I recently read a Facebook post by Big Bear Lake that caught my attention and stirred up some really old memories.
The post read, “Congratulations to Shaun White for his Winter X Games 5th Gold Medal in the Super Pipe, who learned how to ride on the slopes of Bear Mountain!”
Sure, Shaun White deserves recognition for earning his 5th X Games gold medal in the super pipe this past weekend. But when I read the post, I felt the need to set the record straight, and apparently so did other “fans” of Big Bear, who quickly replied to the post.
Shaun White grew up learning how to board and ski at Snow Summit, not Bear Mountain.
Petty, you say? There is a difference.
Bear Mountain used to be called Goldmine Ski Area, and, until recent years, was always an independently owned ski area, very different from its neighbor to the west, Snow Summit.
That being said, Shaun White did not become the snowboarder he is today by learning how to ride on the gentle slopes of Southern California. He got that way because of when and where he was born.
Shaun White grew up in Carlsbad. From the time he was 6 years old, his parents would load up the family car and travel either to Mammoth or closer Big Bear nearly every weekend in the wintertime.
I was a lift operator in the winter of ‘95/96 at Snow Summit and I clearly remember the 10-year-old half-sized kid who just wanted to keep up with the older kids he was riding with.
Snow Summit as seen from the North Shore in Big Bear
This was around the time when snow cat driver Chris “Gunny” Gunnerson convinced the powers that be to let him experiment with “terrain features” that would add a little excitement to the otherwise lackluster terrain of Snow Summit. This was a far cry from the resort I once knew – one that would stake off any kind of mogul or unnatural terrain feature that people were using to “catch air,” probably because they were afraid of getting sued.
Snowboarding was evolving … and fast.
There were many good riders in Big Bear in those days, many of whom went on to become well-known pros in the sport, and others who remain in the shadows.
All were pioneers in a sport that was rapidly discovering itself – someone tried a 360, then a 540, and the numbers just kept adding up.
“If you want to win, you gotta spin,” went the saying.
There was a certain air around Snow Summit whenever we heard that Gunny had been up all night shaping the terrain park. Gunny was a true pioneer. It seemed like each week, he would build the lip just a little bit higher, make the gap just a little bit longer, make the fear factor just a little bit greater.
People responded. The more people were willing to push their limits, Gunny was equally ready to test just how far they would take them.
Westridge back in the day
Probably the most famous terrain feature, or “hit,” at Snow Summit was called “The Three Wise Men” or “Wiseman’s” as it eventually became known.
Wiseman’s was the arguably the first “giant kicker,” the one that paved the way for what the sport has become today, and as far as I know, Gunny was the one who created it.
On Wiseman’s, you had three options. You could take the left lip, which was probably about 6 feet high with a shorter gap to the transition. You could take the right lip, a few feet higher and a little longer gap. Or you could take the middle lip, which bowed up to about 15 feet, followed by a 6-foot drop and a 30- to 40-foot gap. (Nobody had ever seen a jump that big before, at least not in Big Bear.)
Hitting Wiseman’s required 100 percent commitment, because the jump automatically threw you at least 15 feet in the air. If you came up short, there was no option but to land flat.
This is where, I believe, the term “gaper” was coined. More often than not, if you were rolling up to Wiseman’s, you would find a line of snowboarders sitting down on their asses in the middle of the narrow approach, staring, waiting, wrestling with themselves as to whether or not they are going to commit.
On several occasions, the gallery of onlookers would be infiltrated by snowboarders (and skiers) approaching from the rear.
“Dropping!!”
Two, three or more snowboarders, usually locals, would speed by, commit to the line and boost off the lip of Wiseman’s, executing smooth aerial maneuvers with fluidity while the “gapers” sat watching in awe.
Following them usually was 10-year-old Shaun White, equally as committed, who would boost off the lip, mimicking his mentors with precision, pulling off back flips, grabs, perfectly executed tricks.
At least once a month, the White family would pass through my lift line on skis, including young Shaun. His mother and father told me it was important to instill in their children respect for all snow sports and the concept of “playing” in the snow. The White family seemed to enjoy coming up to the mountain for one reason – to play and have fun in the snow.
You can still see it in Shaun White’s face today, that childlike smile that says, “I’m just having fun, riding with my friends.” No ego, no desire, really, to be the best. He simply is.
Now the old days of the park on Westridge are far behind us and the terrain park as we once knew it has become more massive than we ever imagined back in those days. Gunny has moved on to become one of the most sought after terrain park designers in the world, building parks at the Winter Olympics and the X Games. Last I heard, he was still designing and building the park at Northstar.
And as for Shaun White, he certainly came around at a time when a new sport was evolving, and he had a lot of mentors to look up to, to push him, to drive him to where he is today.
As for me, I’m still riding, but I’ve traded my hometown of Big Bear and the San Bernardino Mountains for the Sierra Nevada. I’ve also taken up cross country skiing. I’ve been on a few snowshoe trips.
But most of all, I still just like to play in the snow.
Look for more stories of music, food, fun, and adventure in my new blog: Tales of the Traveling Uke. Subscribe here.
