What's spring skiing at Bear Valley like?

[amyshaw]

We tried Bear Valley for our very first time last weekend. We enjoyed just about everything from the intimate feeling of the mountain to the natural beauty and the lack of major crowds.

We left with some questions:

> What's it like to do some spring skiing there on the tougher trails off Grizzly? We were surprised to find, despite the warm weather, things were pretty crusty and icy. The other trails off Polar Express of course were fabulous spring skiing. Did we just catch a rare day or does this lift not warm up as much?

> Also curious to see what others experienced last weekend, since we just skied one day (Saturday 3/8).

> How much grooming do they normally do on the black diamond runs? Seems like they could stand to do a little less grooming, but we're a little biased! Perhaps there was a reason for this last weekend.

I've read some of the other comments on this forum. Can't wait to catch a powder day! What a fun hideaway in the mountains.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[CABob]

Hi Amy,

Spring Conditions on Grizzly are fantastic. I skied this past Sunday and the snow in the afternoon thawed nicely. I love skiing Griz in the spring and I'd be glad to give you a "spring tour" of the lower mountain. I'll be back up this next weekend (but, I here the weather may change).

Grizzly Primer: next text

Bob

[CABob]

Amy,

The lower Mountain needs time to warm up, thaw out a bit. Best to do a test run down Snow Valley about 11:00 - 12:00, keeping an eye out on the Haleakala face - it gets thawed first. By time you take the second lap around and take the traverse out to the top of Haleakala the snow will be granlated corn!  The rest of the Grizzly Bowl takes another hour or two to soften up. Look to ski the bowl about 2:00 to 3:00PM.

Next lap: West Ridge

Bob