Nearly everyone who lives in the Los Angeles area is familiar with Mt. Baldy (formally known as Mt. San Antonio). On a clear winter's day, its treeless, snowcovered summit can be seen from almost anywhere in the Los Angeles Basin.
Mt. Baldy as seen from south of downtown Los Angeles.
The birthplace of skiing in Southern California, Baldy Bowl, located high on the southeastern face of Mt. Baldy, offers a wide variety of terrain for those willing to put in the substantial effort required to reach it. Smooth and wide open, the bowl itself offers a vertical drop of over 1,500 feet of continuous skiing, with pitches ranging from a tame 25 degrees in the lower bowl to over 45 degrees in some of the hairier chutes.
Not content with the traditional up-and-back-down-in-a-day plan of attack for Baldy Bowl, Al hatched a truly devilish scheme involving a nighttime ascent under the full moon, an overnight camp on the summit, and then a late morning ski descent after the snow had softened sufficiently.
The route as seen from the Mt. Baldy Ski Area.
The route as shown on the USGS 7.5 minute series topographic map.
We departed from Manker Flats, elevation 6,200 feet, at 8 pm, hoping to reach the summit sometime around 2 or 3 am. However, as we crested a ridge near the summit, the wind was blowing steadily at around 40 or 50 mph, hard enough to make it difficult to stand, let alone walk, with a heavy pack, and hard enough to make my skis (strapped to my pack) whistle. (The fact that I thought the noise was coming from inside my head was another indication that it was time to stop). Clearly, it was time to put down for the evening.
After levelling a surface and constructing a wind wall for our tent in the sheltered region between a snow ridge and a tree, it was time for some much needed sleep. But first, one quick picture as evidence of our nighttime ascent.
Mark outside the tent at night.
Sleeping was surprisingly easy given the weather and the 8,900 feet of elevation. And waking up at 8 am was no problem at all when the sun is bright and views like this one await.
The view from the campsite.
The next day proved to be a beautiful one, with temperatures climbing into the 50's and 60's. The sun was amazingly bright and warm, even early in the morning.
Al squinting in the morning light outside the tent, with the snow wall behind.
After loading up all of our gear, it was time to attack the remaining 1,100 feet of ascent to the summit.
Al and Mark, well rested and ready to depart for the summit.
Following an initial steep pitch out of the campsite, the climbing was fairly gentle. But when you've ascended from 800 feet to 9,400 feet in less than 24 hours, any uphill movement can be difficult.
Mark on a ridge on the final ascent to the summit.
Nonetheless, the views made it all worthwhile. A friend of mine was asked, "How'd that buddy of yours do up on Baldy? Did he make it okay?". Yeah, he's doin' all right...
Mark very near the summit, with downtown (very near center) in the background.
It's hard to believe that the little clump of buildings is the second largest city in the United States, and home to millions of people. We summited Baldy, elevation 10,064 feet, at 10:30 am. A change of gear, some exploring, and a quick bite to eat and it was time to ski back down before the snow became too soft.
Mark just after departure from the summit. Mount Harwood (foreground, left), Mt. Baldy Ski Area (middleground, slightly right), Telegraph Peak (behind Mt. Baldy Ski Area), Mt. San Gorgonio (background, left), and San Jacinto (background, right) can all be seen.
Al carving some turns midway down the bowl, with Claremont below.
It's good that the delightful corn snow allowed Al to make clean turns, as it seemed all of Claremont was watching. This picture also gives a pretty good idea of the general pitch of the skiing in the bowl. There probably aren't too many places in the world where you can have skiing like this and look out and see the ocean (as you can in the picture above) while you take a breather.
Mark making some long turns into the flats below the bowl. Note the substantial slide at the very left.
The pitch of the bowl makes it very prone to slides. Fortunately, several days of consolidation had reduced this hazard to a minimum at the time of our visit, but evidence of old slides was everywhere.
After arriving at the base of the bowl, it was time to make our way back to Manker Flats. Some additional skiing was found, but as the snow began to get thinner at lower elevations, most of the travel below the bowl was a strange combination of hairy shots down narrow hiking trails, sidestepping across small rocky regions, and bushwacking through chapparal. I never thought I'd have to avoid yucca plants while skiing!
A view back into the bowl. The campsite is located on the saddle just to the right of the top of the dead tree.
Nonetheless, the return trip did offer some superb views back into the bowl. Eventually, we did have to give up the skis for hiking gear.
A view back into the bowl from lower down on the trail.
Overall and exhausting but very enjoyable outing.