There's nothing quite like waking up to fresh snowfall in the mountains. Another storm swept Southern California and dropped 24 inches of powder on Big Bear Mountain Resorts much to snowboarders' delight, blanketing the slopes for epic conditions across all runs.

Depending on where you live and have traveled you may not picture Southern California as a destination for snowboarding, but four feet of snowfall over the short month of February is nothing to dismiss. The storm hit California's high desert and mountain areas beginning Friday February 25th, dropping snow as low as 2,000- 2,500 feet in elevation through the weekend.

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After a hot breakfast and lots of coffee Saturday morning we gathered our gear, layered up, and made our way to the parking lot to find the Volkswagon Jetta hibernating under two feet of snow. A few desperate and determined souls attempted to shovel out their vehicles and spun around the snow- covered parking lot for a good hour. The two guys in our group decided to help a skier dig and push out his BMW SUV in exchange for a ride up the street to Bear Mountain Resort. The two of us girls, however, decided to hike it.

It was about a mile walk through the slush and snow on the side of the road while a few trucks rolled by with chains. About halfway there our friends hollered out the window of the passing BMW but didn't stop to give us a lift- whatever. Patty and I were warm and ready to board by the time we reached the mountain. The snow was falling and the slopes were not even close to crowded due to the chain requirements on the highways up to Big Bear Lake, stalling the masses.

A beautiful day of graceful turns, kicking up powder and landing on soft pillows along the trees made for a great winter weekend. As snowboarders we rely (and pray) for winter storms to set the scene for our most awesome entertainment. Don't let the winter pass you by, get out there and shred what nature has to offer.

www.bearmountain.com