REDOUBLED EFFORTS BIG BEAR SKI AREAS JOIN FORCES.

Byline: Jerry Rice Staff Writer

It's so difficult to shop for birthday presents these days. Is it the right size? The right color? And then there's the issue of some stores not taking back items without a receipt.

Well, the owners of Snow Summit in the San Bernardino Mountains decided to avoid all the hassles of returning gifts and buy something it could really use for its 50th anniversary: Big Bear Mountain Resort.

``It is something Snow Summit has wanted to do for a long time,'' said Brad Farmer, the public relations director at Big Bear Mountain Resorts. ``They finally got the resources together they needed to pull it off. It was their method of expansion more than anything.''

The combination - operated by Snow Summit Ski Corp., which also runs Sierra Summit Mountain Resort near Fresno - gives skiers and snowboarders the choice of more than 55 runs spread over 430 acres that are accessed by 23 lifts, including four high-speed detachable quads.

``With the two resorts together, plus the community of Big Bear (Lake), we can all work together to bring people to Big Bear in general,'' Farmer said. ``It does give us more leverage in the market as far as competing with places like Mammoth.''

From a skier and snowboarder standpoint, there's a lot about the deal that makes sense. Lift tickets and season passes for the resorts will be interchangeable throughout the winter, except during high-use times such as holiday periods and select days in January and February. A free shuttle service also will link the two ski areas, which are located about a mile apart in Big Bear Lake.

``In years past, they've both tried to be everything to everybody, and now we can focus each resort more specifically,'' said Tyson Baird, the resorts' guest communications director.

Bear Mountain (they've dropped the ``Big'' from their name) will be oriented more toward youthful freestyle skiers and snowboarders; the emphasis at Snow Summit will be mainstream skiers and snowboarders and families with children.

``Most of the physical changes going on are at Bear Mountain,'' Baird said. ``They're going to continue with their all-mountain terrain park theme, where not just two or three runs are designed as terrain parks but there are terrain features spread out over the entire mountain.''

In a sense, the new setup is not unlike that at Mountain High in Wrightwood, which is split between two mountains and also connected by a shuttle bus.

The West Resort is the bigger of the two, with a top-to-bottom terrain park boasting more than 25 features and a new-for-this-season Children's Learning Center - expanding their offerings for families. The East side, which underwent $1.5 million in improvements before last season, has some of the longest cruising trails and powder runs this side of Mammoth.

What Mountain High and Big Bear Mountain Resorts also have in common are extensive snowmaking systems (said to be among the largest and most advanced in the world) that cover all or nearly all of the runs.

Both invested heavily in the off season to provide more and better coverage, spending money that will pay dividends should Mother Nature do an encore of last year's performance. Last winter, Mountain High received 53 inches of snow, Big Bear about 40 inches - considerably less than the 200-inch average.

``We can't have a worse season (weather-wise) than we did last year, so we can only go up from there,'' said John McColly, Mountain High's marketing director.

Surprisingly, given the lack of natural snow, all three resorts enjoyed a near-record number of skiers.

``One of the reasons (for the big turnout) was because of the snow- making system,'' Baird said. ``We can put down such a quality (covering) even without natural snow.''

The drought, by no means washed away by the early-November storms, shouldn't impact snow-making at the resorts. All three have the same water allotments as last year.

Other Southern California resorts, such as Mount Baldy and Mount Waterman (both share the San Gabriel Mountains with Mountain High), are more dependent on the snow Mother Nature gives them.

But it may not matter if National Weather Service predictions prove correct for the return of El Nino - albeit a milder one than the phenomenon that socked the West Coast in 1997-98 with more than 300 inches of snow in the local mountains.

``Everyone has got their fingers crossed with the hope that El Nino shows up and brings with it a fair amount of snow,'' McColly said. ``We're optimistic we're going to have a good year.''

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Snowboarder Brian Taylor favors warm-weather attire at Mountain High in Wrightwood.

(2) Bear Mountain is being aimed at youthful freestyle skiers and snowboarders.

(3) While a big snow year would be welcome, Wrightwood's Mountain High can make its own powdery stuff at will.

LaFonzo Rachal Carter/Staff Photographer

(4) The San Bernardino Mountains' Snow Summit above, along with Bear Mountain, offers 55 runs spread over 430 acres.

David Creamer/Staff Photographer

Box:

2002-2003 SKI PREVIEW