I’m sure you’ve seen it all over the news, Big Bear got hammered on last week.  Did you know that the last storm of this magnitude was back in 1969’s El Nino year?  After the last 24 hours adventure I can honestly say there can be too much of a good thing.  Brandon and I decided to go up to board, but also get a look at what the storm really did to the town, my neighborhood and my house.  After 3 hours journey up the 330/18 due to people being stuck, sliding out and abandoned vehicles we made it to town.  As we drove down Big Bear Blvd we were finding 15 ft walls of piled snow, the blvd a white street, and something of a ghost town.  My X5 handled like a champ all the way until I started up the winding jaunt in my neighborhood to my house nestled in upper Moonridge.  That was when I slid back down a winding hill and knew it was time for the chains.  Luckily with the chains it was do-able from there but not without a little adrenaline rush each and every hill and turn through the thick snow on a one car width clearing.  We pulled up to see this…

Two adults shoveling for 4 hours would maybe clear a small path to fit the car in, but at 9:30 at night and 25 degrees this was not going to happen!  Thankfully my neighbor’s driveway was cleared (He must have a service who clears day after the storm) and wasn’t home so we parked there to figure how to get to the front door.  Only 45 minutes of shoveling a path up the stairs and through my top deck got us inside and ready to finally de-stress and hit the mountain the next morning.  By morning Big Bear was considered “state of alert” and closed down all entrances to residents only which made for an epic day on the mountain.  Bear Mtn was closed due to limited access so Snow Summit was our ticket.  It was empty!  The only people on it were residents!  AMAZING!!!  Never seen anything like that either.  One of the true advantages to having a house there!
Here’s what my house looked like from the street the next morning in the light of day-

And the path from the top of my deck to the front door that we cut through the 5 ft powder-

This is the view out my kitchen window, if you’ve been to my home you know I have a 6ft graffiti wall that retains my back slope-

The view from my jacuzzi room (before sunrise)-

Here’s the little path we made so we could get up the stairs, needless to say I’m going boarding before I finish that shovel job!-

And a view to the right of my house, the neighborhood with a one car width clearing.  (note my car in the next door neighbors driveway!)-

But ALL worth it to get to the top of the chairlift and see this!!!!!-

I never knew the amount of effort to owning a mountain home until this last storm!  I’ve been there 4 1/2 years now, 4th snow season and never come close to the work it took to get to my house or get to my front door for that matter.  You have to watch out what you wish for, I was sitting in Laguna so smiley-faced hearing about the storm but to actually experience what the aftermath brings is much more than good boarding conditions.  Needless to say I will be hiring a paid professional to clear my 4 car driveway….