RS Vacations – Big Bear Lake, CA

This post is from a couple of years ago, but I couldn’t help but think of it as the ski season is getting into full swing. Enjoy!

What color is your ‘B’? If you grew up in Big Bear, you will give the answer to that question with either pride or shame. Sadly, my answer is a rather depressing ‘blue’. Sigh….All of the other kids had yellow or orange. A few even had red. Well, at least I don’t have to answer with ‘green’. I’d never be able to call myself a local again. 🙂

What am I talking about? The Big Bear Parks and Rec has a learn to ski program for local kids. Every year in December and January, school aged kids hit the slopes to learn to ski. (when I was a kid snowboarding didn’t even exist as a sport yet. ) As we progressed, we were given a different colored felt ‘B’. You had to sew them to either your beanie or jacket and this showed the instructors (and everyone else) what level you were at. Everyone got a green ‘B’ on their first day so long as they could click into their skis by themselves.

The ‘B’s progressed in color like so: Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red. So green meant that you were a total beginner and red showed that you were an expert skier. I was cruising along with my blue ‘B’ when I found out that my sister, who was visiting relatives, broke her leg while skiing in Tahoe. (Later to find out that she was standing still and her ski slipped out to the side. What a spaz! I mean, who breaks their leg while standing still???) That was it. I was totally paranoid to continue in the sport so I quit going to class, destined to be branded with an embarrassing blue ‘B’ for the rest of my life. (At least I grew out of that jacket by the following winter – my shame could then be private.)

Fast forward about twenty years and my husband finally talked me into giving it another go. He had gotten into snowboarding and really wanted me to be able to go with him. (I did try snowboarding myself, but that is a memory that I try to forget 😉 ) So we hit the bunny slope and off I went. What a blast!

I progressed off of the beginner chair and got better every time we went. I still like to ski conservatively, but I always have fun. Skiing is great exercise and the views from the top are amazing! If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it! You can take group lessons or private ones and be skiing from the top in a day or two.

Many of our cabins here at RS Vacations are within walking distance to the slopes or to the shuttle, making your ski weekend that much more enjoyable. Both resorts are making snow and we are expecting some of the real stuff later this week, so book today at RSVacations.net and hit the slopes!!