New snow puts on a show

Christmas came early this year for Southern California snow junkies.

Skiers and snowboarders woke up Sunday to the best of gifts from Mother Nature, who overnight had dumped up to 8 more inches of snow on Big Bear ski resorts. All told, a weekend storm left slopes covered in as much as a foot of the white gold.

After the bone-dry season of last year, Shane McCallon, 19, was eager to get started. He rode an ice-encrusted chairlift at the Snow Summit Mountain Resort in the early morning’s bitter cold for a chance to cut the first tracks on untouched trails.

It wasn’t quite the perfect powder found on bigger mountains, but certainly better than the slush and ice typical for the region this time of year.

“This is out of control today,” said John Andrew, 42, who made the trip from Mission Viejo. “The snow is so light and airy.”

Snowfall continued into the afternoon. Tree branches bent wearily under its weight, as temperatures remained below freezing at the base of the mountain and reached only 20 degrees at the summit.

Indeed, it made for an epic day on the slopes -- assuming you could get there.

Traffic on California 38 leading up to the resort area was snarled and moving slowly. Roads were slick, and cars without four-wheel drive were required to have tire chains. California 18, a main access route, was closed.

The 45-mile stretch took four hours for Brian Lynn, 32, and his friends, who had come from San Diego. “We didn’t get up here until 2 p.m. because of a bunch of stupid people getting in accidents,” he said.

Jeremy Kirsch, 20, and his girlfriend had tried to make the drive from Los Angeles on Saturday night, but were turned back when both highways were closed because of the weather. They spent the night in Yucaipa, but the slope conditions Sunday made it all worth it.

“I didn’t think it would be this good,” Kirsch said.

Mountain High Resort, the closest ski resort to Los Angeles, reported 4 to 6 inches of new snow and people lining up for lift tickets before 7:30 a.m., half an hour before the slopes opened. Tickets were sold out by midmorning, but the office reopened at 2 p.m.

“There’s a whole crowd of enthusiasts out here today, I can tell you that,” said Chris Riddle, director of marketing for Big Bear Mountain Resorts. “I think this is bigger than any single snowfall we had the entire season last year. Of course, last year was the driest year on record.”

Conditions were even better at Mammoth Mountain ski area in the eastern Sierra Nevada, about five hours north of Los Angeles, where about 20 inches of snow fell.

Because of the lack of precipitation last year, attendance at the state’s ski resorts dropped to 6.3 million from a high of 8 million visits in each of two previous years.

“We are in a somewhat euphoric mood today,” said Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Assn., which represents 29 snow-sport areas in California and Nevada. “There is a great feeling that the season has finally gotten in gear, really in gear.”

“It’s pretty much of a bromide in the industry that when we have snow, we have tremendous attendance,” Roberts said. “We never really got the kind of precipitation, snowfall that would bring people out. . . . Mother Nature never shows me all her cards, but we know the demand is there.”

The low-pressure system that brought the snow -- and rain at lower elevations -- moved to the southeast, said Jamie Meier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Replacing it were 20- to 30-mph winds with gusts of 50 mph. “Very typically, we’ll get a rain event like this followed by some breezy northeast winds,” she said.

More than half an inch fell at Los Angeles International Airport and more than three-quarters of an inch fell at the Eagle Rock reservoir, according to the National Weather Service. Sunny skies are forecast in Los Angeles throughout the first part of the week.

The California Highway Patrol reopened Interstate 5 in the Grapevine area about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, after having closed it at 9 p.m. because of weather.

joe.mozingo@latimes.com

charles.ornstein@latimes.com

Times staff writer Joel Rubin contributed to this report.