FRS to Bear Mountain.. Bad idea?

[MikesFRS]

Originally Posted by White Shadow

You guys on the west coast have a Bear Mountain too?

This thread reminds me how we can surf dirtbike and snowboard all in the same day. Man I love California.

[Jared0934]

Yeah man me and the wife just got back from big bear and we had a snow storm on sunday, took us over 3 1/2 hours to get from the base of the mountain 22 miles to our lodge. People were slip slippin all off the freakin road thinking the side was the best place to be like idiots. I wouldn't recommend you have the FRS up there def not with stock PRIUS tires.. and either way you will need chains its the law i guess?

You might be able to get away if you ask how the roads are now, cuz as we were leaving they were OK just icy in a few spots and dirty as hell.. But you're pulling a huge risk if it snows again and you think you're making it down :-P

[SC David]

I rented a crappy SUV to go to Tahoe for new years. The weather wound up being nice and clear the whole time, and the FR-S would have fared fine. It's looking like clear skies for the next week or so, and you'll have no difficulty getting to the Bear Mountain area from SoCal. The only thing is that there will be tons of sand and rocks on the roadway, so be ready to thoroughly clean the car off when you return, and just hope that no big rocks get flung your way. Despite the clear weather, I was happy to have been in a rental after seeing the condition of the car upon return.

[Estey]

Originally Posted by jacjac3

Not sure if it was my wrx or my brz manual, but I read that you cannot use chains with the car. Could anyone validate this?

Im almost certain they have to be wire chains. You cant use traditional chains on this car.

[Gixxersixxerman]

Your good was up there boarding today and the streets weren't bad at all.. I was in a dodge ram 2500 diesel 2wd with no problem.. The twins will be fine the next couple days there

By the way summit was on point today... And I just checked its clean the next ten days according to weather channel.. You'll be good

[qijian]

i'd always wanted to take the frs up to bear mt. once i got comfy driving manual... but i hadn't had the chance since last weekends weather was pretty bad and required chains. You plan on fitting all the boards in the trunk? or do you have a rack on top?

[Indestruct]

You will be fine, boards fits fine in the trunk w/the back seat down. It's not going to rain/snow this weekend. I'll be driving to tahoe this morning.

[Bonburner]

I'm debating that too actually on the 11th ... Honestly I don't think its a good idea though
The manual says no chains unless using smaller rims :X

[mit_peid]

Maybe drive in reverse so you'd get some effective FWD? ... Kidding.

[danthedirt]

I've been to big bear lake are twice in my FR-S and both times got minor paint damage.
1st time was late summer and a scrapped the bottom of my front lip coming up a steep driveway. 2nd time was for NYE, we went up on stock rims and tires. The roads were icy and chains were mandatory. It was fine driving on the main roads but lots of the smaller side streets are not maintained and were really icy. The cabin we stayed at had a slight incline coming out of it, and as i was backing out on the icy driveway even with chains I slide into a bunch of snow which scrapped a bunch of paint on the driver side bumper. Sitting in stop and go traffic with a manual on the side of the mountain during inclines wasn't fun either. Once you get there though, driving on the windy mountain roads was a ton of fun i have to admit. If you do decide to go up just be really careful and you should be ok. Anyone out there have a front lip kit they want to sell

[whaap]

Keep in mind that before front wheel drive and four wheel drive all cars were rear wheel drive and a lot of people were driving where you're going. It only requires using common sense. Just take it easy.

[CA2]

I live right down the street from Mountain High. I suggest getting chains/cables and using them as soon as you start feeling that its getting too slippery to really control. Better safe than sorry.

Snow is forecasted for Saturday night and Sunday here. Probably same for Big Bear.

The Thule CG-9 chains are fantastic and I recommend them if you don't mind the price.

Generally, though, I plan to use my Corolla when it really starts snowing. FWD is easier in ice and snow.

[ZC6BRZ]

Just got back from Yosemite with a rental V6 Mustang. I think you'll be fine if you're careful, but the reason I didn't take the BRZ was that I was concerned about the road salt.

[QuikSilveRX-8]

I took my RX-8 up Big Bear the first week it had snow, no chains just the BFG KDW tires, a bit tail happy but it did well in snow. Ideally, snow tires are recommended on a RWD specially on a light weight car, it handles better than having chains.