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Thread: 2011 SoCal Snow Thread
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03-25-2011, 01:17 PM #176
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03-25-2011, 01:35 PM #177
Yeah I gotta say I wouldn't have made it up 200 feet from the lot without crampons. It might be easier in hard ski boots, but snowboard boots are too soft to kick in steps or too slick when the snow is wet. As for the ice axe, it wasn't necessary the day I went, but glades have nothing to do with needing one or not. If anything, glades provide shade and make the snow a lot harder and icier. It would be useful to have one in-hand on the descent if you hit a nasty patch of bulletproof ice.
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03-25-2011, 04:09 PM #178
BP is not exactly mountaineering, it is a forest hike the whole way. If it is bullet proof, sure an ice axe and crampons are nice to have, but most of the time it is a nice little stroll. Have I used crampons on BD? sure, but did I NEED them? not really (and that was after a significant rain event). If you NEED an axe on BP, you are doing it wrong.
I agree it is a constitutional right for Americans to be assholes...its just too bad that so many take the opportunity...iscariot
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03-25-2011, 04:20 PM #179
AAAnnnnyyywayyy, I caught a glimpse of Baldy on the cam today when it cleared up for a few minutes. Looks good, should be fun tomorrow.
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03-25-2011, 05:22 PM #180
Waterman opened today for the first time since the "Big Storm". Sadly it got rained on (to the top) late last night/ this morning. Still was some fun skiing but i wouldn't want to be on it after it freezes tonight.
I got my Vans on but they look like sneakers.....
Telemarktips.com
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03-25-2011, 05:59 PM #181
Ah crap. That doesn't necessarily mean it rained at Baldy... or does it?
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03-25-2011, 07:30 PM #182
transcript from my email regarding Baldy:
Friend: It was good on Thurs. and sucked today. I left at noon. I'm on the fence about tomorrow. Waiting to see if the death crust melts off. Hopefully it will be good.
Me:Everything got warm? Or just the south facing?
Friend:Even worse. It snowed last night and rained all morning. The good news is that when the rain stopped the wind picked up and refroze everything. It was some of the worst conditions I've ever skied.
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I might still go up Saturday, but not starting early. Fucking RAIN!
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03-25-2011, 08:19 PM #183
Well, shit. I'm committed to tomorrow since I got my ticket on Liftopia. Meh, whatever. If it sucks that bad maybe I'll hike to Telegraph and back just for the hell of it, or to scope lines out for a possible descent next month.
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03-25-2011, 09:11 PM #184
To respond to Traingone, my forecast was partially wrong.
"Heavy" was actually an understatement after last night's rain on the snowpack. "Not a lot of it" was actually a 1/4" ice crust that wasn't quite strong enough to support your weight on skis most places, so you'd cut trenches through the ice into the cement, which can make trying to turn "fun". And I totally left out the dense fog that made for white-out conditions (even in the trees), and the freezing rain blasted by vicious wind that covered your goggles every 100 yards. Actually had to skate and pole down the beginner run to get down to chair three - the headwind was that strong. And don't forget the variable surface - going from heavy pow under tree branches (that captured the rain) to the ice crust every few yards in South Bowl. Yeah, it sucked bad enough that I seriously considered making the 1.5 hour drive back home after the first run, but was meeting Whyturn so I toughed it out.
And I'm glad we stuck around, in the afternoon the wind backed off, the fog partially cleared, and it warmed up enough to melt the ice crust in the sunny areas. Super fun skiing lots of barely tracked lines in the cement in South Bowl, ending with an awesome parking lot run down Nightmare. A great day for sure, despite the miserable beginning.
Depending on tonight's temp, my $0.02 would be to wait until noon and rip the sunny areas - think spring mashed potatoes. It's a rock gamble hitting the sunny areas with less coverage, but the ice crust wasn't melting on the shaded lee slopes.Last edited by 1000-oaks; 03-25-2011 at 10:28 PM.
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03-25-2011, 09:28 PM #185
I like this thread. So generally speaking how sketch are conditions at these so cal places? Regardless of the answer it looks like you guys get after it.
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03-25-2011, 09:51 PM #186
^ You can't really be too picky out here considering where we are located; at the same time, the geography has its advantages when conditions are less than epic. Like 1000-oaks mentioned, tomorrow it will be icy, crusty and generally shitty in the morning, but it will warm up, melt off and get soft if the sun stays out.
Generally speaking, after a big cold dump it gets as epic as it does anywhere else. In fact I've had a few days down here the past five years where the snow was as light and dry as Utah. But, it never lasts long. I like to think we get to ski in t-shirts before most other places in the country do. Spring is always fun around here.
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03-25-2011, 10:48 PM #187
Almost forgot...and I apologize if I'm "outing" anyone here...but WTF was a guy doing coming out of the South Bowl traverse on SNOW BLADES???
Maybe he dropped off the end of Skyline and had to climb out of the hole under the lift. Maybe he did a victory lap around the lift station after he impressed some chick with his sweet snowblade skillz. Or maybe he rocked South Bowl on snow blades, who knows. More power to him, if he did he's got huge balls. He didn't look happy though, and I don't think I would have been either after making a pass through the bowl in those crappy conditions on 30" skis with three inch binding risers...
Lol, forgot to look for a Go-Pro, maybe he has a POV video he can post up.
However, there is balance to the universe. The snow blade guy was 100% offset by a tall telemark dude on big skis ripping parallel turns and helicopters off hits on Thunder. Sick.
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03-26-2011, 03:14 PM #188
Wow, Baldy sucked big time today. There was 1/4" of ice crust (probably thicker in spots) coating everything. I had already paid for my ticket, so I figured I'd go up chair 4 where it was getting the sun. Said "fuck it" to doing any runs and started hiking up Mt. Harwood just for the hell of it. I went between 1/2 and 3/4 of the way up breaking trail the whole way. The snow on the ridge was anywhere from rocks to 3 feet deep, I was waist deep in some spots. Took some photos before the clouds rolled up the valley, then it was fog city before noon. Drank a pint at the notch, downloaded chair 1 and sped the fuck off. The worst part was knowing the snow underneath the crust was still prime, light and fluffy, and about 2-3 feet of it. Fuck rain.
On a side note, my original intention was to hike telegraph from thunder. I was chatting with ski patrol about how long it would take, what the distance was, etc. The one patroller I talked to before my hike said, because that's San Bernardino County, it's illegal to exit off the backside of thunder, and there was no gate. I'd have to do it all the way from Icehouse Canyon. I thought to myself that's bullshit, I know people have done it from thunder. Then the second patroller I talked to after my hike said, "oh, about an hour if you're in shape." I ask him if it was illegal and he claimed it wasn't. "Ski patrol cannot prevent you from going anywhere in the wilderness, but obviously we don't encourage it." Which confirmed what I thought the policy was.
So what's the deal with that? If I were to duck the rope on thunder and hike that ridge to telegraph, can the police do anything about it? Is it technically illegal or not?
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03-26-2011, 04:18 PM #189
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03-26-2011, 04:48 PM #190
Thanks for the same day report!
Took the train to San Juan Cap and got drunk at the parade. A good decision based on your report. Cruising by trestles on the train now, heading home.
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03-26-2011, 08:08 PM #191
I thought today was fun at Baldy. Fun windblown on Thunder in the morning. Everything was soft around noon except the lower 1/8 of chair one. Vis did suck most of the afternoon. But I got a few sunny corn runs on southbowl. I almost didn't go up but glad I did, but also glad I canceled my original plans of backcountry, would have been a bit sketchy.
Last edited by 406; 03-26-2011 at 08:22 PM.
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03-27-2011, 08:46 AM #192
Cool pics.
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03-27-2011, 10:40 AM #193
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03-27-2011, 12:07 PM #194Originally Posted by hutash
Report from SAR Commander:
http://www.sierradescents.com/avy/20...avalanche.html
Baldy might have the steep lines, but Mt High side-country has terrible terrain traps and despite the mellow pitch should still be given plenty of respect. Even a small slide into those narrow ravines could bury a skier ten or fifteen feet deep.
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03-27-2011, 08:11 PM #195
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03-27-2011, 10:26 PM #196
I also don't mean to be a pain in the ass, I just happened to be there that day and was a huge dumbass and almost got myself killed, so I get worked up about these things...
Last edited by 1000-oaks; 03-27-2011 at 11:42 PM.
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03-28-2011, 11:11 AM #197
Some photos from Saturday March 26th. It was grey bird so not many.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post despite the upper elevations skiing well, the lower mountain stayed frozen. Mega chicken head:
Mt. High had their bikini competition, lucky for me a couple got lost on the way to Mt. High:
I heart stiff skis:
I had low expectations, but Saturday turned out to be a really fun day at Baldy ski area.
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03-28-2011, 11:15 AM #198
Some photos from March 5th. I thought it might be my last day at Baldy ski area. Looking thin on 1:
Fun turns in South Bowl:
Seems to have a lot of stuff in his luggage backpack:
Nice view:
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03-28-2011, 11:22 AM #199
Photos from the March 12th trip up Mt. Baden-Powell with Chunder.
Gearing up:
Chunder forgot crampons so decided to skin the summer trail:
Don't leave home without them:
Stairway to heaven:
Summit:
Skied to the dirt road:
Powderhound!:
From the bottle top, describes what I did at ~1:30 in chunders vid:
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03-28-2011, 11:26 AM #200
A couple from March 21st, EPIC powder Monday. Likely my best day ever at Baldy ski area.
Coverage looks better on 1:
Chair 4 to 1 was light dry powder, so much fun. Century plant with 3 sets of my tracks:
Heavy Horse today, but Powder Hound would have been more appropriate:
TGR snow lab screen shot:
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