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Bear Valley resort snow
Lat Long: 38.49° N 120.04° W
Ski USA - California

Bear Valley Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Bear Valley at 2302 m altitude

Issued: 10 pm 22 May 2026 (local time)

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Visitor reviews for Bear Valley Ski Resort

Bear Valley Ratings

Overall: 3.8. Based on 16 votes and 4 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.7

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Bear Valley is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.2

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Bear Valley has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 4.2

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.1

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.8

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Bear Valley

Public Transport: 2.8

  • There are no buses or taxis to Bear Valley
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 3.4

  • No places to stay in/near Bear Valley
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.0

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 2.6

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Bear Valley

Ski in/Ski out: 3.8

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 4.7

  • There are no child care facilities at Bear Valley
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 3.7

  • Bear Valley relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.2

  • There are no snow groomers at Bear Valley
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Bear Valley are groomed daily

Shelter: 4.8

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Bear Valley is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.2

  • If snow conditions are poor at Bear Valley, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.0

  • Bear Valley usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.5

  • The staff at Bear Valley are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Bear Valley are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 4.8

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.2

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.6

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.2

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.3

  • No intermediate terrain at Bear Valley
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.7

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 3.5

  • Not even a kicker at Bear Valley
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 4.8

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Bear Valley
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.6

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Bear Valley has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.0

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.8

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.4

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.8

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 3.0

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 4.2

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.8

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.8

  • Overall, Bear Valley is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 4.4

  • Overall, Bear Valley is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

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November 19, 2024
Doug B from Ski USA - California USA - California
This resort deserves a more current review and another perspective from the very negative last review from 2023. While I share some of the same concerns as that reviewer this resort has a bright future. I have skied here since i was a kid back in the late 1970's and have owned a cabin near here for 24 years so I have spent a lot of time at the resort and been a season ticket holder most of those years. So here is the skinny from one guy you can take it for what it's worth. During many of those years the resort seemed to stagnate as ownership hardly spent any money on improvements and was stuck in the 70's or 80s for so long with no high speed lifts an aging lodge with lousy food super long lines for everything and other issues that made things more of a pain in the butt compared to other resorts. Finally, in the last couple years ownership changed and they have made numerous improvements with more great plans to come like opening up the mountain behind the newly updated Koala chair and eventually extending a lift from the village. On the downside, since it's the only resort in the area they charge more than many other far superior resorts for lift tickets and season passes. Also, for now its not a big mountain so you can easily get bored skiing the same runs. For me two days here is more than enough. When its cold and they get a lot of fresh snow and they open the lower mountain that makes things much better as that's where the most advanced terrain is but its not open often maybe only 30% of the time. Without the lower mountain on weekends it can still get pretty busy with lines and tons of families with kids so very advanced skiers may not be as happy here dealing with so many novices. Overall, I do like the mountain and the drive from the Bay Areas is faster and easer that Tahoe but I much prefer the other resorts around Tahoe. If I didn't own a place up there I probably would only come once a year but if they continue to make more improvements and modernize the resort to better compete and give customers a better value for the high prices I would come more often.
January 11, 2023
Eric from Ski USA - California USA - California
Likely the worst run ski resort in the Sierras. They will always be the first to close and last to open in any significant snowfall. While others are skiing at nearby resorts you will be skiing doing nothing. There is a reason there are short lift lines as discussed in the other reviews, it's because most people don't want to risk showing up and being told they are not opening because of some new excuse. Go elsewhere if you actually want to ski when it snows.
February 08, 2006
jack gall
Great place. No lift lines and great snow. Can snow up to 4 feet which is great fun, but often snows 1-2 feet. I stayed at powderbears log cabin which is a great place to stay and had a great time. I'd recommend staying there.
January 05, 2006
tony z from Ski USA - California USA - California
No waiting at lift lines is the biggest plus at Bear Valley. Compared to Mammoth for example, Bear Valley isn't the greatest ski oppty with respect to vertical and terrain, but very decent nonetheless. Comparable with most major Lake Tahoe resorts though. Under new management, very friendly staff and tailored for the families with kids crowd.