Access Express #6 – Bear Mountain, CA

Thisi rare Poma lift in Southern California replaced a CTEC triple called Clementine.
View up the line from the base area.
Depression tower 1.
Turnaround at the drive station.
Middle part of the line.
Upper lift line.
Short top return terminal.
Unloading area and Poma operator house.
View down from the top.
Upper terminal overview.
Lift line seen from the parking lot.
Tower 13.
A tall tower near the summit.

17 thoughts on “Access Express #6 – Bear Mountain, CA

  1. Tim C's avatar Tim C July 18, 2019 / 10:46 am

    Oddly enough the High Speed Quad I grew up riding in Southern Wisconsin is of the same type, only ever seen a few of these style Poma High speed Quads

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    • Connor Bell's avatar Connor Bell March 12, 2020 / 7:05 pm

      It’s 90’s style challenger stations with omega chairs. Neither are rare, but it’s an interesting combo.

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    • lifty's avatar lifty October 14, 2020 / 1:10 pm

      why is it labeled that this lift has 40 horsepower..

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  2. reaperskier's avatar reaperskier July 19, 2019 / 5:01 pm

    I wonder if this lift was originally going to be a Garaventa CTEC HSQ. That would make more sense considering Bear Mountain’s other high speed quad is a ctec. A poma chairlift is really out of place at a mtn with a history of buying lifts from CTEC & Hall.

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    • pbropetech's avatar pbropetech July 24, 2021 / 5:30 am

      I doubt it. Poma had the lower bid, most likely. It may be out of place but nothing says a mountain has to stick with one manufacturer.

      This must be one of the last of the TB grips and Competition 900 terminals. We built two Omega lifts this same year, which were among the first of that style.

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    • Cameron Halmrast's avatar Cameron Halmrast March 21, 2023 / 9:21 pm

      Big Bear was once owned by Booth Creek. Booth Creek bought three high speed quads from POMA this specific year. The other two were installed at the Summit at Snoqualmie. The only other ski areas with this exact terminal design that I’ve seen are at Winter Park.

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  3. ski man's avatar ski man May 19, 2022 / 4:08 pm

    I Have been here many times this lift is so fast like up to 10 or 11 MPH

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    • Kirk's avatar Kirk May 19, 2022 / 4:55 pm

      Trivia

      1000 FPM = 11.36 mph
      800 FPM = 9.09 mph
      5.0 MPS = 11.18 mph

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  4. Lachlan Marler's avatar lachlanmarler November 13, 2023 / 11:36 am

    First pic has a typo should say this is a instead of thisi

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  5. ski man''s avatar ski man' May 18, 2025 / 3:28 am

    Quick question. You know how this lift has dual tension is there a such thing as dual drives. Like a drive at the bottom and a drive at the top? I always wanted to know.

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    • Coloradoskilifts's avatar Coloradoskilifts May 19, 2025 / 9:39 am

      I do not think so. Even the most large lifts only have one drive. I feel like the closest thing to a dual drive would be a two-stage gondola with two different haul ropes. Each rope is linked to a different drive, meaning there is either one at the bottom or one at the top, or in most cases, both are in the midstation. As far as I can tell, there is no such thing a dual drive on a single-stage lifts

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  6. Coloradoskilifts's avatar Coloradoskilifts May 28, 2025 / 2:12 pm

    How is this lift “unique”? It looks like a standard poma omega detachable to me.

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    • wh2oshredder's avatar wh2oshredder May 28, 2025 / 5:10 pm

      It’s unique for Southern California. It’s also a Challenger, not Omega terminal.

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      • Coloradoskilifts's avatar Coloradoskilifts May 29, 2025 / 2:59 pm

        I meant omega chairs, but ok

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  7. Dan Etman's avatar Dan Etman May 31, 2025 / 1:58 pm

    Another unique fact. Those are L-P tower tops on the original CTEC tower tubes.

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