Bear Valley, CA…From Bear Valley’s website…”The name of the new high speed chair is the Mokelumne “Moke” Express! There were 40+ entries with this name and each entry will receive an unrestricted lift ticket for the 17/18 season. In addition, from this group we will hold a drawing for 6 season passes on Nov 22, 2017. Skyline’s investment in a High-Speed 6-seat detachable chairlift is the first of its kind in the Central Sierra. Time to round up 5 of your best pals and come join the fun for the 17/18 season!!

To name the new chair, we asked for your participation by holding a contest. Over a few weeks, we received 1900+ entries which resulted in 1100+ unique names . Some funny, some silly and some very thoughtful, we especially enjoyed the ones that included an explanation for the name choice. As you can imagine, to bring a total of 1100 unique names down to 1 requires a very vigorous “naming process”. During that process the naming crew spent quite a bit of time discussing the popularity, uniqueness, brand and meaning behind the names that we received.

We are very excited that the name selected represents our focus on honoring and preserving Bear Valley’s rich history and the beauty of this part of Sierra Nevada. While we may continue to add million dollar lifts in the future and upgrade facilities, we want to be reminded of the spectacular natural landscape and this new SIX PACK LIFT name is a great reminder.

We are thrilled that we can draw attention to the incredible Mokelumne wilderness, you’ll enjoy the view everytime you ride the chair! Here are a few fun facts on the Mokelunme Wilderness: Did you know that the Mokelunme Wilderness is believed to be 50 to 65 million years old, meaning dinosaurs once roamed upon this amazing landscape! The 9,334-foot Mokelumne Peak (pictured above) stands high above the steep walls of the Mokelumne River canyon. As with many areas in the Central Sierra, the Mokelumne was covered with volcanic eruptions in the past 20 million years and glaciated in the last 2 million years. On the southern border of the wilderness, just inside the Stanislaus National Forest, is 8,600-foot Mount Reba, the site where a rare fossil was found. This floral fossil dates back about 7 million years and was preserved in the volcanic flows that occurred during a time of faulting and uplifting in the Sierra. Scientists believe the flora in the fossil could only have survived in temperatures colder than tropical weather, which had dominated the Sierra about 33 million years ago. The fossil helps establish that Sierra weather was cooling down from the tropical patterns and slowly approaching the Ice Age that began 2 million years ago.

In the nineteenth century, the Mokelumne Wilderness was used for early emigrant routes of travel from Lake Tahoe to Calaveras Big Trees and for mining and grazing. Other routes slowly became more heavily used in the twentieth century; the area came to be protected as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1964. Boundaries were expanded in 1984.

In August around the Mokelumne, such mammals as the gray fox are known to be feeding on manzanita (or coffee-berries.) The foxes are active day and night. They are more plentiful and easier to spot than the red fox which live in the higher elevations, occasionally straying down to about 6,000 feet. Learn more

We look forward to the completed installation of the chair and thank you for participating in the process of naming Mokelumne “Moke” Express! (pronounced moo-ka-la-mi)

Other sources, Sierra Wild

It’s going to be an EPIC 17/18 Season!”