Anyone been to Baldy this year?

Judz

Judz

New member
Hey guys, found this forum when i was looking for some info on Waterman, nice to see some fellow so californians around.

Just wondering if anyone has been up to baldy this year, I was considering going up sunday if they get some snow on Saturday. The baldy website isnt exactly the most truthfull source so just wanted to know if you guys think it would be worth going up, or am i just gonna end up ruining my board?

thnx ahead of time for any help
 
Judz":3nk91ji8 said:
Hey guys, found this forum when i was looking for some info on Waterman, nice to see some fellow so californians around.

Just wondering if anyone has been up to baldy this year, I was considering going up sunday if they get some snow on Saturday. The baldy website isnt exactly the most truthfull source so just wanted to know if you guys think it would be worth going up, or am i just gonna end up ruining my board?

thnx ahead of time for any help
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Was worth it Monday, that is if you got enough runs in before the Thunder chair broke down.
 
I'm planning to go Saturday. Baldy is saying they're planning to open Chair 4 'this weekend', so I'm betting Saturday might be the best chance for freshies over there. Also, it should be storming on Saturday, and I like skiing in storms. :lol:
 
jkamien":2icevv5n said:
I'm planning to go Saturday. Baldy is saying they're planning to open Chair 4 'this weekend', so I'm betting Saturday might be the best chance for freshies over there. Also, it should be storming on Saturday, and I like skiing in storms. :lol:
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I don't mind that but what about that road?
 
Now, I'll first explain that I ask this question as someone who's never been there, and thus never seen it myself...I'm only going by what I've heard from others here, but...

Is it really that bad? I get the impression from conversations with more than one person that the drive is tricky due to other drivers who don't know what the hell they're doing on slippery roads, rather than due to the road or road conditions themselves. Hey, we're skiers...we're used to driving in snow. Have snowy roads ever really prevented any of us from driving to ski?? :roll:

I ask this as someone who has been caught by CALTRAN chain restrictions on roads that were jokingly easy to negotiate. I also ask this as someone who can't believe some of the days when chain/4x4 restrictions are imposed in the Cottonwood Canyons here in Utah -- days when there's maybe a half inch of slush on the road. Back east I've driven 5 hours each way on hellish mountain roads covered in 6 inches of snow. When I was a Jay Peak patroller in the 90s, there were days when I had to get my Toyota 4x4 down an unplowed dirt road from the house to the state highway with two feet of fresh on it, snow billowing over the hood of the truck. At least that stretch was slightly downhill. And back on that coast, there are no such thing as chain restrictions. Not a soul even owns them. You can't find them in any auto parts store, much less the supermarkets that carry them out west.

Westerners driving in the mountains in winter seem like a bunch of sallies to me. :wink: For gosh sakes, man...it's snowing!! That means GO SKIING!
 
The Baldy hairpins climb from 5,000 feet to 6,500 in a couple of miles. They are true switchbacks, making nearly 180 degree direction changes with a 15MPH speed limit. Then there's a straight but steep section, nicknamed "Pinball Alley" for about 1/4 mile below the parking lot. I got stuck on that one in my Nissan Maxima after negotiating the hairpins on 2/14/01 after the 7-feet-in-54-hours storm. I managed to get one chain on an outside wheel (the other was buried in a snowbank), then a push start to get into the lot. I then had plenty of time to put the other chain on as it took until 11AM for them to get the lifts open.

The area between the top of the hairpins and Pinball Alley is attractive to flatlanders who have never been in snow before as a snow play area. That area tends to be total chaos on weekend afternoons. In January 1989 there was an accident so bad I didn't get down the hairpins until almost midnight.

Yes if you have chains or 4WD and good tires and you get there early it's not that bad. But you never know when you'll get out. The bozo driver factor is real high.
 
Yep, getting there early is a key. I think the problem getting up there is mostly due to SoCal drivers without a clue.
 
Admin":3dju6mxs said:
Now, I'll first explain that I ask this question as someone who's never been there, and thus never seen it myself...I'm only going by what I've heard from others here, but...

Is it really that bad?
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For us SoCalers, it is that bad. :wink: I made it up midmorning Monday without my cables -- Honda Civic -- so I guess I am exaggerating some, but I've never seen the turns that Tony aptly described. Navigating those switchbacks with snow/ice in middle of road made for whiteish knuckles. Not worth it just for snow play, IMO. I'll go to the 2. For the record, I put my cables on for the ride down and it was easier, although some of that snow had melted or was cleared off, too.

I swear I read this right, but late afternoon Saturday (or Sunday), the CHP log listed 500 cars stuck or sliding on Mt. Baldy Road. 500? Is that possible?
 
Back in my "Wild and Wooly" Massachusetts college days - 1970-1973 - I drove an old beat up Corvair with bald summer tires through the most intense Nor'Easters getting to the goods in Northern Vermont/NewHampshire/Maine. Always got there. Always got home. Never got stuck. Came west to CA in the early 80's and I still can't figure out the chain thing. Or the flatlanders who can't drive in the snow thing. Just issue a pass to the locals and exclude everyone else on powder days. Works for me.
 
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