California Mountain Resort Company has revealed its first major capital projects at newly-acquired Bear Valley. In an email to passholders, Bear Valley explained the plan includes changes to four different lifts in the main base area, improving the experience for beginner and intermediate skiers. “We’ve got some major lift improvement projects lined up for this summer, and they’re going to completely transform the Bear Valley base area,” the mountain wrote.
First, the Koala double will be removed and replaced with a used fixed grip quad. Koala dates back to 1968 and the new machine is a 1992 Poma fixed grip quad recently removed from Taos, New Mexico. For the second project, the Kuma triple will be shortened from its original length to become a beginner lift with the top station moving downhill. Kuma hasn’t been needed in its current base-to-summit configuration since the parallel Mokelumne Express opened in 2017. As part of the Kuma project, the existing Cub double will be retired. That lift dates back to 1967 and will be made redundant by the shortened Kuma chair. Finally, the Super Cub double will receive new chairs that will be easier for beginners to load. This entire lift shuffle is expected to be completed this summer and will reduce the mountain’s fleet of of aging Riblet lifts from four to two. In addition to base area projects, Bear Valley also expects to complete significant summer grooming and lift repairs in Grizzly Bowl.
Lift Blog 
I visited Bear Valley for the first time this year, and basically all my thoughts on improvements are addressed here. Koala is an underserved pod and a quad would be great there. The Cub and Super Cub lifts being centerpole doubles is not ideal at all for their beginner focus, and switching to a triple and bail seat double are much needed.
I think Grizzly staying a double is fine, as the long lift ride is a welcome rest, plus if you can’t load a centerpole double you probably had a hard time getting down the Grizzly Bowl.
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What type of chairs will the Super Cub lift receive?
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China Peak Chair 6 Riblet
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This is a great start, but I really hope next spring is the year they finally announce the long-awaited Village lift. Maybe Mattly will chime in, but I feel like at least 350 of the 1,600 claimed acres requires a (paid) shuttle ride to ski.
Grizz is fine as a double, but I don’t know how much longer they can keep that 1967 Riblet going. And even I don’t like center-pole doubles that hang you high above steep terrain with no safety bar. I was shocked at how many little kids in all mountain ski team orange jackets were riding that lift on my last visit.
I think the opportunity exists to groom another path down the main part of Grizzly bowl and get more traffic down there. If they can pull that off, a fixed grip triple or quad might be a good choice for when they give up on the Riblet.
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Not sure about longer in the past but the past two seasons the shuttle has been free. I haven’t heard any talk of that changing. The village side is still a lot to take on if you’re not with experienced locals though so I agree it is odd they include it in the claimed acres.
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Fond memories of my one season working & living at BV one season, many years ago. It really is a shining gem of the Sierra’s w/ some very legit terrain when conditions permit. Sounds like some solid improvements to the ski area, but admittedly more than a little disappointed a front side lift is still not part of the resort’s immediate future. Hopefully one day…
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Bear Valley has so much potential. I wish they had replaced Grizzly first, it seems to always be out of service for mechanical.
When Grizz is down, Bear Valleys’ total vert is reduced from 1900ft to 950ft, that’s significant!
Throw in that access lift from the village and you’ve now got a destination ski resort!
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