Southern California Snow?

I'm hoping for a base to be built by the end of the week and another storm (hopefully) at the end of the weekend or early next week would make Baldy worth the trip (I picked up a $49 season pass so it won't take much).

On a slightly less Southern California note, I just booked a hotel up at mammoth. Good deal, $487 including tax for 2 nights at the Mammoth Mountain Inn and 2 days lift tickets (for 2 people). Great deal, hoping the weather forecasts are right, I wanna try out my Volkl Kuro's I just got mounted up.
 
The current storm is quite cold and may produce more than earlier predicted. The later storm has been downgraded as I understand it. I'm fairly optimisitic that within a week October's coral reef on the upper mountain at Mammoth will finally be covered so skiable terrain can expand significantly. I don't see Baldy as worth visiting soon unless the end of the week storm is quite large.
 
I can't seem to find it but I thought I read something on the NWS that mentioned a potentially large storm for the end of the weekend. Anyway, that's a ways away so who knows. Either way, Mammoth should be pretty fun on Sat/Sun.
 
Either way, Mammoth should be pretty fun on Sat/Sun.
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One of the changes in the later storm prediction is a delay. That could put the storm squarely on the weekend with the the usual extensive terrain closures.
 
Tony Crocker":33okmem4 said:
Either way, Mammoth should be pretty fun on Sat/Sun.
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One of the changes in the later storm prediction is a delay. That could put the storm squarely on the weekend with the the usual extensive terrain closures.
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I saw the delay and the precip forecasts for the weekend (2-4 inches of water) so I don't disagree with your point above. But i stand by my statement that Sat/Sun up there will be fun; plus, I have a job so Sat/Sun is really my only choice; don't worry, I'll post pics.

Here's a precip forecast I saw over on the Mammoth Mountain Forums:

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Looks like Mammoth will get the dumpage this week. So Cal about a foot or two of fluff and not as big of a second storm on top of no base. Reminds me of the first storm last year though.
 
I heard on KNX radio tonight that snow levels around L.A. may drop as low as 1,500 feet tonight.
 
I randomly have Wednesday off- will see what kind of update Baldy posts tomorrow on what will be open before deciding on what to hit. I'll go up to Big Bear if I have to, but would definitely prefer to stay closer. I don't mind thrashing my rock board for some early season tree runs if it's deep enough to even attempt...

Interestingly, Waterman posted an update saying they're considering opening Saturday depending on the rest of the week's storms- wonder what it looks like up there and how well the road will hold up for them.
 
When did Angeles Crest open above La Canada? It was still closed at Thanksgiving.

Baldy or Waterman can't possibly be worth it with 2 feet of this fluff over no base. I expect very rapid expansion of open runs at Big Bear with the ongoing cold weather after this storm.
 
The Crest opened back up on November 30th.Baldy was showing 18inches and official opening Wednesday/soft opening today.First time using the $49.00 pass went smoothly/booked for Wedneday.They only let you make one reservation day at a time.No multiday prebooking.Should be a interesting season at Baldy now with all the cheap passes flooding the market.
 
Let's hope so, just added Thursday night to my reservation.
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I think Sunday night would have been the better addition. Adam will be driving up Friday to ski Saturday-Monday. Still windy today at Mammoth with top, 3 and 5 closed, so can't tell yet how much coverafge improved there. I do think the next storm will open up a lot at Mammoth, but it could be well after the weekend before control work is done. Second storm of heavy snow on top of first storm of light fluff on top of icy base from October sounds like a lot of work for ski patrol.

I randomly have Wednesday off
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Unfortunately that's a little early. No addition to Big Bear trail count today; it will rise gradually but I expect quite a bit by the weekend. On current snow Waterman can't possibly let people ski anywhere other than chair 2. Baldy might let you ski Fire Road/Bonanza and Robin's, but even there I'd expect some rocks. Let's hope the next storm lives up to its billing. FYI Mt. High West is about half open, though few black runs. One of the top-to-bottom runs on East is likely to open by the weekend.
 
Tony Crocker":1wnat96n said:
Let's hope so, just added Thursday night to my reservation.
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I think Sunday night would have been the better addition. Adam will be driving up Friday to ski Saturday-Monday. Still windy today at Mammoth with top, 3 and 5 closed, so can't tell yet how much coverafge improved there. I do think the next storm will open up a lot at Mammoth, but it could be well after the weekend before control work is done. Second storm of heavy snow on top of first storm of light fluff on top of icy base from October sounds like a lot of work for ski patrol..
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I don't disagree, but I have a very flexible schedule on Fridays and my friend flying in does as well, Mondays, not so much. Also, I'm pretty encouraged by the fact that the very cold temps will stick around all week so everything should at least be soft and stay that way.


Given that it's early December I'm excited to get 3 days of powder turns and hopefully storm skiing on the lower mountain.
 
Tony Crocker":38lea0hu said:
Unfortunately that's a little early. No addition to Big Bear trail count today; it will rise gradually but I expect quite a bit by the weekend. On current snow Waterman can't possibly let people ski anywhere other than chair 2. Baldy might let you ski Fire Road/Bonanza and Robin's, but even there I'd expect some rocks. Let's hope the next storm lives up to its billing. FYI Mt. High West is about half open, though few black runs. One of the top-to-bottom runs on East is likely to open by the weekend.
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Looks like you're right. I was gonna be hopefully optimistic, but looks like only Fire Road to Bonanza will be on offer tomorrow. We'll see how things pan out for the weekend and I'll probably go to Snow Summit tomorrow. Hopefully they get lower Westridge open, but at least they have Miracle and Log Chute top-to-bottom, as well as Chair 7. I see they're working on the Chair 10 area as well which is encouraging.

We'll see what the rest of the week brings for storms and snow level-, my next Baldy window would be Sunday...
 
For the heck of it, I took a drive with my kid up the Angeles Crest Hwy from La Canada to about a mile past the Mt. Wilson turn off. There was about 4" of pretty solid snow at that elevation - roughly 4500'. It's apparent that the snow level started low and rose at some point during the storm, as the snow pack was solid and had the tell tale runnels throughout. That was my first time on Hwy 2 and it is one dicey road right now. There was rock fall debris everywhere, such that they has Cal-Trans crews using plows to get the debris off the road and policemen shoveling when they came to a pile they thought warranted removing. I'm not sure how safe I feel on that road with significant sized chunks coming down at any given moment.

Really unbelievable views though, with truly massive relief in that range and the stark contrast between the burnt out areas below 4000' and the snow covered peaks. Whoever built that road had balls of steel.
 
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