Solo Mission to Mt. Baldy
After lounging around the house for a few hours, I packed up my car with ski gear and my iPod with podcasts, and headed out to Mt. Baldy. Earlier this season I purchased a SnowJam discount card for $15, giving me two free tickets to Snow Valley and Mt. Baldy. It snowed a few inches last night, so I figured this was my last chance to ski fresh snow for a while. I chose Mt. Baldy for it’s short drive and steep runs.
Five podcasts later, I was in Upland, California, the quaint town situated on the base of the mountain. The clouds hadn’t cleared and Baldy was hidden behind them, so I was worried that today’s skiing would be plagued by whiteout conditions. The further I traveled up the windy road, the more dense the clouds became until I got to the base of the ski resort and visibility was 20 feet at best.
I was surprised by how many people were actually there. Probably around 30 people, easily the busiest I’ve ever seen Baldy. The snow was soft with a fresh inch or two on top, perfect spring skiing.
I stayed in the trees for the best snow coverage and visibility. I found plenty of fun runs serviced by the main lift. For a half hour around noon, the clouds cleared and I was able to ski at a normal speed. The clouds rushed in pretty fast to fill the void though, and I skied another half hour before visibility got too poor to continue by myself safely.
The drive back down was very sketchy. The low visibility and wet road with freezing temperatures kept my driving to a snail pace.
I pulled over at a few spots to take photos, as I usually do on these solo adventures (see my journal post titled “Solo Mission to Wrightwood,” written on February 9, 2009). As I mentioned before, some of the best photos come from these random stops.
Three podcasts and a few albums later I am back home with a beer and a full stomach, thinking how awesome today was.