Skiing 19-20

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Went back to the local LA mountains for some corn skiing on Tuesday. A closed road forced me to plan B, which was to climb the north side of Mt. Baldy and see what I could find.

I drove my truck up a boulder-strewn road until reaching the base of the mountain. Where I parked was all melted out, but there was plenty of snow on north facing slopes once I got above 6700 feet or so. This is just after cresting the ridgeline. The two big swooping lines in the distance are I-15 in the Cajon pass (the LA to Vegas route).



Telegraph Peak (below) looked really appealing. The problem was that to get to it you have to descend a south-facing slope before climbing again. When I got there, the south slope was melted out, and the downclimb was steeper than I care to do in ski boots. So I stayed on Thunder Peak, which is the top of Mt. Baldy Ski Area.



Coming down I got some nice corn, maybe 40 minutes too late for truly great conditions. The north face is really steep with lots of trees, so I kept it slow and controlled.



Interestingly enough, Mt. Baldy Ski Area actually reopened today. They are doing a reservation system to keep people separated. It has gotten a lot warmer, though, so I'm guessing conditions are deteriorating very quickly.
 

bigq

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SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
11,088
Those pictures are amazing. Almost makes me want to move to LA. Enjoy and be safe.
 

FlexFlexerson

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I didn't have the heart to go do backcountry skiing once the resorts shut down - although I partook of nordic skiing and snowshoeing - and it's been warm enough here in Summit County that the snow has finally melted off most places where one would do those things, but there's still plenty of snow up high and Arapahoe Basin has been maintaining their trails with occasional grooming in such in anticipation of a potential late-season reopening. Not sure how that'd work, exactly, but there may be some in-bounds turns to be had in Colorado yet... (or, more likely, not).
 

FlexFlexerson

Member
SoSH Member
I didn't have the heart to go do backcountry skiing once the resorts shut down - although I partook of nordic skiing and snowshoeing - and it's been warm enough here in Summit County that the snow has finally melted off most places where one would do those things, but there's still plenty of snow up high and Arapahoe Basin has been maintaining their trails with occasional grooming in such in anticipation of a potential late-season reopening. Not sure how that'd work, exactly, but there may be some in-bounds turns to be had in Colorado yet... (or, more likely, not).
Although if any skiing happens, it'll have to happen after May 23rd at least: https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/05/01/colorado-downhill-skiing-ban-extended-may/238375/
 

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
I took my oldest to Mt. Baldy yesterday for some late spring skiing. They opened about a week and a half ago, with a golf-course system of reserving times to come to the mountain to maintain social distancing. Supposedly they are the only ski area in the world currently running.

You reserved a ticket online, then drove up to a person at the end of the parking lot to get checked off the list. Loading was just you and whoever you came with for the initial ride up, and masks were required at the top and bottom of every run.

Lifties had masks, and one time a liftline occurred, we were told to keep distance from each other.

It seemed like a decent system, although I was a little uncomfortable around 11 when the liftline occurred. We left soon thereafter--my son was tired and I wasn't willing to get into a line again, although that may have been a one-time occurrence. People were very aware of social distancing protocol, although some of the adherence to the rules was clearly due to everyone realizing the place will quickly get shut down if a crowded beach kind of situation makes the news.

The other amazing thing was how far people had driven to ski. I talked (yelled) to three different groups that had driven down from Sacramento, which is a 6+ hour drive. All were going back home that day.

My son had a great time skiing with his ski team buddy who also came, although I didn't let them ride the lift together. Conditions were late spring with lots of bare patches, but it had gotten cold overnight so the snow started frozen and softened up depending on aspect. Super fun overall.





They are closing after today due to rapidly melting snow.