Liz is gradually improving, but it is a gradual process. Sleep is the most difficult as the shoulder is uncomfortable when in one position too long. So at night she needs to alternate between the bed and a lounge chair.
But at the two week mark I was good to take a daytrip. I returned to Mountain High as both East and West claimed 90% open and overall it was the right choice. It was warmer than two weeks ago but not by quite as much as I expected. View from East parking lot when I arrived at 9:15:
Olympic Bowl is at left, Goldrush at right.
Similar view on a photo in the lodge from the 1950's:
Holiday Hill was a separate area until Mountain High bought it in 1981. It was the only place in SoCal Liz skied when she was at Pitzer College.
Mid mountain on the lift, similar to two weeks ago:
The best maintained run Goldrush has a few thin spots now, and there are a few more on Sundance/Wildcard. The rollover where the latter runs split off skier's right is going to become a problem area.
But the main fall lines are still excellent.
Mountain High East midweek is Exhibit A of the value of low skier density for groomed skiing. Most of these runs still showed corduroy grooves when I left at noon. It did not freeze as hard overnight as two weeks ago, so anything in the sun loosened and some of it was quite good corn. I never encountered sticky snow or the clumps formed by skier traffic in spring conditions on my 11 runs at East.
For my final run at noon I ventured off the groomed. I tested Colt 45, which had been teeth rattling Jan. 8 but was manageable this time. So I descended Olympic Bowl at the bottom.
Again "manageable," but I hadn't skied that for almost 9 years so had to check it out.
The Grand View restaurant and the Discovery chair at the top of East were closed. View of idle chair with Mt. Baden-Powell in background:
Nonetheless I skied down the Discovery terrain and took the same fire road over to West as before.
I skied into West via Borderline, then returned to the scene of Liz' accident, Headwall.
One hour earlier in the day and two weeks later, most of the run is illuminated. It was shaded after 2PM.
Gunslinger was all shaded last time but has some sun this time.
Both of these runs are direct north facing and probably skied the best of the steeper runs at West. The snow was firmer on west facing Vertigo, Calamity and Silverspur.
West of course had more people though both areas had slightly fewer than on January 8. Popular blue runs at West had some soft clumpy snow from skier traffic. I skied two Inferno Ridge runs from the slow Conquest chair. Inferno Ridge was roped off so the sunny run on top of the ridge had perfect corn. The steep runs dropping off to the right were crunchy with a few bare spots at the top. From the top of the Conquest chair is a good view of the NW face of Mt. Baldy.
Palos Verdes and Catalina are visible through a gap in the mountains.
I skied 18,100 vertical at East plus 14,200 at West by 2:45. I had noticed a sign at the base of West that the bus shuttle between the two sides wasn't running. Mid week with even West's parking lot less than half full I guess they figure you can move your car easily if you want to ski both mountains. But I had not noticed any sign at East before I left via the fire road. Fortunately the lady in Guest Services radioed an employee who took me back to East in his truck.
The driver said East will be closed midweek after the upcoming weekend. I suspect it will not reopen without some help from the weather. While most of the runs were good, the base area at East is very thin and recently it has been too warm to make snow at night. The driver said that Mountain High's reservoirs are full so they can make snow if it cools off enough.
But at the two week mark I was good to take a daytrip. I returned to Mountain High as both East and West claimed 90% open and overall it was the right choice. It was warmer than two weeks ago but not by quite as much as I expected. View from East parking lot when I arrived at 9:15:
Olympic Bowl is at left, Goldrush at right.
Similar view on a photo in the lodge from the 1950's:
Holiday Hill was a separate area until Mountain High bought it in 1981. It was the only place in SoCal Liz skied when she was at Pitzer College.
Mid mountain on the lift, similar to two weeks ago:
The best maintained run Goldrush has a few thin spots now, and there are a few more on Sundance/Wildcard. The rollover where the latter runs split off skier's right is going to become a problem area.
But the main fall lines are still excellent.
Mountain High East midweek is Exhibit A of the value of low skier density for groomed skiing. Most of these runs still showed corduroy grooves when I left at noon. It did not freeze as hard overnight as two weeks ago, so anything in the sun loosened and some of it was quite good corn. I never encountered sticky snow or the clumps formed by skier traffic in spring conditions on my 11 runs at East.
For my final run at noon I ventured off the groomed. I tested Colt 45, which had been teeth rattling Jan. 8 but was manageable this time. So I descended Olympic Bowl at the bottom.
Again "manageable," but I hadn't skied that for almost 9 years so had to check it out.
The Grand View restaurant and the Discovery chair at the top of East were closed. View of idle chair with Mt. Baden-Powell in background:
Nonetheless I skied down the Discovery terrain and took the same fire road over to West as before.
I skied into West via Borderline, then returned to the scene of Liz' accident, Headwall.
One hour earlier in the day and two weeks later, most of the run is illuminated. It was shaded after 2PM.
Gunslinger was all shaded last time but has some sun this time.
Both of these runs are direct north facing and probably skied the best of the steeper runs at West. The snow was firmer on west facing Vertigo, Calamity and Silverspur.
West of course had more people though both areas had slightly fewer than on January 8. Popular blue runs at West had some soft clumpy snow from skier traffic. I skied two Inferno Ridge runs from the slow Conquest chair. Inferno Ridge was roped off so the sunny run on top of the ridge had perfect corn. The steep runs dropping off to the right were crunchy with a few bare spots at the top. From the top of the Conquest chair is a good view of the NW face of Mt. Baldy.
Palos Verdes and Catalina are visible through a gap in the mountains.
I skied 18,100 vertical at East plus 14,200 at West by 2:45. I had noticed a sign at the base of West that the bus shuttle between the two sides wasn't running. Mid week with even West's parking lot less than half full I guess they figure you can move your car easily if you want to ski both mountains. But I had not noticed any sign at East before I left via the fire road. Fortunately the lady in Guest Services radioed an employee who took me back to East in his truck.
The driver said East will be closed midweek after the upcoming weekend. I suspect it will not reopen without some help from the weather. While most of the runs were good, the base area at East is very thin and recently it has been too warm to make snow at night. The driver said that Mountain High's reservoirs are full so they can make snow if it cools off enough.
