Snow Summit Bike Park (Big Bear, CA) - Recent Bad Experience

I’m an advanced DH rider that’s ridden a good handful of parks. Over the years I fly into CA when I’m visiting OC and make a trip to Snow Summit Bike Park in Big Bear. I’ve gone many years but this year I had a bad experience.

Rude lift and ticket staff, problems with my lift ticket right at the lift gate, getting stuck half way thru the gate barriers. Even though I felt like my frustration was warranted the staff wasn’t understanding and just basically told me to suck it up.

Some segments are not well maintained (for example 10 Ply was too loose to ride, it was basically sand). Many times rental bikes are in poor condition with mismatched parts. Bike repair shop is rude even when you just need a pump to adjust pressure. I met some really good riders and the bike repair shop told them didn’t have the correct adapter to top a Shimano style reservoir so they could get the rear brakes working.

As a loyal customer paying close to $300 per visit to the park for rentals, food, life pass, etc. I expected better service and experience. Some days even, packages run more in pricing.

At this point I’ll likely spend way less money at Summit and make less trips for the foreseeable future. I thought about getting a season pass next year but after my experience I’d rather put the money towards better parks.