I attended the 2025 Big Bear HamEscape last weekend.
It was a three day event. Friday’s schedule included an all day HF University and ARES bootcamp. I drove up early on Saturday (26th) morning and stayed overnight. The event was held at the same hotel as last year; Holiday Inn at Big Bear Village. The event schedule is here.
Attendance this year was @5oo registrants (Last year had @150). It did not seem that crowded. Continental breakfast was provided on Saturday morning of donuts, pastries, muffins, fruit plates, and coffee.
Here is my review of the event.
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- There were five – 1 hour breakout time-slots on Saturday. This year, they separated the breakouts with a 30 minute break. This was great. Last year they did not do this and it was quite chaotic changing presenters.
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- You had a choice of several breakout sessions during each timeslot. It is always tough to decide, since there are multiple presentations you want to attend occuring at the same time.
I attended the below presentations on Saturday:
Breakout-1 “What’s Up With the ARRL?” – Bob Turner (W6RHK) ARRL Orange Section Manager.
Breakout-2 “San Bernardino Office of Emergency Services” – Anjila Lebsock, Assistant Director of Emergency Management.
Breakout-3 “Summits on the Air” – Mark Knight (KD7DTS)
Breakout-4 “All about Starlink and Ham Radio” – Aaron Scullin (K6AMS)
Breakout-5 “P-A-C-E Planning & Preparation” – Rick Schirmer (KK6CTT)
I attended the below presentation on Sunday:
Breakout-1 “Report from ARRL National” – Dick Norton (N6AA), ARRL Southwestern Director.