ATTN SOCAL SKIERS

[huckster989]

I've done one season in socal and due to lack of money and such skiing was very rough for me so this season I am making up for it and moving to mammoth with a couple friends so if you need a floor to crash on I can probably help out it'd be nice to meet first but you know it;ll probably work out. So once I get set in at mammoth (mid november) give me a PM or something and i'll see what I can do for ya. I don't know the area but I bet I'll learn quick

[Franz]

^^^man loads of awesome advice up here. huckster, I should be getting there early October so if you want to grab a beer sounds like a plan.
I second the idea of a drinking meet up night for the maggots of socal. I'm going to be working in West Hollywood, I'm not sure where my roommate works as hes already in the area (I'm assuming somewhere on the westside because that seems to be where he wants to stay). I called mammoth the other day and they said a season pass righ tnow was 1675$ BUT that they were planning on having some kind of sale at the end of this month and that I should call back.
If it's still in that range, I should look into buying a really nice surf board instead....

[whyturn]

Wecome to LA man. I have been skiing baldy for over 10 seasons and have quit goin to mammoth after the $84 we think were vail tix increase. Anyways june to the north of mammoth has been good last couple seasons. We pretty much chase stoms and also do some BC and sidecountry. baldy is good for a day trip if base iis good and they get 6 or so of fresh.. Anyways will try to ski with you if want a tour of baldy ar maybe a carpool north............

[Sphinx]

I moved to San Diego three years ago.

I thought I would ski.

I don't. Socal skiing, for me, isn't worth it. I've skied Baldy and a bit around the San Bernardinos, and I've got more entertaining things to do with my time. Mammoth is way, way too much time in a car than I'm willing to entertain.

I'm incredibly happy down here, but I haven't touched my skis in two years. When life gives you lemons, go surfing. Go climbing. Go enjoy what socal has to offer rather than trying to recreate what you had in Colorado.

My two cents.

[Eman_Laerton]

Welcome to L.A., amigo. Here are my routines. Not saying they're the best, they're just mine.

So-Cal 2 Step:
Baldy and Waterman. Both are the only worthy ski spots in So-Cal. But, there has to be a three-foot banger winter storm for these spots to be worth it. With El Nino coming, you picked a good year to move here. So-Cal is the center of the El Nino dartboard. Baldy, the front face of Chair 1, is worthy after a good dump. Waterman has an area called "Avalanche Canyon", a super accessible off-piste spot, a 5-minute trek from the top of Chair 2. At the bottom of Avalanche Canyon you need to hitch it back to the base of Waterman (or if you are the responsible type, you and your buddy did the 2-for-1 car swap to the base).

24-hour-Mammoth
Drive up to Bishop the night before (4 hours from LA). Stay in crappy motel with free breakfast, hit Mammoth the entire next day, back in LA by 9pm. Amigo's in Bishop, get the special, especially on Sunday (the Chili Colorado burrito). I wrote a little ditty about the drive to Mammoth here.

PM me anytime, dude. It's a good time to move here. El Nino, at least historically speaking, is good for So-Cal and Mammoth (145% average snow pack for El Nino Mammoth), the southern Rockies only (Brian Head), New Mexico & Arizona.

[Adamantium]

I moved to San Diego three years ago.

I thought I would ski.

I don't. Socal skiing, for me, isn't worth it. I've skied Baldy and a bit around the San Bernardinos, and I've got more entertaining things to do with my time. Mammoth is way, way too much time in a car than I'm willing to entertain.

I'm incredibly happy down here, but I haven't touched my skis in two years. When life gives you lemons, go surfing. Go climbing. Go enjoy what socal has to offer rather than trying to recreate what you had in Colorado.

My two cents.

This is a pretty defeatist attitude in my opinion. Maybe I'm just out of touch because I've spent my whole life living in socal, but if skiing is your passion how could you just abandon it when a quality 30-day season is within reach?

[comish]

I moved to San Diego three years ago.

I thought I would ski.

I don't. Socal skiing, for me, isn't worth it. I've skied Baldy and a bit around the San Bernardinos, and I've got more entertaining things to do with my time. Mammoth is way, way too much time in a car than I'm willing to entertain.

I'm incredibly happy down here, but I haven't touched my skis in two years. When life gives you lemons, go surfing. Go climbing. Go enjoy what socal has to offer rather than trying to recreate what you had in Colorado.

My two cents.

This is the one problem with San Diego. I love the place and would live there in an instant (better surf, less traffic, cheaper), but it is damn far from Mammoth. Westside LA is 4.5 hours, while SD is what, 6? That is a lot of driving for just a 2 day weekend.

I don't disagree on the local mtns. with the exception of the rare Baldy pow day.

I personally couldn't give up my skis, not an option, but that is just one guys choice.

[Franz]

As far as I'm concerned, giving up skiing isnt really an option or my ass will be back in Colorado,
those are awesome tips of ways to get some turns in Socal, I have to admit that with the weather starting to turn colder here and the ski sales starting to show up I'm definetly not really looking forward to treaking southwards.

[Long duc dong]

Yeah, you never know what people's prefs are for what time of day they are leaving and how fast they drive, break for dinner and gas ... traffic on the westside always seems to get worse every time I visit. Maybe that's just my perception because I stopped driving during rush hour for the past 5 years.

I've done it in 4:15 from Eagle Rock before, but also including a speeding ticket north of Independence. My average always seemed to be 5, and I was not far off the 210 so I never had to deal with that whole 405 Sepulveda basin area on a regular basis. It's definitely doable in 4.5, but you've got to leave at the right time and learn the quick routes out of town. For a first timer I'd say closer to 6 is more realistic. For a seasoned vet, closer to 4.5 is more realistic.

With the driving it all depends on when you leave. I live in Orange County, and it takes 5:15 to 5:30 to get there IF I leave at 4 am, which I usually do. Leaving at rush hour time it is more like 6:30 to 7 hours, which I got really sick of. I would rather leave at 4 am and blaze up there, get on the mountain by 10 and crash early for a full day Sunday.

[highanxiety]

I spent most of last season in Mammoth after going in on a condo with a friend. I'll be out there again looking for mags to ski/ride/drink with also.. Got my MVP pass this year and working as little as possible, so I hope to meet some mags and learn more of the mtn this year. I'll be staying on Davison Rd up near Canyon.. Hope to meet with some of you this season.. I tend to carry my DSLR on powder days for anyone interested in photo slutting.

[Long duc dong]

I moved to San Diego three years ago.

I thought I would ski.

I don't. Socal skiing, for me, isn't worth it. I've skied Baldy and a bit around the San Bernardinos, and I've got more entertaining things to do with my time. Mammoth is way, way too much time in a car than I'm willing to entertain.

I'm incredibly happy down here, but I haven't touched my skis in two years. When life gives you lemons, go surfing. Go climbing. Go enjoy what socal has to offer rather than trying to recreate what you had in Colorado.

My two cents.

I understand your position. When I left Tahoe I wondered if I would be able to pull it off. I have been able to get used to the drive. I live in Orange County, so not as far south as you, but I make the drive tolerable by leaving at 4 am. If you can leave by noon the day before that is also worth it. SD probably adds 1 hour to the drive, so I can see not wanting to deal with that.

Baldy is great on a storm day, but I also like it on regular slushy days, IF(big if) the base is good. With a good base you can ski Thunder, which has pitches around 30-35 degrees. It is nothing spectacular, but it is just steep enough to make you feel as if you are actually skiing, which IMO you do not get at Bear/Summit. If the runs down to the parking lot are open, that is a whole different story. They probably average about 35 degrees for maybe 1500 vert. When those lot runs are open I have to pinch myself, I can't really believe I am in socal skiing runs like that. If the lot runs were open every year it would make socal life MUCH better. Baldy does not need pow to be fun, I love the lot runs in slush.

One more thing that does rule about Baldy is surfing/skiing in the same day. Hit a nice morning session in the water, than ski some slush in the afternoon. I have done it a few times.

I get what you are saying though, it does take an adjustment to ski down here. Coming from CO, you are probably used to terrific skiing within 1-2 hours. In Socal you have to deal with the 5-6 hour drive 2-3 times a month to get the goods.

One thing I should add about the drive: In my previous post the times I quoted were for driving around 75. I am pretty cautious about speeding now. If you are willing to go 85 and risk it you will cut 30-45 minutes off of the trip. I make the trip so much that I have an idea of where the cops sit, but I still don't push it. Be careful of the stretch between Lone Pine and Olancha. There is a big bend between those two metropolis' where there is ALWAYS an HP lying in wait. It is maybe 10 minutes past Olancha.

What we really need is a train from socal to Mammoth.

[tarkman1]

My ski lease group disbanded and the condo is no longer available. If anyone has a spot in a ski lease, renting a room, etc, please send a PM my way.

[hutash]

Another thing to remember, is you will be near LAX, which means easy flights, most often non-stop, to most major ski areas, so if you don't want to drive to Mammoth SLC is only a couple hours away.

If we get a good winter, there is some very good BC in southern California. Search here for threads on Baden-Powell, Baldy, San G or J. While the mountains here are giant piles of garbage granite, they are very steep, and have some wicked chutes. Generally we have a stable snow pack, but some storms can be wet and heavy, and deep, so we have had some nasty avalanches and a few fatalities.

[SchralphMacchio]

^ From California to Utah is an easy flight - you can catch the first flight out, land by 10 AM, and be up at Canyons skiing for free by 11 AM with the QuickSTART program or whatever it is called.

Depending on where you are at, you may want to fly out of BUR over LAX. Just way easier to deal with - if you are closer to Sherman Oaks area then it's super easy to get to Burbank.

[Tin Woodsman]

My ski lease group disbanded and the condo is no longer available. If anyone has a spot in a ski lease, renting a room, etc, please send a PM my way.

Speaking of which (probably for a separate thread) - I'm looking for a part-time house share in Mammoth that is family friendly (have a 2 year old girl). Preferably one where kids sleep en masse in some sort of bunk room situation.

[Hayduke]

I had one of my best ski days ever at Baldy last year. Drinking Big Tim's beer on the sloooooow lift up from the parking lot. Some of the lines down to the parking lot and below are pure fun. I can't describe it well but that place has soul. Watching people try and drive up/down the access road is worthy of a mention too.

This fella will show you a good time....

[Franz]

sooooo....as off the walls as this is going to sounds, i just found out that the job opportunity i was going to move out there for fell through, so it looks like I'm going to be staying in CO for a little while longer, which is totally weird, considering for the last week i've been packing everything up and starting to say my goodbyes and so forth....
BUT, I may be out in LA for a little while helping out with the office out there in which case we should all definetly get together for a drinking night. I'll keep you posted on what happens as I should know in the next few days.

[QuikR12]

Love the thread: thanks for starting it Franz. I plan to be moving to the LA area next fall for law school, and my top two choices have been UCLA and UC Boulder. I'm sure Boulder takes the cake for skiing but LA's got the weather, water, and women... good to know there's still some winter to be enjoyed as well, that was my biggest concern. I'll definitely have to hook up with all you So Cal rippers for some snow/surf sessions when I get there. Always down to hook up with new outdoor extremist buddies. Until then, cheers!

[QuikR12]

Oops, read a little further and realized your plans fell through, Franz. For better or worse I guess. Anyway, I heard mention of skiing/surfing in the same day, which I would be ecstatic about. I live in Portland, OR with both skiing and surfing 1.5 hours away, in opposite directions. Both in the same day are possible, but hardly practical... I'm just happy I can have both, and both are good, living in one spot. Cheers to Portland. Not trying to turn this into a surfing forum, but when there's no snow, i surf and it definitely suffices my needs for excitement. We got a 17ft swell in last weekend and it was equally exhilarating as some of my best days skiing.. Even small swells are fun, so to those of you transplanted out of snow, and into sunshine, i suggest taking up the sport. Be thankful (to those of you that aren't) that you're not on the east coast, where both surf and snow suck balls, aside from the atypical storm that rolls through. Cheers to the West!

[gh444]

I had one of my best ski days ever at Baldy last year. Drinking Big Tim's beer on the sloooooow lift up from the parking lot. Some of the lines down to the parking lot and below are pure fun. I can't describe it well but that place has soul. Watching people try and drive up/down the access road is worthy of a mention too.

This fella will show you a good time....

Better than that day on mammoth huh?