SoCal Kick-Off

[Perlhammered]

Where on IG did you read that? Looking at the Caltrans map, there's no official notification of road closure, but there is a CHP incident that there was a slide at Icehouse. Unclear if that's across baldy road or not, though.


The map does show traffic flowing up Baldy rd much lower down, too

[scotts]

Just got back, all I got from CHP was over a bullhorn saying the road isn't opening today and probably won't open this weekend, but who knows about the next few days.


Cucamonga looking good

[Adamantium]

Thanks for the beta, I was just about to pull the trigger on a ticket for tomorrow. I guess it is typical Baldy that it could either be the first day open post-storm or a complete dud due to road closure.

[Long duc dong]

Where on IG did you read that? Looking at the Caltrans map, there's no official notification of road closure, but there is a CHP incident that there was a slide at Icehouse. Unclear if that's across baldy road or not, though.


The map does show traffic flowing up Baldy rd much lower down, too

It's on Mt. Baldy's insta. There are a bunch of comments from people who go turned around.

It would be great to know exactly what happened and what the situation is.

I've found that Caltrans is not always up to speed on Mt. Baldy Rd.

[Perlhammered]

https://twitter.com/MtBaldyFire/status/1631748019149484032?s=20

Baldy FD tweeted to say Baldy rd closed until further notice

[Adamantium]

One comment on Baldy's instagram seems to say they were able to get up there early enough and ski today. Commenter says they made it to "the entrance line around 7ish. Everyone that was there around that time found partking and went up no problem. Baldy was all time but definitely a little sketch. only 2 lifts open"

So maybe a handful of people made it up this morning before the road closure?

https://twitter.com/MtBaldyFire/status/1631748019149484032?s=20

Baldy FD tweeted to say Baldy rd closed until further notice

Tweet in question: Mt Baldy Road is closed at Shinn until further notice. CHP may allow certain exceptions.

lol on-brand vague, "CHP may allow certain exceptions" could mean anything or nothing

[406]

Ffs USFs closed San Bernardino national forest. For 2 weeks!


On the plus side for some legit turns in San Diego today.


Forest Order No. 05-12-00-23-02

This Order is effective from March 3, 2023, through March 16, 2023.

Issued by San Bernardin National Forest

Affected Areas - San Bernardino County Mountains and Riverside County Mountains

An Emergency Forest Closure Order has been issued for lands effected by the recent snow storms.

[1000-oaks]

No road closure or chain control at about 7:15am this morning. Stunning amount of snow and huge drifts, but don't expect a big powder day. Lots of windboard, some drifted pow in the trees. South Bowl did not open. Herbs / Andys and face of 2 skied great in afternoon sun. Parking lot is super icy in the morning, for sure use chains if 2WD. Things crisp up toward sunset.

[Angle Parking]

So happy you guys are getting some epic conditions. Hope you guys are enjoying it!

[evdog]

Found this on another forum. Newcomb's Ranch on ACH.

[KillerMonkey]

I guess roads closed for another weekend, was hoping to go tour around waterman

[Long duc dong]

No road closure or chain control at about 7:15am this morning. Stunning amount of snow and huge drifts, but don't expect a big powder day. Lots of windboard, some drifted pow in the trees. South Bowl did not open. Herbs / Andys and face of 2 skied great in afternoon sun. Parking lot is super icy in the morning, for sure use chains if 2WD. Things crisp up toward sunset.

Glad you were able to get up there and thanks for the report!

It's not entirely clear what happened. Apparently CHP was telling people there was another avalanche, but that was apparently not the case. Speculation is that the road was closed due to crowding, which makes sense. I don't like CHP lying, if that is what happened, about the avalanche and telling people the road might not open all weekend. It would be nice if there was a bit more honesty. I did read a comment from someone who headed up in the afternoon at got up just fine. I might roll the dice today and do that.

[TonyC]

Adamantium heard Baldy's road was closed for a while Friday too. I got up there at 7:35 so beat whatever the problem was. I saw nothing unusual on the way out at 4:30 either. In fact there were snow players just below Baldy's parking lot where the Wednesday avalanche was cleared and lot of them in the broad areas just above the village. I waited half an hour for tickets and while I was waiting for chair 1 the ticket line had doubled in length.

I expected some huge lines on Thunder but the max was 20 minutes. So it's plausible that Baldy's road was down for a few hours midday.

Baldy warns skiers:

ROADS - They are clear, but COME EARLY. With the amount of snow it is still very difficult to clear spots for snow players to park. As a result managing the road is very difficult for OUR civil agencies and periodic ROAD CLOSURES should be expected.

It's fairly clear this is what happened yesterday.

Oh, and this weekend is forecasted windy with highs in the 20's. It was 39F yesterday with no clouds and almost no wind, so most of chair 1 and any sunny exposures went to spring conditions. All of those places are going to be firm when it's cold and/or windy.

[bry]

I wonder if they are factoring in limiting crowds in the forests for as long as possible to stave off the inevitable emergencies to follow. I can imagine a large cornice on devil's backbone, for example.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[Long duc dong]

TonyC,

Thanks for the photo and firsthand report.

I decided to pass for today. I think I'm going to go up on Monday or Tuesday instead for an afternoon session. I'd rather get a bit of work done today and go up when it's less crowded. I'm lucky enough to have more flexibility than when I was office bound, so it makes sense to take advantage of that.

I am curious to see what happens today with the road.

[abcdethan]

I made to Baldy on Friday. There was plenty of fresh tracks to be had dropping off the ridge from Lift 1. The further you traversed, the better it was. Thunder was fun to. Winter snow on north facing aspects and spring like conditions on the solar parts.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[theunknownskier]

Skied baldy Friday, coverage as good as I’ve seen it on all angles from top to the parking lot. Got there early (before 8) and had no issues. I was told CHP stops people down at shinn road about 9 am to discourage snow play but if you have a Baldy reservation they will let you through. They should have a decent season with the base they have now.

[Long duc dong]

We went up to Baldy yesterday.

We rolled the dice and left at 930. Things slowed down after the village, but it really was not all that bad. It took two hours to get there, it normally takes 1:15 to 1:30, but everything ended up working out.

Somethings does need to be done about the way snowplay people are parking on the way up. It is blatantly illegal and WAAAY out into the road. They are also parking in spots that are not spots. The road through the forest service area, which is normally two lanes with shoulders, was so narrow you could barely fit through with cars parked on either side. These people really should be ticketed, if an emergency vehicle needed to get up that would be a disaster.

The lot was pretty full, but we were able to find parking.

The coverage is insane. I've never seen Baldy like this. You almost never get to ride up the bottom lift with your skis on.

We skied down to the lot, and opted for the line right under the lift. It was mostly soft after the first section. I do wish I had skied Morgan's down to the lift, my guess is that most of it was soft.

If I can find the time I will probably head up tomorrow afternoon.

Someone I spoke to who works on the mountain speculated that the fake avy on Friday may have been called in by a resident. He said that's happened before, people who are sick of the crowds going up the road. I have no idea whether or not that is true.

[KillerMonkey]

This is from Gold Ridge Sunday afternoon after the clouds rolled in. Plenty of wind buff packed pow.

[Long duc dong]

This is from Gold Ridge Sunday afternoon after the clouds rolled in. Plenty of wind buff packed pow.

Nice shot!

Gold Ridge was awesome. Definitely goods to be had.

[Rip'nStick]

GETTING GNARLY IN OC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX_WotS0g7k

Now don't go critiquing the technique, it's all about soul....

[KillerMonkey]

Somethings does need to be done about the way snowplay people are parking on the way up. It is blatantly illegal and WAAAY out into the road. They are also parking in spots that are not spots. The road through the forest service area, which is normally two lanes with shoulders, was so narrow you could barely fit through with cars parked on either side. These people really should be ticketed, if an emergency vehicle needed to get up that would be a disaster.

Got caught by the snowplayers on the way down the mountain too, and yes wildly over the line, especially those folks that feel compelled to bring their giant ass dually since their going to the "snow." Funny thing was we were following CHP the whole way down so I guess they don't care either, probably just too many people to ticket.

[evdog]

GETTING GNARLY IN OC

Now don't go critiquing the technique, it's all about soul....

Clicked on that, and guys skiing off Los pinos peak came up in the suggestions.

[rpearce1475]

Saw last night they opened the back way to Big Bear from Lucerne Valley. Should be a mad house this weekend and just in time for the rain to roll through!

[Rip'nStick]

Clicked on that, and guys skiing off Los pinos peak came up in the suggestions.

Didn't have the right gear, skis were way too long. Need snowblades to crush that terrain, helps with avoiding chaparral