Big Bear

Well, winter is over.  The ski slopes closed two days ago.  Bear Mountain closed a week or two earlier, but Snow Summit closed on Tuesday and that's the end of winter as far as we are concerned.

So there'll be no more of this activity until around Thanksgiving, when we traditionally manage to persuade Mother Nature to drop some snow on us.

Now closing the slopes doesn't mean that all the snow has gone; far from it.  It merely reflects the lack of interest in skiing and snowboarding as once temperatures climb there are other pursuits that the S. Californian population likes to engage in.  There's the beach, and cycling and picnicking and all those types of summer activities.

It's often the case that towards the end of the season we get one last kick in the pants from Mother N.

This was the last little piece of snow on the property - it was gone in an hour!

Last weekend we had a huge storm come through and it dropped about 18 inches of heavy snow on us.  Sufficient to make me get out the equipment to clear the driveway.  On the following Thursday we hit 70 degrees and snow is not going to stay around for long under those circumstances.  So now we hit our quiet period, which means many fewer visitors and lots of complaints from the local businesses.  But I rather like it!