The best SoCal ski spots for newbies

We check out the bunny slopes and lifts and find great places for beginners to sink their poles.

By Chris Erskine, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
06:25 PM PST, February 11, 2008

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Skiing may be the only romance that begins with tears. Like golf, it looks far easier than it actually is, particularly on that first killer day. So if you're ready to try skiing or boarding for the first time this snowy winter, choose your slope carefully. Look for a combination of bunny hills and beginner runs that lets you take things at your pace, not at the speed of the Red Bull guzzlers all around you. Here is a ranked list, starting with the best, of our favorite Southern California hills for beginners.

Bear Mountain

Big Bear Lake is L.A.'s igloo on the hill, a slice of the Sierra just two hours from downtown Los Angeles. It features two resorts a mile or two apart: Bear Mountain and Snow Summit. They are owned by the same company and offer virtually the same kind of terrain and number of lifts. But Bear Mountain is the better hill for newbies (or "newbs," as boarders say).

Bear Mountain's bunny hill offers "moving carpets," motorized sidewalks to get students to the top of two small hills on either side, and a bigger, more private teaching area than other resorts.

After getting comfortable on the bunny hills, first-timers move on to Chair 7, a true beginner lift.

After a couple of hours and without professional help, my 5-year-old progressed to Chair 6, a run that took us halfway up the mountain. It's a little like jumping from first to third grade. He was overwhelmed but never in danger. Back to Chair 7 we went, where we were content to ride out the rest of the day.

Best beginner chair: 7

Best deal: A $64 GuaranSki Beginner Special, which includes a four-hour lesson, lift tickets and ski-rental discount and is guaranteed to get you riding a lift that day, or you get free lift tickets and lessons on your next visit.

Snow Valley

Generations of Southern Californians have learned to ski at this little resort half an hour west of Big Bear. With its terrain as well as its website ( www.snow-valley.com), it continues to be a welcoming and satisfying destination for first-timers.

Chair 6 is one of the tamest you'll find anywhere, top to bottom maybe 300 yards of wide and gentle slopes that lead back down to a very manageable two-person lift. Two hours here and you should be good for Chair 13.

Snow Valley offers one of the best setups for the youngest beginners, with a gentle little hill and movable sidewalk at the children's learning center. It is reserved for students and instructors. For 4- and 5-year-olds, it's probably the most welcoming of all the beginner slopes. Snow Valley, like many resorts, suggests children 6 and younger take ski lessons first before learning to snowboard.

Best beginner chair: 6

Best deal: $59 buys you a lift ticket, equipment rental and a 90-minute group lesson Mondays through Fridays.

Snow Summit

Summit is similar to Bear Mountain, and your lift ticket is good for either hill. If you grow bored at one, a shuttle bus runs every 30 minutes to the other.

This is also a good resort for beginners, with lessons for all skill levels and convenient beginner slopes near the lodge. The two beginner runs -- Chairs 4 and 8 -- offer quick, confidence-building runs. But the runs are narrower and shorter than at Bear Mountain and are over too quickly.

Note that Snow Summit has better intermediate runs than Bear Mountain and is generally more compact.

Best beginner chairs: 4 and 8.

Best deal: $64 GuaranSki (same as Bear Mountain).

Mt. Baldy Ski

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