos ingressos (nos FDS os ingressos são mais caros) o restaurante local cobra até 4 dólares em soft drinks! Um lanche para casal pode custar até 30 dólares! Para quem nunca fez snowboard ou sky deram-​me uma dica: pagar $ 80 na aula, pois já inclui o valor do ingresso do parque ($ 45), o que pode lhe economizar uns bons hematomas! Não fiz isso. Em 2 dias consegui descer (ainda com alguns tombos), porém se tivesse feito alguma aula teria aproveitado mais e não teria perdido tanto tempo! Sugiro ainda Mamuth Mountain. Um colega foi e lá não se paga para acessar o parque, o que pode compensar a distância!