It's certainly a combination that Left Coast Corvetters have a hard time resisting: clear, smog-free air, twisty mountain roads with beautiful scenery, and, of course, nearly 700 devotees of America's Sports Car and their rides, ready for a great time. All this and more was the order of business at the annual Big Bear Bash, hosted by Corvettes West and held June 23-25.

Friday morning's car show suffered a bit from an oh-so-rare Southern California summer rainstorm, but that little bit of wet didn't prevent the participants from having a good time and collecting some new decorations for their trophy shelves. The rest of the afternoon was taken up by tech inspection for Saturday's autocross and the beginning of the Club Challenge volleyball tournament (won by Vintage Vettes), though most were really looking forward to Friday night's now-famous party at event h.q., the Gray Squirrel Inn. Liquid refreshment flowed freely all the while, and after supper was served, things really got going with DJ'ed music for dancing, lots of games and contests (karaoke among them), and lots of Vette enthusiasts having a good time (at least one conga line was sighted). The festivities carried on into the wee hours.....

.....which probably explained the popularity of Saturday's p.m. autocross session. Not that the a.m. session was lightly attended-in fact the year's autocross was the biggest ever for this event, with 160 competitors. Not everyone was in a mood to race, of course, and with no hint of the rain the disturbed Friday's show-goers, many people chose to take advantage of Big Bear Lake's many shops and restaurants, or grabbed a chance to take a nice, top down (or top off) mountain drive.

Just about everyone did, however, gather together for Saturday evening's caravan around the lake. Popular with the townspeople, who line the roads to greet the caravaners, this Big Bear Bash tradition also saw its biggest-ever turnout, 274 Corvettes (out of an estimated 350 total). All we can say about the combination of that many Vettes and the mountain's majesty is that its a wonderful sight, to be sure.

Saturday night's post-caravan party featured more good food, lots of prizes to be raffled off, the presentation of the car show awards, and, of course, more music, dancing, and great fellowship. The annual costume contest was a crowd favorite (as usual), and with this year's event theme, "Return of the Vetti," there was definitely an otherworldly ambiance about the room.

Things finally wound down late that night. Many may have been thinking about getting some sleep and heading home the next day, but the diehards in the group were up early Sunday morning for the weekend's last event, a poker rally. Whatever course of action you close-sleeping in, heading home, or trying for that winning poker hand-the weekend ended in another beautiful day, and the Big Bear Bash had lived up to its reputation as one of the West Coast's biggest Corvette parties.