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.
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.