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  1. #1
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    TR: soCal rerepresented 3/16/08 Mt Baldy

    Last week an Mt. Baden-Powell didn't go so well condition wise, so here is another try to show some BC love for southern California.

    Maggots: Divegirl, Infidel08, Hutash

    Goal: Mt San Antonio, (locally called Mt Baldy)

    Conditions: A storm rolled through on the 15th, but still mostly boilerplate, with a little fresh, but manky snow in the trees.

    We all rolled from wide flung parts of soCal. I drove through parts of Los Angeles to get to the trailhead. Believe it or not there is some skiing near LaLa land.




    Life in LA would not be complete with out palm trees. I live near the ocean, but can still be skiing in under two hours.




    Infidel08 drove up from Carlsbad (near San Diego, even more palm trees), and Divegirl is the local, living right at the base of the San Gabriel mountains (guess who was late to the meeting point?)

    This was the objective for the day.





    The trail was clear yesterday, but a few inches of fresh snow made us switch from tennis shoes to AT boots for the 3.5 mile hike to the Sierra Club hut.



    Even though conditions were looking marginal, and the approach was a bit of a pain, you can do worse then to have Divegirl along for the ride. Her sunny disposition is great to have along. She was always as happy as can be. Maybe any excuse to get out of studying for grad school can make a day bright and cheery.




    Infidel08 is great to have along as well. When you think you are suffering, you just look at him and realize you are a wimp. He did the whole 8 mile hike in alpine boots. He is a living example of the Marine Corps motto, "We work harder, not smarter." There are some nice chutes on Baldy, one of which we hoped to hit.




    Conditions started to deteriorate quickly once high on the shoulder. We don't get a lot of thunder storm activity here, so they are not nearly as predictable as in the Rockies, so we were getting a little concerned.




    We decided to forgo the summit since snow conditions look pretty bad, and the weather wasn't great. This was our high point at about 9,600ft.



    The snow was bulletproof ice from previous rains and cold temps. With the cloud cover and cold front the snow never softened enough to ski. We tried, but after two turns Infidel08 lost a ski after a slip. I managed to recover it while he literally clawed his way with one ski and an ice axe to a bare patch were we could regroup. We gave up on the bowl, and any hope of the chutes, which would have been even worse, and skied back down the shoulder in less then ideal conditions.




    Once back in the trees we did manage to find a few good turns. It ranged from two inches of manky powder to sheet ice, and changed in a heart beat between the two. Nobody ripped anything, we were just trying to survive.













    All in all it was still a fun day with good a maggot and maggette for partners. Even though I no longer have to study for grad school, I can appreciate Divegirl's enthusiasm...and any day out in the mountain, regardless of the conditions is still a good day

    I agree it is a constitutional right for Americans to be assholes...its just too bad that so many take the opportunity...
    iscariot

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    nice tr...I had been thinking of going up but backed out because I was thinking conditions would be ice, which I really don't like on tele skis. Thinking of going up this Sunday, should be nice corn with high ~50. Anyone interested?

  3. #3
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    Nov 2003
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    What a great TR! Thanks for posting, hutash. And thank you so much for letting me borrow your cramp-ons. I'm so stoked on those things...they literally carried me up the ice sheet that was Baldy bowl.

    And yes, infidel is seriously the champ - hiking 8 miles in alpine boots!!

    Thanks for making it such a great day you guys. I promise not to be late next time to the meeting place!!
    bc-lovah

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Nice T.R. HutashCoditions might not have been good but the company looked great.Big Tim mentioed that someone had to be helivaced off the ridgeline because of Death Ice.I`m glad your group wasn`t "them"
    P.S. Baldy BBQ tomorrow on top of Thunder,1.P.M.

  5. #5
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    Nov 2004
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    Way to keep those SoCal TRs coming.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    35
    After that hike, A/T boots definitely moved up my list of what to buy next!
    divegirl - great to meet you.
    hutash - thanks for the TR, good times. Looking forward to next time. . .whenever that may be.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    winter park, co
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    Thumbs up

    How many mount baldys are there in the U.S.?
    Nice Job!
    Wagner Custom Skis
    Powder snow skiing is not fun. It’s life, fully lived, life lived in a blaze of reality. What we experience in powder is the original human self, which lies deeply inside each of us, still undamaged in spite of what our present culture tries to do to us. Once experienced, this kind of living is recognized as the only way to live–fully aware of the earth and the sky and the gods and you, the mortal, playing among them. Dolores LaChapelle

  8. #8
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    At least one in every state that gets snow.

    I agree it is a constitutional right for Americans to be assholes...its just too bad that so many take the opportunity...
    iscariot

  9. #9
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    hutash, is it possible to upgrade your account if it's free? i've been wondering what baldy looks like right now with all the rain and i'm urging some people to go take a look that need convincing....
    j'ai des grands instants de lucididididididididi

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by ml242 View Post
    hutash, is it possible to upgrade your account if it's free? i've been wondering what baldy looks like right now with all the rain and i'm urging some people to go take a look that need convincing....
    Are you wanting to know what it looks like now or with snow? The ski area nearby Mt. Baldy Peak (also called mt. Baldy) doesn't have their webcams online anymore, but typically they need enough snow to ski the upper lift prior to Mt Baldy the peak being worth skiing.

  11. #11
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    Wow, that was nearly ten years ago...fuck I'm getting old.

    First off fuck photobucket and their account upgrade...no it's not free. Second, even if I did, all it would show is what Blast looked 10 years ago. There are tons of photos and TRs all over the innertubes. Third, my guess is conditions are shit up there. We are having a bad year, and at best there might be dust on crust, but more likely ice and rocks.

    I agree it is a constitutional right for Americans to be assholes...its just too bad that so many take the opportunity...
    iscariot

  12. #12
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by 406 View Post
    Are you wanting to know what it looks like now or with snow? The ski area nearby Mt. Baldy Peak (also called mt. Baldy) doesn't have their webcams online anymore, but typically they need enough snow to ski the upper lift prior to Mt Baldy the peak being worth skiing.
    yeah, i was curious. always waiting for that good season!
    j'ai des grands instants de lucididididididididi

  14. #14
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    Nov 2005
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    Back when we had snow locally. Those were good days Hutash.
    Sure miss them.

    Sent from my SM-N900V using TGR Forums mobile app

  15. #15
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    And a big Fuck You to Photo Bucket for destroying everyone's posts.

    Sent from my SM-N900V using TGR Forums mobile app

  16. #16
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    Sep 2003
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    Yo, Twins, hit me up if ya ever wanna catch a beer sometime

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