Mammoth Mountain in the eastern Sierras is the best ski resort in the west. Something for everyone with an excellent ski and race school, and open through July 4th most years. For a daily status report check out their Mammoth Cams and snow report, and use their lodging pages to book on-slope rooms.

Snow Summit usually has the best conditions of the Big Bear resorts because the trails seem to get less direct sunlight; with elevation ranging from 7000' to 8200' the base is only slightly lower than Bear Mountain. My favorite weekday destination, plenty of lifts and variety and a really excellent school, they had my kids skiing from the top of the mountain on their second day.

Snow Summit

Bear Mountain runs a close second in the Big Bear resort race with lots of snowmaking and runs, but it seems to be a little bit thinner and softer than Snow Summit in the spring. It's got the newest facilities and lifts and is giving them some healthy competition. Maximum elevation is 8805', base is at 7140'.

Bear Mountain

Snow Valley has one significant advantage in Big Bear, it's 15 or 20 minutes closer to San Bernardino than Snow Summit or Bear Mountain. With a maximum elevation of 7941' and base at 6700' it is the lowest of the three major Big Bear resorts. They also seem to receive more direct sunlight, conditions there are often soft and wet. But when the weather is cold and the snow is fresh check it out, they have plenty of good runs and lifts.

Snow Valley

Mountain High, located in the San Gabriel Mountains, has new owners, and is promising to keep all trails open this winter. To do it they added 30% more snowmaking equipment. Top of the mountain is at 8200' and the base is at 6800'. Hottest feature is their half-pipe for the snowboarders. This is definitely the easiest major resort to get to from LA, just 15 minutes off I-15 near San Bernardino.

Mountain High

Big Bear Central books a variety of nice rooms near the slopes. My favorite hotel is the Sleepy Forest resort because every room has a jacuzzi and it's two minutes from Snow Summit and Bear Mountain. Online booking.

Big Bear Central

Big Bear Vacations books cabins all around Big Bear Lake. Select from 200 cabins and vacation rental homes, including eleven individual, fully equipped cabins on lakefront property at Shore Acres Lodge. Offers online booking and free lift tickets.

Big Bear Vacations

At Big Bear Online you can find out almost anything about activities in the San Bernardino mountains in the winter or summer. They have links to many businesses in the Big Bear area, including realtors.

Big Bear Online

Big Bear Lake's travel guide with weather, road conditions, lodging and more. They list phone numbers for many offline restaurants and businesses in the Big Bear area.

Big Bear Live

Primarily text-based, the Southland Ski Server site is produced as a labor of love by Mark Bixby, an LA skier. It includes trip reports and current conditions for the eastern Sierras and the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains. Even little-known ski areas like Mt. Waterman are listed, and it seems like every local ski club and ski travel package is here too. Mark even has an online gallery of ski injury pictures.

Southland Ski Server

GoSki is a comprehensive world-wide listing of ski resorts, including links to many home pages. Their best feature is trip reports entered by users; these include insider tips and general information about ski resorts all over the world. They also have links to lodging, travel services and current conditions pages.

GoSki

Ski Canada at CANOE has a complete listing of ski resorts for Canada, with area profiles and current conditions.

Ski Canada

NBC Intellicast Ski Info is a compilation of updates on current conditions in the US, Europe and Japan. This is where US NBC-TV affiliates get their snow report info.

NBC Intellicast