Big Bear Lake will soon become infused with the benefits of a good, strong cup of tea. The Tea and Coffee Exchange in Lake Arrowhead is opening a second location in the former Starbucks storefront in the Village area of Big Bear Lake. They hope to pour their first cup locally by the end of January.

Ginny and Harvey Durand started researching tea in 2004 while looking for a new business opportunity. All trend forecasts pointed toward Americans finally catching up with the rest of the world’s tea consumption. The Durands seized the opportunity and started formulating recipes for tea lattes, smoothies and shaken varieties.

In 2006, the couple opened their first tea house, The Tea Exchange, in Lake Arrowhead. More recently, the Durands designed their own coffee blends, Healthy Café Coffee, with herbs and spices that leave no bitter aftertaste, Ginny says.

The new product prompted the name change, as well as rave reviews. “We constantly have people tell us, ‘This is the smoothest cup of coffee I’ve ever had,’” Ginny says proudly. 

Ginny was drawn to the medicinal qualities of tea, she says. The Durands teamed with Casey Nachtrieb, who is trained in homeopathic remedies, to formulate the Healthy Living Teas and Coffees. Relief can be had from all sorts of blends.

Ailments tackled include the Exchange’s New Mother’s Tea, which helps increase nursing mothers’ milk supply. There are also the Anxiety Assistant, Lung Support and Digestive Release teas and more.

But the No. 1 seller relieves a different type of need: a sugar craving. The Pirate’s Bounty blends black and rooibos teas with vanilla, chocolate and coconut.

The Tea Exchange sells 125 varieties of loose-leaf tea by the ounce.  The blended teas served at the store are made with pure cane sugar sweetener and all color comes naturally from the teas themselves. They pair well with the Exchange’s popular grilled cheese stuffed pretzel, sun-dried tomato and feta crepe, or a peach scone with passion fruit glaze. The bakery is in-house, adding to the warm and cozy ambiance that guests rave about.

The best feedback the Durands received so far came all the way from India. The country’s Tea Master gave the Durands kudos. “He was impressed with how fresh and good the teas are,” Ginny says.

But she’s not surprised. There is not a tea leaf in the store older than two weeks. “They are all fresh,” Ginny says. And they are teas fit for an eventual king.

The Tea and Coffee Exchange will be at 40568 Village Drive, Big Bear Lake. For more information, visit www.theteaexchange.com.

The first official day of winter is Thursday, Dec. 22. With more than half of the annual average of snowfall already on the ground, Big Bear has a jump start as a winter wonderland.

Big Bear received 12 to 16 inches of fresh powder during the past weekend, and the resorts are reaping the benefits. According to bearmountain.com, Bear Mountain and Snow Summit are 100 percent open. Big Bear has received 28 inches in the month of December. The total through November and December tops 40 inches.

“It’s been amazing,” said Brent Tregaskis, general manager at Bear Mountain. “This is the best scenario you can ask for. It makes up for last year when we were closed three days before Christmas.”

In 2010 Snow Summit closed the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Christmas because of heavy rain. Last year the California resorts in Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain were enjoying record snow. In December this year, those resorts received 2 inches.

At least for December of this year, it’s been Big Bear’s turn. “We’ve been blessed so far,” Tregaskis said. “The cold weather combined with all those little back sliders have been great. It’s been a record-setting two weeks.”

With the snow apparently done for a few days at least, Big Bear should expect sunny bluebird skies through Christmas. Highs will start to climb into the lower 50s by Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 24 and 25, with lows in the low 20s. Tregaskis said the resorts will continue to make snow, at least during the night, to ensure good coverage.

Tregaskis anticipates sell outs at Bear Mountain and Snow Summit during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. “The deal we have through the Resort Association has been doing really well,” Tregaskis said.

The Resort Association is offering lift and lodging packages starting at $69. Midweek and weekend packages are advertised through the RA website atwww.bigbear.com. The deal does not include holiday periods, but Tregaskis is confident the holiday period will be crowded because of all the snow.

While Tregaskis is pleased with Big Bear’s snow accumulation, he feels for the other California resorts. “We wish everybody had a good December,” Tregaskis said. “Nobody in the West is in better shape than we are.”

That said, Big Bear will have its white Christmas. And expect many Southern Californians to make the trip to see it for themselves.

The prognosticators predicted, and snow came to Big Bear Dec. 12. And even if the numbers were a little off, we’ll take it.

Snow is economic fuel for Big Bear Valley. And there’s a little more of the white stuff on the ground after 4 inches were recorded from the storm. So far this season 25 to 29 inches of snow have blanketed Big Bear.

This latest storm wasn’t quite what the experts forecast. The Grizzly asked for a local’s take on the storm via Facebook. “It is great for business as long as it snows during the week,” says Heidi Duran, co-owner of BJ’s Restaurant in Big Bear City. “When it snows on the weekend, the tourists tend to stay home and it kills our restaurant business.”

The National Weather Service forecast between 9 and 12 inches of snow between Dec. 12 and 13. As of Tuesday morning, the chance of snow remained in the forecast because of a cutoff low pressure system moving across northern Baja California. “Well, when something has backslider potential, all we can do is hope,” says Roger Mannex of Erwin Lake.

And while the snow didn’t meet the predictions, cold weather—including sub-zero lows on two occasions in the past week—means prime snowmaking conditions for the resorts. Snow guns and blowers were running at Bear Mountain and Snow Summit throughout the night Monday and all day Tuesday.

Some locals weren’t satisfied with 4 inches. “I think it should snow more,” says mountain biker Casey Williams, who likes to spend his off-season on the slopes.

There was enough snow to bring out the snow plows and tire chains. Caltrans put R-2 chain restrictions into place Monday afternoon. Chain restrictions continued throughout the day Dec. 13.

The snow wasn’t all good news on the home front. Big Bear High School home athletic events were canceled for Monday and Tuesday, as were several government meetings.

The immediate forecast calls for a a couple of bluebird days Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 14 and 15, before another low pressure system is expected to arrive in Southern California for the weekend. The National Weather Service forecasts another round of snow showers beginning late Thursday and continuing through Saturday, Dec. 17. Accumulations are expected to be light with periods of gusty north to northeast winds. The Weather Channel experts predict a light dusting of snow in the area on Friday.

According to www.snowforecast.com, an additional 2 to 4 inches of snow could fall on Friday, Dec. 16. The ski and snowboard weather website also predicts a chance of snow every three days through Christmas with another possible storm Dec. 19 and 20.

While feelings are as mixed among Valley residents as the various weather reports, one sentiment was repeated over and over. “It’s going to be a beautiful Big Bear white Christmas,” says Kareen Faber, owner of Alpine Village Inn and Resort Rentals in Big Bear Lake.

UPDATE: Chain control is now in effect for all roads leading into and within Big Bear.

R-2 controls are in place meaning all vehicles except those wth four- or all-wheel drive must have chains. Motorists must carry chains in their vehicles at all times during snow and chain restrictions.

Big Bear High School and Big Bear Middle School students were let out early today due to snow.

More updates on weather will be posted as they become available.

This is an update to an earlier post. See the original below.

The next round of winter weather hasn't hit the mountain communities in earnest yet, but the slipping and sliding has begun.

Traffic collisions are reported on Highway 38, 18 and 330, with snow and slick roads being blamed for some. Caltrans has issued chain control restrictions for some mountain roadways, including Highway 18.

Snow is falling and the brunt of the storm is expected to arrive later in the day. Snow levels are forecast to drop as low as 3,000 feet, with up to a foot of snow possible before the storm moves out on Dec. 14.

Motorists are advised to carry chains when traveling to the mountains as weather and road conditions can and do change without warning.

At 9 years old, when most kids are thinking about spelling words, riding bikes, getting dirty and playing video games, Jordan Romero had loftier things on his mind. He wanted to climb mountains.

Not just any mountain, Romero came home from school one day and told his dad he wanted to climb the Seven Summits of the World, and he wanted to be the youngest person to do it.

Romero’s dad, Paul Romero, is an adventure racer, so his son’s quest wasn’t a total fantasy, but it was still a lofty goal for a 9-year-old. Just after he turned 10, Jordan climbed his first mountain, Kilimanjaro in Africa, setting a world record as the youngest.