Mountain High, Snow Valley Open To Kick Off SoCal's Ski Season
LOS ANGELES, CA — Even as an unseasonable heat wave roasts Southern California with 80-degree highs, ski season is officially here. Wrightwood's Mountain High became the first Southern California resort to open on Saturday followed by Snow Valley Mountain Resort in Running Springs on Monday.
Further north, Mammoth Mountain opened over the weekend, and Big Bear's Snow Summit and Bear Mountain resorts are slated to open on Nov. 20.
Perhaps reflective of the season to come in which the coronavirus looms large, Mountain High was the first Californian resort to confront an outbreak. Plans to open with the first snow storm last week were delayed after a couple employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Mountain High quarantined exposed employees, cleaned the facilities and was granted permission by the county to open, said Mountain High Vice President of Sales and Marketing John McColly.
The first snowstorm of the season brought a base of snow topped with man-made stuff. For Snow Valley's Monday opening, webcams showed man-made snow is on the slopes of the Running Springs resort. Operators at Mountain High and Snow Valley said they will impose limits on the number of guests allowed on the mountain in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, guests will be required to wear face coverings and practice social distancing. Posted signs tell guests to ride the lifts together if they arrive together and sanitize their hands. Snow Valley's mottos for 2020-21 are Save Our Season and Ski Well and Be Well.
Also, only cash-less transactions will be accepted until further notice.
At Snow Valley, rentals, Snow Play and lessons will not be available until Saturday but food and beverages will be available daily in the Sport Shop. Snow Pass Guests will have priority with a significant amount of capacity dedicated to their use, operators said. Tickets will be sold online and any remaining tickets will be available the same day at ticket windows. They will also accommodate vouchers, old tickets from the 2019-2020 season and Snow Jam guests.
Snow Valley will sell four-packs of tickets but they will be shipped to buyers and cannot be picked up at the resort to minimize lines.
Information is available at 909-867-2751.
City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on the Los Angeles Patch
