Lost ski areaCaliforniaSan Bernardino MountainsSouthwest
Trinity Mountain Resort
Ran 1945–2007. A ski hill at Green Valley Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains that opened as the Green Valley Lake Snow Bowl in 1945 and closed after the 2007 Slide Fire.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Rope tows ran at Green Valley Lake from the late 1930s, among them Les Salm's 300-foot tow on Suicide Hill by the campground in 1939–40. In 1945–46 Larry Ferguson, Joe Fox and Ernst C.1,3
Read the whole historyTodayThe old Snow Bowl slope off Angeles Drive is used for sledding and snow play. (2013)4
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Trinity Mountain Resort, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Trinity Mountain Resort
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1938–1992 · 9.3 mi away · CaliforniaA small ski hill on the west side of Big Bear Valley, first known as Lynn Hill, home to Big Bear's first chairlift and closed for good by 1992.
- 1951–2001 · 47.6 mi away · CaliforniaA small ski area on the Angeles Crest Highway in the San Gabriel Mountains, known for its single chair, that ran from the early 1950s until an avalanche in 2001.
- 1941–1994 · 187.9 mi away · CaliforniaA ski area in Wolverton Meadow in Sequoia National Park whose lifts ran every winter from 1941–42 until they were taken out in 1994.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 4 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Rope tows ran at Green Valley Lake from the late 1930s, among them Les Salm's 300-foot tow on Suicide Hill by the campground in 1939–40. In 1945–46 Larry Ferguson, Joe Fox and Ernst C. Vawter opened the Green Valley Lake Snow Bowl, and the town's history says the tow equipment moved to the present slope that winter.1,3
The hill became Ski Green Valley in 1972. Lloyd and Catherine Peake bought it in 1986 and put in its first chairlift. In December 1993 it turned into Big Air Green Valley, open to snowboarders only, the first such area in the country by SAM's account. Skiers came back in 1998 under the name Big Air Winter Park, and in 2005 new owners renamed it Trinity Mountain Resort. SAM reported that a church owned it and planned a family resort free of alcohol and tobacco.1,2
The Slide Fire swept around Green Valley Lake in October 2007. It burned the top and bottom terminals of the area's only chairlift, a 1,200-foot Riblet double, while the newly remodeled lodge was spared. The area never reopened.1,2,3
TodayThe old Snow Bowl slope off Angeles Drive is used for sledding and snow play. (2013)4
Timeline
- 1939Les Salm runs a 300-foot rope tow on Suicide Hill1,3
- 1945Green Valley Lake Snow Bowl opens on its present slope1,2,3
- 1972Renamed Ski Green Valley1
- 1986Peake family buys the area and installs its first chairlift1
- 1993Becomes Big Air Green Valley, open to snowboarders only1,2
- 1998Skiers return under the name Big Air Winter Park1
- 2005New owners rename it Trinity Mountain Resort1
- 2007Slide Fire burns the chairlift; the area closes for good1,2,3
Sources for this history (4)
- 1California Ski Library · Southern California Ski History Timeline
- 2Ski Area Management (SAM Magazine) · California's Trinity Mountain Torched by Fire (October 29, 2007)
- 3green-valley-lake.com · History of Green Valley Lake — green-valley-lake.com
- 4green-valley-lake.com · Sports — Winter and Summer, green-valley-lake.com (© 2013)
Photos
No photographs of Trinity Mountain Resort we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Trinity Mountain Resort, in their own words.
Facts
Location
34.2354° N · 117.0765° W · California · San Bernardino Mountains
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1945–2007
Closed after the 2007 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
No figures from its operating years are collected yet.
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain