3 replies to this topic

[liftmech]

I read yesterday in Ski magazine that Snow Summit bought Bear Mountain. Summit has now returned itself to more of a family hill, while Bear caters more to the youth market. Zack- CAski- any thoughts on whether this approach will work? I've always heard of Summit and Bear being jib/freestyle oriented, so I wonder how this will affect their clientele.

[SkiBachelor]

Well, if Mountain High can do it, I guess that Bear Mountain can do it too. Mountain High's guests are 80% snowboarders and the mountain is mostly a giant terrain park. SAM magazine just had an article about the park in their last issue and it showed the mountain. It looks like there are only 3 runs that look to be terrain parks. However, the runs that the terrain parks are on look to be long. So skiers will still be able to ski at Big Bear, and there will still be plenty of runs to ski. Now maybe if Big Bear is successful with their terrain parks, they might expand.

[KZ]

I think Bear can be very sucessful with what they are doing. In southern california the snow is so bad, and the park is kinda the only thing they can really expect. Also with all the skaters, parks give them somewhere to progress on the mountain. Its probably also nice casue then all the riders are spread out, with beginners on their own part and the advanced riders on their on. Its really annoying when they put them together and everyone is getting in the way.

[CAski]

Well, I agree that this approach would probably make them money, seperating boarders and skiers, and it would keep each group happy, since each mountain is rather small. However, I learned to ski at Big Bear Mountain, and it is kinda sad to see it taking this route. It was a good corporate decision.