Best time to hit the slopes above Upland is right after a snow storm.
The old adage is as true today as it no doubt was when Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts first opened in 1944. When it's good, it can be very good and when it's bad, it can be very bad.
Which is why the skiing connoisseurs of Mt. Baldy know when to take advantage of the resort: Right after a good storm.
Many anticipated last Tuesday being such a day. Mt. Baldy's snow report said up to three feet of fresh powder had fallen on an existing two- to four-foot base and that it "could be the best day in years."
Johnny Doan of San Clemente saw the report and headed up to snowboard with friends. Afterward, he was nursing a hurt knee ("I hit a tree") and questioning the validity of the snow report ("I think they might have lied on that one").Some surmised rain the night before made conditions hard. Or the wind might have blown the fresh powder away, exposing the hard pack.
"We thought it would be powder and we got down there it was all hard," Doan said. "You couldn't put your board in the snow, and once you start sliding, there's nothing to stop you until you hit a tree."
A contrarian viewpoint was offered by skier Robert Lindh of Newport Beach. He said it was "awesome, epic, very very good...great conditions."
"There were places where if you were picking and choosing your battles you could find some neat snow," he said. "It wasn't powder up to your waist, which we were kind of expecting. But it was still a great day of skiing."
Most agreed there were icy spots and conditions were hit or miss on this day, unusual for after a storm. That aside, most agreed on the reasons they like Baldy:
Steep slopes, natural terrain, great tree skiing, close proximity (less than an hour from North Orange County) and not crowded.
Though it sits on the sugar-coated San Gabriel Mountains we see from Orange County, Mt. Baldy remains largely overshadowed by resorts in Big Bear and Wrightwood.
Mt. Baldy is different from those resorts in many ways, the biggest being that it relies on natural snow, except for its beginner area. But that could change.
Mt. Baldy is enjoying a great snow season that could last into April. The financial reward ensures a 6 million gallon reservoir will be built and ready by next season. The current 1 million gallon reservoir barely holds enough to cover the beginner area for a season.
President and general manager Pete Olson pointed to the one intermediate and two advanced, northwest-facing runs that will have snowmaking.
"We'll be able to cover those without any (natural) snow at all, so we can have those open early in the season," he said.
The snow guns and infrastructure are in place. All that is needed is the water, which will come from wells and runoffs.
"With water, long after the storm is gone, we'll be able to maintain good (skiing)," Olson said. "After a week, you hit rocks, that's the history of Baldy. You've got to catch it the first few days (after a storm) before it gets skied out. Now we'll just turn our snow guns on."
It would be a vast improvement, as would replacing the slow, two-seat Chair 1 with a faster, detachable quad, something that is planned for 2010.
The uniqueness of the mountain will never change, though. Half of its 26 runs are black diamond or double black diamond, a big draw for the advanced skier or boarder.
"It's not Big Bear, it's not Mountain High," Richard Monroe of La Canada said.
Meaning?
"It's not easy to ski. To enjoy this place, you've got to be pretty good."
Snowboarder Dean Sladek of Huntington Beach added, "There's not much for beginners. It's kind of a scary place if you don't know (the terrain). You could get stuck real bad, real quick, in a spot you don't want to be in."
Perhaps the most unique aspect of Baldy is that the trees are far apart, making it possible to ski anywhere on the 398-acre resort. Riding between the trees is what Doan likes most about Mt. Baldy.
"They don't do (terrain) parks or anything like that, so if you like parks, you're not coming here," he said. "But if you like the backcountry, it's awesome."
Particularly after a storm. Well, most of the time anyway.
Dave Strege
The Orange County Register
