Read skier and snowboarder-submitted reviews on Snow Valley that rank the ski resort and mountain town on a scale of one to five stars for attributes such as terrain, nightlife and family friendliness. See how Snow Valley stacks up in the reviews, on and off the slopes, from skiing and family activities to the après scene. Read up on pros, cons and other comments in reviews left by fellow skiers and riders. Don't forget to submit your own Snow Valley review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your skiing and resort experience.
Reviews for Snow Valley
Total (3.1)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
pros
-free parking
-fast
- closer
cons
-lifts break down often
-I mean often(we were the last people off before the lift broke down and stranded the rest of our party for ~4 hours)
Barb Glendon
4/3/24 -- All of the good stuff above up through April 2021. Free for 70+ (80+ since Alterra). Mild terrain, but nice. Shorter walk from the parking lot than Snow Summit. Snow seems to take longer during the day to turn to slush. Friendly people. Shorter drive than Big Bear. And then Big Bear bought it, and then Alterra bought it. Raised prices, added regulations, spent a bundle on the restaurant but cheaped out on the grooming -- the same things I complained about at Big Bear. Hard ridges between passes, holes left in the corduroy, serious chatter above 35 mph. Plenty of snow, so there's no excuse. Definitely downhill from what it was when it was a private company. I still go because it's free, but I wouldn't if I had to pay day-rates or buy a pass. I would never go on weekends -- they charge $20 for parking then. I've been skiing for 38 years and I'd hate to give it up, but I hate being ripped off.
Britton Weinstein
Great mountain with an excellent vibe, my favorite mountain in Southern California.
Carlos Estrada
Okay I have not been here since college. I forgot how fun and laid-back this place is. So i take my kids to Salt Lake City,, Utah to learn to snowboard...WRONG!! Avalanche wiped the road to our resort for 4 days. So i bring my kids here 2 weeks later because they were sad they didn't get to snowboard.
Upon getting here i had a flashback of when I started snowboarding. We have our own gear and I bought the tickets online. We were on the beginner slopes in 10 minutes. My kids 11,10 and 5 loved it...loved it ..loved it! Now we're going again the following week! This place is awesome!! It's a regular ski resort...if you want fancy 5 star World class skiing fly to Utah or Colorado. I'm bringing my kids here every year!!
T C
Purchased season pass for the 019/020 season. Had a lot of fun days. Employees were friendly. Met some friendly, fun and very good skiers who were regulars to ski with. Has that good old local area vibe like the old days at Baldy and Kratka.
Aaron Boatwright
This place is awesome! Love coming here for a day trip from San Diego! $25 to snowboard all day! Buy the 4 pack before the start of the season. The friendliest staff ever!!! Free parking and you dont have to walk a mile or take a bus! There's something for everyone here!
This is a great local ski resort that has been around since the 1950s. It's much closer then Big Bear and Mountain High frankly I've skied all of them but I don't think the extra Drive is worth it Snow Valley is just as good as Big Bear & Snow summit my opinion. Of course when there is a lot of snow when there isn't a lot of snow Big Bear in Snow summit have much better snowmaking capabilities.
From the outside driving by it doesn't look like much but it's a full-fledged Ski Resort well maintained with good crew good food good sports shop pretty much everything a local ski resort has.
wayne
It is funny to see all the cars drive past Snow Valley for another 45 minutes to descend down into big bear valley, pay 3 times the price, park so far away you have to take a tram, and deal with crowds. The terrain is comparable to other resorts and on powder days they get more snow. I can't imagine what a pain it must be to take a family elsewhere, not to mention the added expense. There is just no reason to go elsewhere, unless you buy into the hype from the mega-conglomerate deep pocket marketing of the other resorts.
I think a lot of people think that what they can see from the highway or parking lot is all there is to the resort. When you take the lift up you quickly realize there is a lot more than you thought.
Jamie Higgins
Snow Valley is right down the street from my home - close and great skiing and we love Vinnie the bar tender! Ski Patrol guys Tim, Mark and Smiley the greatest guys around - can't wait to come back!
Hoben01
Went up on new years eve 2017 to get the season started. The new six person high speed chair is running really makes a difference getting people up the mountain had no trouble doing 10 runs in two hours. Even though there has been no snow they have done something with the snowmaking equipment had the top of the frontside mountain open to the bottom with the big bowl and little bowl advanced slopes with good coverage
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