Last week there was a break in the weather and I went to Bear Valley with a couple of Bryn’s co-workers.  It was my first time at that mountain, and it was really sunny and warm.  The ungroomed stuff was kind of deadly, apparently it had rained to create a nice layer of crust.  It was pretty grabby and parts had slid in mini-avalanches.  But the rest was good.

bear valley

A word of warning to future Bear skiers: Lunch Run is not as delicious as it sounds, and it will not lead you back to the lodge for lunch.  Instead it will lead you to the Bear Valley Village, some 2 miles down the road.  Thankfully there was a free shuttle that took us back to the main base area!  It only runs once an hour, so when we only had to wait 20 minutes, we considered ourselves lucky.

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the entrance of Lunch Run, and sure enough, there were probably half a dozen warning signs with text like:

  • “Do not ski this run alone.”
  • “Ride with someone who has skied Lunch Run before.”
  • “No lift access.”
  • “No easy way down.”
  • “Check shuttle schedule before riding.”

How we missed all those, I have no clue.  But at least it was a good adventure!  And the snow was pretty good when you managed to stay above the ice crust layer.   And there were plenty of fresh tracks to be had, which probably should have been another warning sign.

The next day Bryn and I went to Squaw Valley, where most of the upper mountain was closed due to high winds.  And it was rainy at the bottom…gross.

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