There may have been powder Wednesday, but as is common in SoCal spring can arrive swiftly. There were spotless clear skies and I dumped hat and sweater by 9:30AM and broke out the spring gloves. And on some of my runs to the bottom I took off my jacket and rode chair 1 up in a T-shirt. Coverage is very good; there are not as many stripped off bare spots as one might expect given the high winds during last week's storms.
I arrived at 7:50 and wound up in the back of the upper lot. The ticket office and chair 1 had opened early so the lines were short and I was at the Notch by 8:10. So I headed for Thunder for some quick laps as I expected lines to build later. The grooming on Bonanza, Robin's and Skyline was the best I've ever seen at Baldy. Note also Baldy's new fan snowgun where the lower Thunder runs merge.
Bonanza and Robin's were in perfect condition and Skyline was no doubt considerably improved from the wind effect Garry reported Wednesday.
After a few of these I ventured into Emile's. Despite it's sheltered exposure there was quite a bit of hard snow. It rained all day a week ago, and despite 2+ feet of snow since then the wind may have blown a lot of it. The other problem with off-piste runs was the ice cookies that have been falling off the trees during the last 3 days' weather warmup. Those are also the product of last Saturday's rain. Goldridge was better as there were fewer trees nearby to drop the ice cookies.
View down Goldridge with beginner area, Notch and Chair 4 in background.
I thought lift lines on Thunder would build, but they never got over ~20 people. I left at 10:15 when I thought the chair 4 runs would have soft corn. They were indeed in excellent shape, also assisted by more grooming than usual. I soon found out that Baldy has 2 new grooming snowcats, so it is now more intermediate friendly than historically. Even GPaul would have been quite pleased with this morning's conditions.
Here's Spring Ridge, groomed wider than before.
I diverted into Holcumac at 11AM, none too soon.
The off-piste sunny exposures have partially consolidated, and while not quite corn yet still skied well with proper timing where smooth. But navigation is required to find good lines free of the ubiquitous cookies. These runs should improve over the next week of sun (expected ~80F in L.A.) as the snow consolidates and the cookies melt. Getting back to Chair 1 was not easy as lower runs in the shade were still frozen granular.
Back up chair 1 for a quick lunch, then 4 more runs on Chair 4.
View of tubing park with Thunder runs from Goldridge at left to Emile's at right in background.
Top of Roller Coaster with wind-blasted tree at left and San Gorgonio visible in far distance at right.
Baldy has used its new groomers on a thin strip of the wind ridge and to build a jump on the lower part of Turkey Shoot.
Along with the new snow guns, Baldy finally completed it new snowmaking reservoir last summer. Here it is next to Mullin's Mile.
My last run from Chair 4 at 1:30 was Eric's to the back of the parking lot. Conditions were similar to Holcumac earlier.
The snow was smoother for most of the run, probably because many of the cookies had rolled to the bottom. I had to pick my way there, but the gully runout was not too bad.
On the ride up Chair 1 I noticed the steep runs were getting afternoon sun, so I tried Nightmare. Snow was more consolidated but there were the usual cookies to dodge. On the way up Chair 1 I observed a classic Southern California Heelslide, leaving its telltale track behind.
I spent the late afternoon on Thunder, hitting now sun softened runs like Herb's and finally Liftline. I also ventured 2 runs in South Bowl. The top had about 5 turns of perfect corn before degenerating into a mix of slab and cookies.
My second South Bowl run I traversed most of the way to hit the direct north exposure. There was an occasional powder turn out there, but there were also hard spots, irregularities and the usual cookies falling from the trees.
End of the day run was Bentley's. By doing the periodic traverses left there were a series of smooth lines, definitely the best conditions on the lower mountain. But still spring conditions, so save it for late in the day. Despite the early signs of potential crowds, lift lines never got long and I finished the day with 25,600.
I noted several improvements at Baldy this year: the new snow guns, the reservoir, the new grooming machines, also new snow fences along Skyline and some new trail signs. I heard there is a new investor/partial owner, and by sheer fluke I rode my last chair on Thunder with him at 3:45PM. Needless to say Tom Treaccar and I had a lengthy conversation. He's been trying to get involved for awhile, and finally the family ownership saw the light and let him buy in last year. Tom's first steps are to put some more professionalism into the operation, for example replacing the missing slats on many of the chairs. He is also interested in eventually upgrading Chair 1 and Thunder to fixed triples or quads.
I of course inquired about the proposed backside expansion. Mt. Baldy did have permits for that, but since they never had the money to build the permits expired perhaps a decade ago. Thus a revised Environmental Impact Statement will be needed, and as we all know that is an expensive process. Tom believe that upgrades like the area has done this season will lead to fewer consumer complaints and establish more credibility with the Forest Service. The Forest Service is more likely to cooperate with expansion plans once Baldy management is perceived as more competent than their historical reputation. So the expansion is not imminent, though Baldy will probably take necessary steps to oppose proposals to lock up the Lytle Creek drainage as Wilderness.
Relations with the Forest Service also have relevance to Mt. Waterman's situation. The Stubblefield ownership created a lot of ill will, and the new Metcalf group has had to struggle a lot to turn that around. The Forest Service has not placed much priority plowing the road to Waterman, though in fairness they have their hands full with Station Fire damage on the lower parts of the Angeles Crest. In my early days of skiing Mt. Baldy also had quite a few road delays after storms. Tom and I both noted that cooperation has been good in getting Baldy's road plowed on a timely basis since the early 90's.
I arrived at 7:50 and wound up in the back of the upper lot. The ticket office and chair 1 had opened early so the lines were short and I was at the Notch by 8:10. So I headed for Thunder for some quick laps as I expected lines to build later. The grooming on Bonanza, Robin's and Skyline was the best I've ever seen at Baldy. Note also Baldy's new fan snowgun where the lower Thunder runs merge.
Bonanza and Robin's were in perfect condition and Skyline was no doubt considerably improved from the wind effect Garry reported Wednesday.
After a few of these I ventured into Emile's. Despite it's sheltered exposure there was quite a bit of hard snow. It rained all day a week ago, and despite 2+ feet of snow since then the wind may have blown a lot of it. The other problem with off-piste runs was the ice cookies that have been falling off the trees during the last 3 days' weather warmup. Those are also the product of last Saturday's rain. Goldridge was better as there were fewer trees nearby to drop the ice cookies.
View down Goldridge with beginner area, Notch and Chair 4 in background.
I thought lift lines on Thunder would build, but they never got over ~20 people. I left at 10:15 when I thought the chair 4 runs would have soft corn. They were indeed in excellent shape, also assisted by more grooming than usual. I soon found out that Baldy has 2 new grooming snowcats, so it is now more intermediate friendly than historically. Even GPaul would have been quite pleased with this morning's conditions.
Here's Spring Ridge, groomed wider than before.
I diverted into Holcumac at 11AM, none too soon.
The off-piste sunny exposures have partially consolidated, and while not quite corn yet still skied well with proper timing where smooth. But navigation is required to find good lines free of the ubiquitous cookies. These runs should improve over the next week of sun (expected ~80F in L.A.) as the snow consolidates and the cookies melt. Getting back to Chair 1 was not easy as lower runs in the shade were still frozen granular.
Back up chair 1 for a quick lunch, then 4 more runs on Chair 4.
View of tubing park with Thunder runs from Goldridge at left to Emile's at right in background.
Top of Roller Coaster with wind-blasted tree at left and San Gorgonio visible in far distance at right.
Baldy has used its new groomers on a thin strip of the wind ridge and to build a jump on the lower part of Turkey Shoot.
Along with the new snow guns, Baldy finally completed it new snowmaking reservoir last summer. Here it is next to Mullin's Mile.
My last run from Chair 4 at 1:30 was Eric's to the back of the parking lot. Conditions were similar to Holcumac earlier.
The snow was smoother for most of the run, probably because many of the cookies had rolled to the bottom. I had to pick my way there, but the gully runout was not too bad.
On the ride up Chair 1 I noticed the steep runs were getting afternoon sun, so I tried Nightmare. Snow was more consolidated but there were the usual cookies to dodge. On the way up Chair 1 I observed a classic Southern California Heelslide, leaving its telltale track behind.
I spent the late afternoon on Thunder, hitting now sun softened runs like Herb's and finally Liftline. I also ventured 2 runs in South Bowl. The top had about 5 turns of perfect corn before degenerating into a mix of slab and cookies.
My second South Bowl run I traversed most of the way to hit the direct north exposure. There was an occasional powder turn out there, but there were also hard spots, irregularities and the usual cookies falling from the trees.
End of the day run was Bentley's. By doing the periodic traverses left there were a series of smooth lines, definitely the best conditions on the lower mountain. But still spring conditions, so save it for late in the day. Despite the early signs of potential crowds, lift lines never got long and I finished the day with 25,600.
I noted several improvements at Baldy this year: the new snow guns, the reservoir, the new grooming machines, also new snow fences along Skyline and some new trail signs. I heard there is a new investor/partial owner, and by sheer fluke I rode my last chair on Thunder with him at 3:45PM. Needless to say Tom Treaccar and I had a lengthy conversation. He's been trying to get involved for awhile, and finally the family ownership saw the light and let him buy in last year. Tom's first steps are to put some more professionalism into the operation, for example replacing the missing slats on many of the chairs. He is also interested in eventually upgrading Chair 1 and Thunder to fixed triples or quads.
I of course inquired about the proposed backside expansion. Mt. Baldy did have permits for that, but since they never had the money to build the permits expired perhaps a decade ago. Thus a revised Environmental Impact Statement will be needed, and as we all know that is an expensive process. Tom believe that upgrades like the area has done this season will lead to fewer consumer complaints and establish more credibility with the Forest Service. The Forest Service is more likely to cooperate with expansion plans once Baldy management is perceived as more competent than their historical reputation. So the expansion is not imminent, though Baldy will probably take necessary steps to oppose proposals to lock up the Lytle Creek drainage as Wilderness.
Relations with the Forest Service also have relevance to Mt. Waterman's situation. The Stubblefield ownership created a lot of ill will, and the new Metcalf group has had to struggle a lot to turn that around. The Forest Service has not placed much priority plowing the road to Waterman, though in fairness they have their hands full with Station Fire damage on the lower parts of the Angeles Crest. In my early days of skiing Mt. Baldy also had quite a few road delays after storms. Tom and I both noted that cooperation has been good in getting Baldy's road plowed on a timely basis since the early 90's.
