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Ski · Nordic · Backcountry · United States
California · lift-served terrain

Bear Valley

753 feet of lift-served vertical, from a base of 7,736 ft to a summit of 8,489 ft. Measured from the lowest and highest lift terminal on this mountain — not a box around a map pin — and cut into 4 five-hundred-foot bands.

753
ft vertical
7,736
ft base
8,489
ft summit
6
uphill lifts
456
footprint acres

The column

4 bands · base to summit
6,500–7,00015 ac · 25.9° · SSW1,238 mm
7,000–7,50054 ac · 29.4° · S1,326 mm
7,500–8,000255 ac · 20.4° · SSW1,326 mm
8,000–8,500133 ac · 20.7° · SSW1,326 mm
under 15° easier 15–25° more difficult 25–33° most difficult over 33° expert bar length = acres · fill = elevation
NESW
Bands
4
All lifts
6
Lift length
3.6 km
Steepest band
29.4°
Operator
—
Coordinates
38.4900, -120.0482

Band by band

slope, aspect and winter normal
Band (ft)AcresSlope° RatingAspectDeg NDJFM mm
6,500–7,0001525.9most difficultSSW1921,238
7,000–7,5005429.4most difficultS1871,326
7,500–8,00025520.4more difficultSSW2031,326
8,000–8,50013320.7more difficultSSW2111,326

Slope and aspect are the Horn 3×3 method on a ~13 m DEM. A band's aspect is the direction of the mean unit vector, not the mean of the angles. NDJFM mm is the PRISM 1991–2020 November–March precipitation normal at that height — liquid equivalent, not snow depth.

How this mountain gets scored

the verification station
Blue Lakes SNOTEL (356:CA:SNTL) is 17.0 km away at 8,060 ft — 429 ft below this summit. It reports hourly precipitation, snow water equivalent and temperature at a surveyed elevation, which is the only truth at height that does not have to be interpolated first. Forecasts for this mountain will be scored there, and the score published whether or not it flatters.

Nearby

Kirkwood Mountain Resort 21 km Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort 34 km Dodge Ridge Ski Area 35 km Heavenly Mountain Resort 51 km Homewood Ski Area 67 km Palisades Tahoe Alpine Meadows 75 km

Fly this mountain in 3D → · ← All 26 ski areas in California · How these numbers are measured

FORECAST SLOPES
Ski and winter sports weather for the United States. Part of the Forecast Network.
BUILT 2026-09-08T19:40:35Z