California mountain resorts revel in snow, including now-open Snow Valley

Snow Valley celebrated its opening on Sunday, albeit several days after the Running Springs resort thought it would open for the season.

Last week’s unexpectedly heavy snow hampered Snow Valley, which had to manage the surplus at the resort and also on roads that blocked access to the resort two hours from L.A.

Runs and snow play areas were expected to be open today, its website said, but visitors are urged to check the resort’s Facebook page for the latest news.

Meanwhile, at Big Bear Mountain Resort, Snow Summit opened Thursday for daily operations and Bear Mountain opened Friday. The snow areas received as much as 4 feet. “This is the stuff dreams are made of,” its website said.

Mountain High in Wrightwood also is open and was touting as much as 3 feet of snow. The snow tubing and snow play part of the resort was not open Friday but was expected to be open Saturday. Highs in the 30s were expected for Friday and Saturday and the forecast included a 30% chance for snow on Saturday.

Up and down California, snow resorts were celebrating the long-term benefits of the white Thanksgiving of 2019 and are preparing for what could be more snow in the coming week..

On Sunday morning, Mammoth Mountain reported 7 to 9 inches of new snow and had accumulated more than 4 feet at the summit and 3 feet at the main lodge. Its forecast calls for snow Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the low 30s and upper 20s the first three days of the week.

In many places, chain laws are in effect . For the latest road conditions, call the Caltrans hotline: (800) 427-7623, or go to quickmap.dot.ca.gov/.

Don’t remember how to put on chains? Here’s a primer.

The good news: These early-season storms (it is still autumn, technically) conditions will be extraordinary and prices low during the usually slow period from Thanksgiving to Christmas.