December 2017

Page 4—December 2017
Snow must go on for inner tubing
Winter is on at Big Bear Snow Play, Alpine Slide
with tons of snow, night sessions
T
here are few guarantees in life but
winter at Big Bear’s two
worldclass snow play areas is one
of them, thanks to mighty snowmaking.
Big Bear Snow Play and Alpine Slide
at Magic Mountain each employ ski areaquality
fan guns to provide all the snow
they need to ensure winter fun. Not just
one or two machines either but half-adozen
at each! In terms of snowmaking per
square foot of terrain, Big Bear Snow Play
and Alpine Slide have more snow gun firepower
than any resort around.
It took all that muscle to make the only
snow to play on south of Mammoth for
Thanksgiving. A couple cold nights in an
otherwise balmy November were all it took
for each to open a few days before the holiday,
so families could indulge in the timehonored
tradition of playing in the snow
to get into the holiday spirit.
Colder weather since has allowed the
powerful Lenko fan guns at both places to
resume blowing jet streams of snow and
the white stuff is really starting to pile up.
Snowpacks will eventually reach depths up
to 30 feet or higher during the season—
that’s right, three stories high! Enough
snow to guarantee tubing through Easter
and beyond. Nightly grooming means tubers
enjoy perfect surface conditions each
morning with ideal corduroy snow.
All the snow will allow Big Bear Snow
Play and Alpine Slide to craft their own
signature snow features in addition to traditional
downhill runs. Big Bear Snow Play
for instance builds features like whoop-didoos,
bumps and berms that really add to
the sliding experience. Alpine Slide meanwhile
for many years has built its famous
Snake, a series of downhill berms that whip
tubers back and forth.
Then again, Big Bear Snow Play and
Alpine Slide have each offered worldclass
inner tubing experiences for years. Who
wants to walk back to the top after each
run? Big Bear Snow Play and Alpine Slide
each have Magic Carpet uphill lifts to take
guests up—just step on and step off!
Which Simi Valley resident Ryan Bradley
appreciated during a Thanksgiving
visit. He and wife Michelle had children
Brooke, 5 and Kenna, 4 in tow, a task made
easier by the lift. “It’s very convenient, especially
when you have little kids,” he said
of the Magic Carpet. “Walking up gets
frustrating. They don’t make it very well.”
No uphill climb to tucker parents and
kids out means they save all their energy
for downhill fun and get all the runs they
can handle. The lifts are enclosed in
Plexiglass for guest comfort and Big Bear
Snow Play even operates a second carpet
on busy days.
When it’s time for a winter warmup,
head inside the toasty warm base lodges at
each area. Both have family priced snack
bar, restrooms and video games with lots
of parking. Alpine Slide’s lodge was recently
expanded with nice outdoor deck
and lots of windows to view the outdoor
action.
The former is a onetime ski area itself
and as such has the longest tubing runs in
Southern California. When it was Rebel
Ridge ski area decades ago the area became
the first in the region to make snow
in the late 1950’s, so when the fan guns
fire up Big Bear Snow Play is paying homage
to its roots.
The area wasn’t big enough for skiing
but for tubing it’s perfect with eight
long runs from the top that let tubers really
get going. For the past few years guests
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Big Bear Today
Big Bear Snow Play Glow Tubing night sessions are in a whole new light
have been riding colorful inner tubes at the
area, which abandoned the traditional black
tire look by offering covered rides that go
faster and help keep snow off derrieres.
After dark Big Bear Snow Play’s
wildly popular Glow Tubing sessions on
Fridays, Saturdays and holiday periods
from 5-9 p.m. begin December 1. Eleven
red, blue, yellow, green, even blacklight
RGB strobe lights illuminate the snow like
a Christmas tree, changing colors through
each sequence. Even the Magic Carpet uphill
lift, which eliminates the uphill climb
and is enclosed for guest comfort, is lit up
with over 1,500 different LED multi-color
fluorescent lights.
Tubing under the stars is nothing new
at Alpine Slide. Guests have long embraced
sliding on freshly-groomed, brilliantly illuminated
runs that get faster and faster as
the evening progresses. The twisting, turning
Snake is especially wild on faster snow!
Night sessions are on Fridays, Saturdays
and holidays from 5-9 p.m., including
every night from December 15, 2017
through January 6, 2018 (excluding Christmas
Eve and Night).
Inner tubing at Alpine Slide and Big
Bear Snow Play is offered daily from 10
a.m.-4 p.m. and costs $35 which includes
tube rental and lift ticket. Night sessions
at each cost $30.
Alpine Slide is also home to the signature
bobsled-like ride of the same name.
Experience many of the same gravitational
forces Olympians feel during your descent
down two quarter-mile long cement tracks
aboard sleds with teflon runners and ballbearing
wheels that you actually control.
Lean into and out of each high-banked
turn, then go into a tuck through the long
straightaways. It’s the closest any of us
will ever get to Olympic bobsledding or
luge, yet riders go as fast or slow as they
want by simply applying the brake.
Big Bear Snow Play is at 42825 Big
Bear Blvd. Call (909) 585-0075.
Alpine Slide is at 800 Wildrose Ln.
Call (909) 866-4626.
Tube with Santa at Snow Play, Alpine Slide
Small groups or large, there’s tubing for all at Alpine Slide
Santa Claus can guide a team of flying
reindeer through the night sky. He
doesn’t have any trouble riding an inner
tube either.
Which he’ll again be doing at Big
Bear Snow Play on Saturday, December
16. He’ll be around all day from 10 a.m.-
4 p.m. taking tube rides with youngsters
with parents take photos with their own
cameras. Be quick or Saint Nick just
might blow by in the blink of an eye!
Santa will also have candy canes for
little ones plus his patented “reindeer
food” of mixed oats and glitter. “Sprinkle
it on the lawn Christmas Eve and the reindeer
will smell the oats and see the glitter,”
says Big Bear Snow Play’s Kim
Voigt. Call (909) 585-0075.
Next day he heads across town to Alpine
Slide for more tubing on Dec. 17,
and maybe a turn on the famous bobsleds.
Call (909) 866-4626.