Bear Mountain, originally established in 1941, is the older of Big Bear's two ski areas and has a distinctive personality: it has historically leaned toward freestyle terrain and snowboarding culture. The resort features an elaborate terrain park setup and has hosted professional events. The mountain's lower base elevation compared to Snow Summit means it can be more variable in snow conditions, but it also tends to have shorter lift lines on busy weekends.
Under the same ownership as Snow Summit since 1995, the two resorts share a lift ticket, allowing skiers to shuttle between them via a free inter-resort bus. The combined terrain gives Big Bear a credible mountain resort experience that belies its proximity — just two hours from Los Angeles — to an urban sprawl of fifteen million people.