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  1. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1000-oaks View Post
    Timing is everything at Baldy, the weather is brutality variable. Make sure it's good before you go, as "there are rock skis, and then there are Baldy skis."
    ha! good to know, thanks

  2. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by SirVicSmasher View Post
    I'd hit

    Sent from my I3123 using Tapatalk
    I’d hit anything right now

    Where’s the nearest plastic grass slope?
    How hard is it to candide ski the grass?

  3. #28
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    Oct 2003
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    In Your Wife
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    Quote Originally Posted by Core Shot View Post
    I’d hit anything right now

    Where’s the nearest plastic grass slope?
    How hard is it to candide ski the grass?
    Fast grass is a New England delicacy. Get after it.

    This is the most positive thread that's been started on this board in about 6 weeks. Two thumbs up.

  4. #29
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    Jan 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by splat View Post
    It's a six or seven hour drive for me and I wouldn't want to stay in any hotels, but I'd be down for sleeping on the ground.
    Typically plenty of homeless people sleeping in vehicles on pull outs below the village, so you should be fine doing that...although I would recommend bringing something for self defense. Lots of forest and road closures in the area, so would be hard to find a spot for a tent.

  5. #30
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    May 2002
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    33,440
    Gotchya. Dog and a .45.

  6. #31
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    Dec 2004
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    SoCal
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    Quote Originally Posted by splat View Post
    Fecccccck!!!! Empty slopes, empty chairs. Anywhere nearby to camp?
    They're limited to about 150 skiers right now

    Read this, then you have to buy a ticket online as if you're going golfing.
    https://winter.mtbaldyresort.com/covid-19-guidlines/

    PM me your cell, the number I have for you didn't work.

  7. #32
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    Sep 2005
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    Fresh Lake City
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    Quote Originally Posted by mall walker View Post
    that place is weirdly very high on my list of ski areas I wanna visit. I love the ones in places you wouldn't necessarily expect
    Ya something just seems cool about skiing in the san gabriel mountains. plus there's some legit terrain

    Quote Originally Posted by 1000-oaks View Post
    Timing is everything at Baldy, the weather is brutality variable. Make sure it's good before you go, as "there are rock skis, and then there are Baldy skis."
    haha ya that was my experience. I visited a friend in so cal in late january years ago, bought my skis and I don't even think baldy was open or maybe there was so little snow we deemed it not worth it.....

  8. #33
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    650
    When there's snow, you've gotta go! Honestly some of the best advanced terrain and on a clear day you can both see the ocean and ski between 1000 year old twisted up rime encrusted trees. It's glorious. To call it a rustic operation would be charitable. But they're doing God's work. Any time it rains in season I look to skip work and hit up Baldy. Definitely not a place you can count on though. Great days can be few and far between. And the Baldy Bowl is just as good when it's on and you know what you're doing. If I wasn't in lockdown with the family I'd be there no doubt. Season pass was not optimized this year...

    Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

  9. #34
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    Apr 2006
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    Y'all Knew Baldy re-opened, right?

    Quote Originally Posted by glademaster View Post
    Coverage looks great to me for it being the end of April and 50 miles from downtown LA. Shrug.
    More like 37 but who’s counting

    I lived in upland most of my youth and am annoyed I didn’t ski Baldy more back then. Mainly because the road was such a shit show that the 10 miles up the road seemed interminable

  10. #35
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    Jan 2018
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    Gallatin County
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    Ah, Baldy! Skied there a few times while working in Ventura County during one of the snow years. My memories of the place were empty slopes, mobbed tubing area and a jammed access road in the afternoon. Views of the Pacific to the west, desert to the east and winter north and south made it a one of a kind place.
    Click image for larger version. 

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  11. #36
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    Saw an article about this about a week ago and all the comments were along the lines of how shitty a mountain it is.

    Those pics make it look pretty damn fun to me.

  12. #37
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    SoCal
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    I'd post more pix, but Baldy sucks, don't go there.

  13. #38
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    Sep 2014
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    I remember Baldy hittin my ski radar after pleasure viewing the famous "Prosor Shots" pics of the area in a Powder Mag back in the 90's. Looks like an awesome hill/side/backcountry during the big snow years.

    Good enough for Scott Schmidt? Good enough for me.

    https://www.powder.com/stories/class...airy-backside/
    Master of mediocrity.

  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by east or bust View Post
    Saw an article about this about a week ago and all the comments were along the lines of how shitty a mountain it is.

    Those pics make it look pretty damn fun to me.
    With the caveat that I've never skied there (but really want to), for the type of skier who wants high-speed lifts, slopeside lodging, tons of amenities, gourmet food and an upscale apres scene, etc. it probably is a terrible place to ski. For the type of skiing a lot of people posting here want it looks like it kicks huge ass (if there's snow).

  15. #40
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    Dec 2004
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    For alpinists who love a boatload of climbing and suffering, this is the backside of Dawson Peak and Mt San Antonio (AKA Mt Baldy, photo taken four days ago). It's a long hike/climb from the other side, and you return the way you came.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  16. #41
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    Yeah, Baldy is not Deer Valley. I don't even call it a resort, but I have had many awesome days there, takes some planning and lots of luck.

  17. #42
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    Sep 2014
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1000-oaks View Post
    For alpinists who love a boatload of climbing and suffering, this is the backside of Dawson Peak and Mt San Antonio (AKA Mt Baldy, photo taken four days ago). It's a long hike/climb from the other side, and you return the way you came.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Anyone ever do helidrops, or, a one off heliski day in that terrain? Looks pretty damn good. Could totally envision a productive Astar B3 circuit of landings and pickups.
    Master of mediocrity.

  18. #43
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    Y'all Knew Baldy re-opened, right?

    Quote Originally Posted by 406 View Post
    Yeah, Baldy is not Deer Valley. I don't even call it a resort, but I have had many awesome days there, takes some planning and lots of luck.
    It kind of has always had a magical forcefield around it even in the 70s/80s because even living less than 10miles away, it was easier for us to drive to Wrightwood plus they had snowmaking. Now the ancient lifts and lack of amenities make the force field even stronger. It’s like going back in time.

  19. #44
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    Lots of Wilderness areas, and now the whole area is San Gabriel National Monument, which kills the ski area's plan to expand eventually.

  20. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by swissiphic View Post
    Anyone ever do helidrops, or, a one off heliski day in that terrain? Looks pretty damn good. Could totally envision a productive Astar B3 circuit of landings and pickups.
    pff no way, you gotta hike up with those stiletto heel risers you got!

  21. #46
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    Nov 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by east or bust View Post
    Saw an article about this about a week ago and all the comments were along the lines of how shitty a mountain it is.

    Those pics make it look pretty damn fun to me.
    Right! Guess those people have never skied somewhere like Ohio lol.

    Of course there are people that think Snowbird sucks, too...

  22. #47
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    Jun 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1000-oaks View Post
    A couple guys skied Bentley's and walked the last 200 yards to the bottom, but realistically Thunder is where it's at.
    Nice!!

    Iove Bentley's.

    My wife and I make about 12 trips a year to Mammoth, two 6-7 day trips and 10 2-3 day weekend trips. If Baldy was this good every year I would probably take between 2 and 4 fewer Mammoth trips a season. The terrain there is REALLY fun, when it has snow. Some seasons it does not really open for serious skiing.

    I grew up in the east, and I will say that the terrain at Baldy is a good deal steeper than what can be found at most, but not all, east coast resorts. The mountains in socal are actually quite steep, but the steep terrain is often not in play. If the lot runs, like Bentley's, were open every season for a significant amount of time that would be great.

    I absolutely love that I can leave Newport Beach and be in the Baldy parking lot in an hour and 20 minutes. It really is cool.l I went to college in socal, and the difference in skiing between there and home was that I could go skiing for day trips quite easily at home, but the mountains were not spectacular. In California there are great mountains that can be reached in 6 hours, but there is less for day trips if Baldy is not going. In college I hit Mammoth every other weekend, which is basically what I do now, but I always wished I could do easy day trips. I went to school in Santa Barbara, which is quite a distance from Baldy, so day trips were more of a nuisance than they are now, and I always wished I could have the best of both worlds, do a day trip on Saturday but be home to party on Saturday night. We drank plenty at the ski team house in Mammoth on weekends, but there was simply not the same scene for chasing girls that there was at UCSB, and that is putting it mildly. I'm married now, so that does not matter, but when Baldy is going you can ski stuff that is probably better than what can be had at Hunter, and only 1.5 hours away. It makes me really glad I live where I live. The decision between skiing Baldy and surfing or putting in the 12 hour round-trip drive to Mammoth is definitely a first world problem. It's kind of like vacationing at a 5 star resort and deciding between a resort with a better pool or a resort with a better spa, if you are making those decisions you area really lucky. If I had a long commute I might feel differently about socal, but it works well for my needs.

    For east coast people, let me put it this way: Imagine you are living in the Hudson Valley, but a big western mountain like Mammoth/Squaw/Snowbird is a 5-6 hour drive if you want it. You can ski slush bumps at Hunter with a 1.5 hour drive, but with a fraction of the crowds, or you can drive the 5-6 hours for the weekend at the big mountain. It is a great choice to have. Of course, if Baldy was consistent every year it would be much more crowded, so it would be a bit different. But given how inconsistent the Baldy snowpack is I doubt it will ever be all that crowded on non-pow days. It does not have much intermediate terrain, and what it does have tends to melt out early. The crowds are still going to Bear/Mt. High, Baldy has been here for years and it still has not been discovered. It really does make me feel lucky, I remember standing in long lift lines growing up to ski terrain that was really not all that great.
    "Have you ever seen a monk get wildly fucked by a bunch of teenage girls?" "No" "Then forget the monastery."


    "You ever hear of a little show called branded? Arthur Digby Sellers wrote 156 episodes. Not exactly a lightweight." Walter Sobcheck.

    "I didn't have a grandfather on the board of some fancy college. Key word being was. Did he touch the Filipino exchange student? Did he not touch the Filipino exchange student? I don't know Brooke, I wasn't there."

  23. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by east or bust View Post
    Saw an article about this about a week ago and all the comments were along the lines of how shitty a mountain it is.

    Those pics make it look pretty damn fun to me.
    Part of the reason for those comments is that people go when the steep terrain does not have coverage, so they ski rocky, slushy groomers and assume that is all there is. I can't tell you how many of my buddies who surf think this way, because they are casual snowboarders who went once and didn't like it. It is actually better for us, let the crowds hit summit/bear. As long as Baldy can sell enough scenic rides to do just fine I am happy.

    Do be aware that the pics you are seeing are when there is snow. The snowpack is MUCH more inconsistent than the Caskills and southern Vermont resorts I skied as a kid. Of course, I left for college in the fall of 1993, and I have not skied in the east since a day at Huntah in December of 1993, so the east coast snowpack consistency might be different than I remember it.

    There are some photos/videos in the socal skiing thread that will give you more of an idea of the mountain.

    For east coasters I would say that Baldy has a bit of a Mad River feel to it. It's far from a perfect parallel, but there are similarities.
    "Have you ever seen a monk get wildly fucked by a bunch of teenage girls?" "No" "Then forget the monastery."


    "You ever hear of a little show called branded? Arthur Digby Sellers wrote 156 episodes. Not exactly a lightweight." Walter Sobcheck.

    "I didn't have a grandfather on the board of some fancy college. Key word being was. Did he touch the Filipino exchange student? Did he not touch the Filipino exchange student? I don't know Brooke, I wasn't there."

  24. #49
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    ^^ Ha, thanks for the history.

    Though the Hunter is probably not what you remember. Definitely not a quiet place anymore but I get what you’re saying.

    Baldy sounds similar to AZ Snowbowl in some regard - large metro area 1-2 hours away, readily accessible true alpine lines, hit or miss. Though from the sounds of things SB is more proactive with upgrading lifts/amenities.

  25. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by swissiphic View Post
    Anyone ever do helidrops, or, a one off heliski day in that terrain? Looks pretty damn good. Could totally envision a productive Astar B3 circuit of landings and pickups.
    The pick up would be in Wilderness. I have skied the North gulch off the lookers left peak, Pine Mountain. Exited via the jeep road back up to blue ridge, lots of walking that day.

    I have skied the southern side of the 2 peaks on the right, there are some awesome chutes on the one on the left. Exit from one on right is an adventure. The photo is showing the north facing terrain. Temps need to be just right for the North face of the two on the right, I would not go back there in avalanche conditions and it is very icy most of the winter. Need spring like conditions, but not too soft, because you have to boot back up the way you skied down, there is no exit at the bottom...After you have already hiked up 5000 vert feet from parking lot on the melted out south side just to get to the top of the peak, so it would be at least a 7k day.

    https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=34.3....6533&z=15&b=f

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