Snow Valley Mountain Resort is a
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
located in
Running Springs, California
Running Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 5,268 at the 2020 census, up from 4,862 at the 2010 census. Running Springs is situated 17 miles west of the city of Big Bea ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is the oldest continually operating ski resort in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
and is also one of four ski resorts in the
San Bernardino National Forest
The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernard ...
.
Originally named "Fish Camp" for the pond located in the area, the site was developed into a roadside resort and lumber mill in the 1920s by the Swetkowich brothers. In the 1930s the slopes were developed for tobogganing and skiing by the Arrowhead Springs Corporation, which named the development Snow Valley.
The resort featured one of the first overhead cable
ski lift
A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald.
Types
* Aerial l ...
s. In 1940 the resort was purchased by Norwegian-American ski jump champion
Johnny Elvrum
Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females.
Variant ...
, who expanded it.
In 1974 W.R. Sauey became the owner of Snow Valley. His company the Nordic Group owns and operates Snow Valley.
The resort operates under Special Use Permit from the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
.
Lifts
The facilities include 12 Lifts: 1 six-passenger, high-speed chair; 5 double chairs, 5 triple chairs, 2 surface lifts/moving carpets. The main lift, lift 1, dubbed "Snow valley express" travels 4,558 feet to Race Peak and can carry up to 6. Once at Race peak there are multiple runs down, most notably 'the edge' terrain park, upper/lower wine rock, and Mambo alley.
The previous main lift of the resort is lift 1, which was 4,701 feet long. It had a mid station that is right next to a restaurant called "Dear Meadow Grille". When at the top, it leads to moderate, advanced, and expert runs. When lift 1 is busy, another lift that goes a little lower than lift 1 is called lift 2. It goes 3,688 feet, and unloads skiers at a little hill called Race Peak. From here, there is one intermediate run, and 4 advanced runs. Most of these advanced runs are closed at the beginning and end of the season due to a lack of natural snow.
References
External links
*
{{California Ski areas navbox
Snow Valley Website
Ski areas and resorts in California
Sports venues in San Bernardino County, California