It's no secret that Old Man Winter is being a shy little bitch this season. Although there are recent rumors circulating of an insane Northwestern storm on the horizon, we won't believe it until we see it. During treacherous winters such as the 2011-12 so far, we need hope. If we don't have hope, we need distractions. The kind of distractions that keep our spirits up, the good times consistent, and our powder day withdrawals at bay. Enter Bear Mountain.

Southern California's favorite resort, comfortably located two hours from most coastal cities in the San Bernardino mountains, makes us forget that it's January and we haven't seen one decent storm. We hardly even remember last winter at this exact time when resorts were receiving record snowfall and dumps of 10 feet were dropping at a time. Powder boards? Who needs em'. We've got Bear Mountain to keep us company.

We've spent almost every weekend riding Bear since the winter supposedly "started" and we've got to be honest - it's been really awesome. As usual. Despite the lack of snow, their park is still on point, snow coverage is good, and we've had a grand ol' time. All snowboarders and skiers alike are sharing collective feelings of disappointment, impatience, and hope and we would prefer them to have as good of a time as we are. So, here's 10 reasons why we think Bear is the prime spot to be while waiting for Mother Nature to get on the ball.

1. The Scene: Ah yes, The Infamous Scene. This gem of a park is located right in front of the Sun Deck (see #3) and needs no chair lift to access it. Hike all day long and hit various jib setups that Bear pulls together and switches throughout the season. We don't need no stinkin' storm to enjoy this genius idea.
2. Snow blowers on Chair 9: If you've ridden Bear before you know how outrageously awesome Chair 9 is. This is the top-to-bottom park run that most shredders claim as their stomping grounds. Add all the snow blowers on this run and you've got top-notch coverage and snow quality all season long. Hot laps from first chair to last chair, anyone?
3. The Sun Deck: During seasons such as this one, the weather is warm, the sun is out, and people are craving to drink booze. The Sun Deck is the prime hang out spot between laps for a little beer break. You can watch kids huck themselves in The Scene or just do some good ol' fashioned people watching. Plenty of weirdos from the Inland Empire linger here.
4. Avalanche Nightclub: Remember all those feelings of hope for winter I mentioned? Well, that's what keeps people traveling to the mountains when it's not snowing. The weekends up in Big Bear are still buzzing with throngs of people taking laps regardless of dirt patches. As a result, Bear's latest nightclub...okay, only nightclub, Avalanche is packed with snow rats looking to rage their faces off. Dance floor, neon lazer lights, pool table, and lots of leg room - things get rowdy on a Saturday night.
5. Red Bull Plaza sessions: Another jib area that you can session all day with no need for bounties of snow. The Red Bull Plaza is located off to the side of the main park run and has more urban like features provided by Red Bull. Kids can post up here with some grub, their buddies, and good tunes and have a seriously fun day.
6. Mellow mountain to learn how to ride: We understand that just because you enjoy a day riding doesn't mean you enjoy a day in the park. Bear is also a rad place to head for mellow groomers runs or to learn how to shred with awesome weather and a good vibe.
7. Lift tickets for 2 resorts: Even if it's not the snow season of a lifetime, when you head up to Big Bear and purchase your lift ticket (Adult full day is $56) it's also good for a full day at neighboring resort Snow Summit. If Bear is too crowded or windy - head over to Summit for something different.
8. So-Cal weather: Although this reason might also be slightly depressing, you can't deny that riding during a sunny and warm day always turns out to be a good time. Bear is stocked full of these. Yes, perhaps there is a plethora of tank tops and jerseys on the hill but hey, getting a tan in January isn't something to complain about.
9. Hot laps with friends at all times: No matter what time of season - Bear is known for their parks. They are on top of their game when it comes to new jibs, fun features, and terrain park options for all skill levels. No matter what, you will be able to have repetitive laps with your crew and forget about the fact that you haven't had a powder day yet.
10. Tons of fanning-out opportunities: Because of reasons 1 through 9, pro riders love this mountain. They just can't stay away. A lot of riders are also based in Southern California anyway, so guess what? They have no choice but to show up at Bear. Want to stalk your favorite pro? No problem. Paparazzi pictures? Like taking candy from a baby. If nothing else, you will definitely see some legit riding on the hill.

Alright, that's all we got for now. Don't get us wrong, we're going to keep cursing the snow gods however, we're still going to be enjoying some time on the hill while we wait. You probably should too.

Top photos courtesy of Bear Mountain
Red Bull Plaza courtesy of Snowboarder Magazine

Any sane person at Bear Mountain this past Saturday would swear that it was the month of June. A cloudless sky, uncomfortably warm temperatures, zero wind, and offensive tank tops greeted the crowds on the sun deck in Big Bear, CA for the Analog Design Unlikely Features contest. Yes, everyone in attendance was sweating their balls off like it was the beginning of summer, however to their dismay, it was in fact January 7th.

The winner of the design aspect of the contest was Paul Heran with his "Bat Wing" concept. This feature was unveiled before the contest started rolling and was the popular jib option during the rail jam. All jib masters alike were hiking The Scene vying for the full AG outerwear kit. Locked and loaded with five different park features, the competitors had multiple line options to consider - The Bat Wing, last year's Design Unlikely Feature winner The UFO, a multi-level staircase box, a cheesewedge with flat box on top, and lastly a flat bar set up for primetime stalls, handplants, and spins.

Kids were straight up hucking themselves on this set up, and definitely not always in a good way as you'll witness below in the recap video. One competitor in particular, with flowing blonde locks, thought it was a genius idea to continuously come in to the Bat Wing at mock speed and gap to flat bar. Needles to say, things got a little messy.

The sun beat down on the setup and snow and the shredders beat down on the setup until the end. After a flurry of hiking, gapping, sliding, and spinning, the panel of judges (Dave Downing, Mikkel Bang, Eyan Alferos and Matt Rohn) were faced with a tough decision. Who the hell was going to win this thing? Check the results and video below:

Photo courtesy of Bear Mountain

Men
1st -- Devin Allen
2nd -- Nathan Sovich
3rd -- Juan Poanco

Women
1st -- Melissa Spillman
2nd -- Veroniqi Hanssen
3rd -- Natalie Kerr

The trends of resort terrain parks are ever-changing. The types of jibs, highlighted features, favorite set-ups of the season, the go-to tricks each year that we all know exist - it's never predictable.

Cue the new winter season that has quickly dawned upon us and the declaration of multiple resorts to re-create popular local urban street spots. We can all understand the angle of this genius idea, can't we? The urban jibbing that a lot of riders dedicate themselves to minus an important hindering factor. No one yelling at you to pack up and leave and/or threatening to arrest you.

Forum Snowboards and Seven Springs have announced their partnership to create "The Streets", an urban park replica at the Pennsylvania resort.

This urban playground is the love child from Forum, their team riders Pat Moore and Nic Sauve, along with the park masters and builders of Seven Springs, saying they "pulled their inspiration from the surrounding area of Pittsburgh". The local riders of PA have got to be throwing a rager right now celebrating this addition to the terrain park. The Grand Opening of "The Streets" at Seven Springs is January 19, 2012. Think you can wait that long?

This latest announcement isn't quite surprising. Although awesome and exciting, it's playing along with the urban trend that is dawning upon multiple resorts' parks. Urban jibbing is a major part of snowboarding, especially on the east coast. Many riders have a special place in their heart for riding the streets due to a wide variety of reasons. It could be all they know. Or maybe riding street rails is how they first began snowboarding. Or it's simply what they prefer. Whatever it may be - park staff, companies, and riders are in on this factoid and have taken action. They've begun to answer the prayers of street shredders and make their favorite spots more accessible to session for hours upon hours with no interruptions.

In addition to Seven Springs' "The Streets" set up, Mountain High and Bear Mountain have joined the force of urban replication; Big Bear with their new "Red Bull Plaza" and Mt. High with the "Los Angeles Features". Bear's plan was to create a street set-up where people can just chill out while hitting progressive street features without a crowd or liftlines. Mountain High wanted to bring the City of Angels, that is their backyard, to the mountains. The first iconic street rail that was unveiled was the "Concert Hall Handrail" - an exact replica of the down-flat-down staircase in downtown Los Angeles. Throughout the season they will continue to release these real-life features originating from LA.

Impressive? Yes. Burly? Duh. Progressive? No doubt. The question is, does it get the job done? Will riders that will always prefer sessioning a street spot for hours upon end find the same kind of pleasure from similar features at a resort? At the end of the day, these snowboarders might just get some kind of thrill from discovering a new rail, staying up all night filming, with the possibility of getting chased down by the cops. And that's fine.

It's admirable and inspiring that resorts these days can even step back and appreciate the urban scene and it's following. This is one more aspect of snowboarding in present day that demonstrates how progressive and forward-thinking the sport and industry surrounding it actually is.

Being part powder junkie and part park rat myself -- I think this new movement is a great step in a new direction. If only because it is an example that embraces all parts of snowboarding because as we all know, there are many parts. So here it is, the new era of urban. Ready and accessible at your local resort. Are you ready for it?

Top photo courtesy of Forum, middle photo courtesy of Snowboarder Magazine - Mike Yoshida, bottom photo courtesy of Mountain High

Where in the world has Nate Bozung been?

A few years ago, the Cali-native was seemingly everywhere. He popped up in several shred vids and could be seen throwing down at resorts all across the country.

But recently, Bozung has been missing from the shred scene. He traded his days on hill for nights out on the town in NYC, and also spent a couple of months in the sun and surf in Columbia instead of in the mountain and snow in the states.

Just when everyone thought Bozung was over snowboarding for good, he was spotted at Bear Mountain getting his shred legs back with Chris Bradshaw and Pat Lynch.

Looks like Bozung still has it...

Well sort of.



Photo: Nate Bozung

Each year Analog hosts a unique contest that encourages shredders everywhere to come up with their dream jib feature. The sky is the limit and some of these kids go a little nuts however, it always proves to push their imaginations and their creativity. Analog's Design Unlikely Features contest returned in 2011 and the winner's feature will be transformed into a reality at the one and only park haven - Bear Mountain.

Congratulations to this year's winner - Paul Heran with his "Bat Wing" feature. This rail/wallride/transfer has so many options of approaching it - it may just turn into a collision course for snowboarders. Get ready. The unveiling of this feature is January 7th.