Several of Southern California’s most popular ski resorts are threatened by wildfires that are ravaging the mountains skiers descend.
At Mountain High Ski Resort in Wrightwood, staff, desperate to save the popular ski spot, fired up snow cannons to contain the flames from the bridge fire.
The fire, which has burned 49,000 acres of Angeles National Forest, exploded Tuesday night, burning homes and sending flames through trees toward Mountain High chairlifts. Despite the harrowing images captured by resort cameras, all lifts and main buildings survived with “little to no damage,” the resort wrote on social media Wednesday.
“Thank you to all the employees and firefighters for their hard work. Our thoughts are with the Wrightwood families who may be suffering. We are with you!” the resort wrote in the post.
Ski resorts in the Big Bear area were hoping to stay standing as the Line Fire raged nearby, putting the mountain community under strain. The fire, which started last week, has already burned more than 34,000 acres and was 14 percent contained as of Wednesday.
Crews were installing equipment on the hills of Snow Summit and Bear Mountain and trying to create defensive perimeters around buildings, chairlifts and other improvements, resort spokesman Justin Kanton said as he sat in his office on the property, shrouded in smoke.
At Snow Valley in Running Springs, which was closest to the front line of the fire, workers were using snow cannons to saturate the terrain to prevent embers from taking root, Kanton said.
The stations have suspended their activities until further notice.
A nine-year resident of Sugarloaf, just south of Big Bear City, Kanton, 44, said he appreciates the abundant nature and varied climate. But he said he’s seen large fires increasingly ravage the quiet community.
“This is one of the few places in Southern California where we have four true seasons,” he said. “Unfortunately, it seems like we’re increasingly facing a fifth season, which is fire.”
Big Bear Mountain Resort, which operates the Snow Summit, Bear Mountain and Snow Valley resorts, reported its snowiest February on the mountain since at least 2000. The snowy winter, which helped plants grow, was followed by a warm, rainless summer, which dried them out.
As Kanton sat in his office Wednesday, he watched the ash particles fall from the sky. Normally, he can see the north shore of Big Bear Lake from his window, but on this day, his view was obscured by haze. The west side of the city was under an evacuation order, and the rest was told to prepare to evacuate if conditions worsened.
Kanton said he’s willing to leave town if necessary and would likely head to Palm Springs to stay with friends. There’s currently only one way out — down the winding Highway 18 to Lucerne Valley — so he hopes if that happens, people will be patient and not panic.
“These things can escalate pretty quickly, especially given the weather conditions we’ve had,” he said.
Big Bear Lake City Manager Erik Sund hopes that the wildfires that have ravaged the valley in recent years, including the Radford fire in 2022, will help mitigate the current blaze by reducing the amount of fuel available for the flames.
He is concerned, however, about the damage to roads, given that all routes in and out of the city have been closed except for Highway 18. In addition to creating a potential choke point in an emergency, the closures are inconveniencing residents commuting to work and tourists wanting to enjoy Big Bear’s hiking trails and other attractions.
“Once this fire is behind us, the next thing we’re going to do is evaluate all of these things,” he said. “Because before we know it, winter will be here and we’re going to want to welcome visitors.”
Times reporter Hannah Fry contributed to this report.
