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| Big Bear Today |
 AT THE PAC - CATS Presents "Odd Couple"... - 03/05/2010
The cast of the 2010 spring production of The Odd Couple by Big Bear theater group Community Arts Theater Society. There are enough couples in this Community Arts Theater Society (CATS) production to make for a unique shoe, even if one pair wasn’t “odd.” For starters there are two Johns, Grandi and Wells, in The Odd Couple starring roles of Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar, respectively. Then there’s two Elenas, Peavy and Elaina Winters, pronounced though not spelled the same way—close enough. Indeed it’s the pairings that make CATS’ spring production a must see at the Performing Arts Center, beginning with the discount preview on Friday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m. Grandi, the consummate Oscar with gruff voice, reprises the role he drew rave reviews for when CATS last presented The Odd Couple...complete story
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 Olympic Bobsledding in Big Bear at Alpine Slide... - 02/04/2010
Alpine Slide’s bobsleds...so realistic, Olympians could train on them! The driver leans through the banked turn, before steadying the bobsled and picking up speed over the long straightaway, as snow-covered slopes blur by. A scene from this month’s Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver? Hardly. Instead, this picture plays out daily at the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain, home to the only authentic bobsled ride of its kind in Southern California. While most of us will get no closer to experiencing the thrills of Olympic bobsledding, luge or skeleton than we will to flying in outer space, Alpine Slide brings much of the excitement and gravitational forces of the sport down to Earth as part of a ride that never needs snow and always delivers excitement. Riders discover Olympic-style excitement as they descend aboard sleds they control with teflon runners and ball-bearing wheels. Two quarter-mile long cement tracks with banked turns and long straightaways duplicate the thrilling ride experienced of a real bobsled course and let everyday folks get a taste of...complete story
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 Big Bear Skaters Hitting the Rink at Ice Garden... - 01/04/2010
Rob and Nancy Myers skate on the new Big Bear rink at the Ice Garden. Ever since skating returned to Big Bear last month with the opening of the Ice Garden in the Village, folks have been hitting the ice—literally and figuratively. As Alta Loma residents Rob and Nancy Myers showed on Christmas Eve, getting their taste of Big Bear’s winter wonderland for the holidays on the ice. With the adjoining sound system playing carols the pair spun laps around the 110’x 50’ rink complete with boards, though Nancy did more of the spinning while Rob did more of the spilling. “I grew up in Michigan so I skated a lot as a kid,” Nancy said. “It’s like riding a bike; you never forget.” Her husband and skating partner, meanwhile, spent his first few tries hitting the ice...literally. But after a few trips around the rink and pointers from Nancy, he was up and actually moving across the ice with some success. “This is my second attempt at ice skating, but the first time I’ve ever actually skated,” he said. The condition of the ice may have had something to do with it. A below-surface refrigeration piping system powered by a generator transforms water into ice, but in Ice Garden’s first couple weeks of operation power has been a problem. “Now we’ve got power poles and licked all the problems, we’re good to go,” owner Gary...complete story
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 10 Feet of Snow in Big Bear and Still Counting... - 03/05/2010
Have you had enough winter fluff? This rider made sure he got his fill. The best winter in years (decades?) has left the Big Bear resorts amply set for spring. Assuming it ever arrives, of course. Winter has already brought over 10 feet of snow to the slopes at Snow Summit and Bear Mountain, and as March arrives it hardly appears over. Storms in the forecast should keep the 4-6 foot base depths at both resorts going strong, even as the sun rises in the sky and days get longer. Typically we’re talking spring skiing in March but during this El Nino, it’s anybody’s guess what conditions will hold. Late January’s five foot epic dump, generally considered the biggest storm sequence in Big Bear since 1969, was followed by frequent February blasts including nearly a foot that fell at the very end of the month. Simply put, if you haven’t had a powder day yet as a skier or snowboarder, the blame lies purely on you. “I think we’re still gaining snowpack,” Chris Riddle of...complete story
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 Big Bear Tubing Hills... - 12/22/2009
Play in the snow on inner tubes at Big Bear Snow Play and Alpine Slide, where groups like to link arms and legs to form trains that make for thrilling downhill rides. There are choo-choo trains and wedding dresses have trains. You can train people to do tasks and train pets to do tricks, and there’s even train of thought. Trains don’t mean any of these things at Big Bear’s two snow play hills. Folks sliding down snow-covered slopes bring their own definition of train by linking arms, legs and whatever else they can grab unto, forming a moving link best described as a train. Of course, staying linked up for an entire run is the hard part, since tubes start spinning to and fro like pinwheels almost from the beginning. Usually the train’s caboose breaks loose and descend on it’s own. But that’s half the fun on the inner tubing hills, now in full operation after some natural snow and an absolute ton of snowmaking...complete story
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 Skiers and Riders After Five Feet of Snow Fell in a Week... - 02/04/2010
Already Snow Summit and Bear Mountain were in full operation with all lifts and runs open, nearly 200 jibs and jumps between the two, and quite decent January snowpacks. And then the snow really came! Five-plus feet fell the last week of January with still more in the long-range February forecasts. By the time the last flake fell, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain were reporting base depths of 48-84 inches, enough to last the season really but winter’s hardly over yet. Hello, El Nino! Why, there’s so much snow that ski patrol has had to rope off areas underneath some chairs to make sure skiers and boarders don’t get whacked by those riding up! “It was truly an epic storm sequence, the likes of which we’ve not seen since the El Nino of 1969,” said Chris Riddle of Big Bear Mountain Resorts. “There are times we may have had more snow on the ground but it didn’t come all at once like this.” Now the tree sections are...complete story
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 Friday Night Bingo at the Big Bear Elks Lodge... - 03/05/2010
Multiple games mean multiple chances to win at Big Bear Elks Lodge Bingo. With each number drawn the anticipation in the room builds. A hush takes over, as if players sense that even uttering a few words can jinx it and cause someone to yell...“Bingo!” As 14 lucky folks—no, wait there’s more than that, because some games have multiple winners—do on this late February night. Unfortunately, we’re not one of them, so wife Sandy and I are among those who console themselves with the fact that this Friday night diversion is a lot of fun. Everyone’s a winner during Elks Lodge bingo sessions, held Fridays at 7 p.m. and open to the public. The games are fun, there’s free coffee and super cheap snacks, and the pots are hefty, typically $80 for most games, specials at $160 and sometimes up to $250. To be sure, this isn’t grade school bingo with five numbers in a...complete story
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 Big Bear Discovery Center Tours... - 12/22/2009
Explore Big Bear backcountry on snowshoes during guided tours led by Big Bear Discovery Center naturalists. Snowshoe tours, bald eagles, ornament-making and more are all on tap at Big Bear Discovery Center in December. Thanksgiving’s surprise snowstorm plus the promise of an El Nino winter have snowshoers excited about the season, and Discovery Center is the place to get your snow fix. There's since been another significant storm, more are in the forecast, so snowshoe conditions should be outstanding. Popular Snowshoe Tours begin Dec. 19 as naturalists lead guided tours out to play in the fluffy stuff. Explore snow-covered trails in search of signs of winter wildlife while enjoying winter recreation at the same time. It’s amazing how...complete story
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 Powder and Picnic Off the Beaten Path in Big Bear... - 03/05/2010
All the snow in Big Bear from El Nino has made for great snowshoe conditions in the forest. The path we’re following is well-tracked, but on either side of us and extending deep into the forest there’s virgin powder—and lots of it. After all the storms, it’s feet deep, burying tree branches and obscuring shrubs. The surface layer of the powder has a microscopic crust to it after a week’s exposure to sun and warmer temperatures. My ski poles pop through that crust effortlessly, releasing entombed fluffy pow-pow like air escapes from a balloon. Same with those ahead of me—Fred and Linda Goldsmith from Goldsmith’s Boardhouse, and Linda’s sister Dixie Madden. We’re not skiing this beautiful powder—the days of untracked at the resorts ended hours after the most recent dump (and I played a big role in flattening out the powder!). Rather, we’re getting our fix of freshies...complete story
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 AT THE PAC - Sentimental Journey of WWII Songs... - 02/04/2010
Nancy Walker (center) flanked by “Divas” Kim Boda, Elena Peavy. Enjoy the music of a bygone era when singer Nancy Celeste Walker, joined by the “Divas,” presents Sentimental Journey: The Songs of WWII, a Tribute to America's Troops at the Performing Arts Center Saturday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. Walker, a noted cabaret singer with a slew of credits that include White House performances, previously presented this show during her outdoor “Concert on the Green” series at the Inn at Fawnskin, as well as at the Redlands Bowl. Both shows were well received and now she takes the program indoors to the PAC stage, with a few new songs added to boot. Songs by the Andrews Sisters like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Rum and Coca-Cola” will take listeners back to the war years, during a two-hour...complete story
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