From the Desert to the Sea to All of Southern California: Winter Sports in the L.A. Area

It's been said of the Los Angeles area that you can go surfing in the morning and skiing in the afternoon. It is very possible to do but, unless you're a very hard core surfer with an excellent wet suit, the winter water in our ocean will chill you to the bone.

But, if you were really adventurous, absolutely.  It wouldn't be a stretch to surf Huntington or Newport and zip up to our local mountains for a few hours on the snow.

Especially this winter when the long promised El Niño has arrived and is dumping record amounts of snow in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountain ranges.

I'll let someone else tell you about the joys of winter surfing on our local beaches but I do have quite a bit of experience in our local mountains...but fair warning: I haven't skied here for several years.

At one point, I can remember 15 separate ski areas in our area. Now, due to mergers and closures, we're down to 6.  Here are my thoughts on the areas I've skied over the years.

Big Bear Lake - The eastern most portion of our local mountains contains our biggest areas, Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, which are now owned by Mammoth Mountain (the giant ski area up north). 

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Bearmountain.com under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Bear Mountain (formerly Goldmine and formerly Moonridge before that) is my favorite of the two...longer trails, more vertical drop, higher summits, and better snow. But Snow Summit bought them out a few years ago and the area kind of turned into a step sister to it's new owner, which got most of the money and upgrades over the years.  Still, a great mountain for our area and one of the oldest and more established adaptive ski programs in the west.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia kallahar under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Snow Summit is a smaller, more cozy place to ski.  Not as challening as Bear Mountain and tends to draw most of the crowds.  It's plusses are that it has complete coverage for snowmaking and you can also do some night skiing here.

Rebel Ridge is a defunct ski area that had some really nice, challenging terrain at bargain prices but that is all just history now. You can now go tubing and sledding there and it's called Big Bear Snow Play.

There was also another, small challenging hill there called Snow Forest.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia me under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Running Springs - Lake Arrowhead is a big, beautiful and private lake up in the San Bernardino Mountains...a little closer to civilization than Big Bear (about a half hour closer)...and creator of their own ski area, too.  It's changed owners a few times over the years but Snow Valley remains a key player in the Southern California ski scene in nearby Running Springs.  

It's a huge area (by local standardss) serviced by an equally impressive array of lifts with a very large snow making operation. Night skiing is also available here, giving Inland Empire students a place to come up and burn off some of those calories after school at reduced rates.  While the bottom is mostly bunny hill, there is plenty of terrain up above for those of higher skills.

Green Valley Ski Area is another defunct ski hill in the area that couldn't keep up, especially after its facilities burned down in a fire.

Wrightwood - Formerly home to three separate areas that merged into one. Holiday Hill and Ski Sunrise (formerly Table Mountain) became part of the umbrella of the Mountain High (formerly Blue Ridge) Ski Area. It's biggest plus is that there is no windy, mountain driving required to get there and is the easiest resort to drive to from the cities down below.

In my opinion, Holiday Hill (now Mountain High East) is the best of the bunch here but is now mostly used as an overflow hill for the main Mountain High area (called Mountain High West).  It has nice, long trails. Some are very challenging, such as the two very steep faces you see from the parking lot. An intermediate trail winds down from the east side in the trees and beginners catch the lift back down at the top of those steep runs.

Mountain High West holds a lot of memories for me too, as it was the closest night skiing venue to my college and found me coming up a lot for some midweek, after dark thrills.  One time, finding it closed when we arrived, my friend Donnie and me hiked up to the top with our equipment just to get a ride in and not have a wasted trip.

The former Ski Sunrise is mostly used as a snow play area now.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Eric T. Gunther under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Mt. Baldy - For most people in the eastern part of the L.A. Basin, this is the closest ski area to get to, although the last couple of miles are probably the hairiest bit of driving you can find to get to any of our local slopes.

Technically, it's our biggest ski area but in reality, only the upper portion is dependable for skiing. The lift out of the parking lot takes you up to the base lodge and the run underneath is extremely steep and usually doesn't have enough snow to ski on even if you're expert enough to handle it. 

About half of the slopes on top face south so the snow readily turns to slush in the sun and sometimes melts completely. It doesn't have the financial resources of the bigger areas to the east so it aways seems to be hanging by a thread.  It does attract a good, local crowd, though, and is a great place to ski with fresh snow.

It does not offer any accessiblity at all for wheelchair users.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Eekster under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Angeles Crest Highway - Talk about hanging on by a thread. Mt. Waterman didn't open at all for 7 years and is still waiting to open this year, although their website says they'll be opening in a few days as of this writing.  Mt. Waterman...and it's long gone sister area, Kratka Ridge...are the closest areas to central L.A., the Westside, and the Valley, sitting just above La Cañada on Angeles Crest Highway between Mt. Wilson and Wrightwood.

They also have a problem that no other local area has, a complete lack of snowmaking capability. In a warm climate, prone to drought, it's not a good recipe for financial success to rely on natural snow only.

From the bottom, at it's tiny parking lot (really just a wide spot on the road), all you see are the steepest runs you can imagine ending abruptly at the pavement with nary any slow down area at all. The easier slopes are up at the top prompting most people here to take the chair back down.

I've only skied at Kratka Ridge which was a fabulous place to ski when there was good snow and run by some of the friendliest folks you'll find. The owner once saved my butt when my motorcycle broke down nearby, offering me cocoa and a seat by the fireplace until I could be rescued, so I do have a bit of a soft spot for this defunct area.

The Mt. Waterman side of things could sure use some good breaks during this El Niño year to get back on track financially, it will be interesting to see if they can hang on.

Nearby, Buckhorn Ski Club operates their own little rope-tow serviced hill and lodge. It's a private ski club but you can get a 'tryout' on their hill for only $10. I've never tried this place so have nothing to report on it.

So, active ski areas are
Big Bear Mountain Resorts (Snow Summit and Bear Mountain)
Snow Valley
Mountain High (Mountain High, Mountain High East, and Mountain High North)
Mt. Baldy
Mt. Waterman
Buckhorn Ski Club

Defunct areas are
Rebel Ridge
Green Valley
Krakta Ridge
Snow Forest

There you have it, the Alpine skiing options for those of you who want to get a little time on the slopes in while you're here in sunny, Southern California.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Winter Wonders

OK, it's official...our governor has declared a drought emergency. We've known we've been in a drought for over a year and with not a drop this January, I guess Mr. Brown could not deny it any longer. 

What this means is that we're heartily encouraged to cut our water use by 20%. This will soon become mandatory should this very dry winter continue. The water company will tell us how much we can use and any amounts over that will be charged at double or triple the rate...something like that.

It's good that I put in the drought-tolerant lawn this fall. Now, we'll see just how tolerant it is. 

In the meantime, this hot, dry weather has fooled some of the roses into blooming again. Look at the front garden, up at the top, and this Mr. Lincoln.

'Magic Moment' is spectacular right now.

Enjoy it, flowers, because pruning time is coming very soon.

Oh, almost forgot...we got our first orchid bloom of the year this weekend with this cymbidium.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights ReservedThe Garden Blog Directory - Great gardening and landscaping blogs are all listed here!

January's Jewels

Just a quick hit to show you this week's harvest...

Still a lot left on the plants but this week we've got a couple of Cara Cara oranges that are just perfectly sweet and juicy, a couple of Meyer Lemons, tomatoes, guavas, and a bell pepper plus a pepperette.

The bell peppers are done with this week's picking but the hot chile peppers just keep going and going and going...

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Winter's Burdens

One thing those of you who live on those frigid tundras up to the north or back east...you can skip a lot of gardening chores during the winter. 

Here in Southern California, gardening season may take a short break but it never really stops.

The roses in the front yard have decided they'll have one more hurrah before pruning time starts.  Since they look so happy, I'll start at the other end...the far side of the backyard...and work my way towards these, letting them be last on the pruning schedule.

I thought I'd taken a before picture of this Angel Face and Moonstone before pruning, but I guess I was mistaken.  You can see more about how I prune in this pruning post from last year.

The plumerias, tender as they are, are shedding their leaves as the cooler evenings set in.  I'll sweep these up.

This one, in front of Mr. Lincoln, has gone completely bald for the winter.

Finally, I'm waiting for the grapevine to shed it's leaves completely, as it will when the temps drop into the 20's later this month, so I can give it a trim. The wife and I are currently debating exactly where those cuts will go.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

TRANSIT REPORT - Vancouver, Canada 2010

With the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver is planning a massive boost in transit service. The entire transit system is wheelchair accessible. Options in the city are varied and a new streetcar demonstration project will be part of the mix during the Olympic period.

SKYTRAIN – This is Vancouver’s version of a subway which, here, is actually a light-rail El although there are small sections buried underground. The trains are automated and do not have drivers. At 43 miles, it’s the longest automated rail transit system in the world. It has three lines. The Expo line was the original, built in 1986 for the World’s Fair. It runs from the Southeast section of the city at Langley. The Millennium Line opened in 2002 and runs a loop through the city core. The latest line is the Canada Line, built to accommodate travelers to the Olympics, runs from the airport and also a spur from Richmond. All three lines converge at the Waterfront station in the heart of the city.

For the Olympics, service on the Skytrain will be increased to a train every 108 seconds at peak times.

WEST COAST EXPRESS – This is a Monday – Friday rush hour only commuter rail service that runs from Mission City in the east and terminates at the Waterfront station downtown. On weekend, a bus only service is run on a mid-day schedule. During the games, six additional weekday trips will be scheduled…three each way; nine extra trips on Saturdays; and eight additional runs on Sundays.

SEABUS – This is a ferry that runs from the Waterfront station across the bay to Lonsdale Quay. Crossing time is 12 minutes. During the games, service will be increased 50% to every 10 minutes.

BUS – An extensive bus network covers the rest of the city. Service will be increased on a line-by-line basis as needed during the games.

HANDY-DART – the region’s paratransit service is accepting applications from Olympic visitors (PDF) to use the service while they are in the area.

OLYMPIC BUS SERVICE – The local organizing committee is running a temporary bus service from Vancouver to the Whistler area for the games. The buses are accessible, reservations are required, and are mandatory for Olympic spectators…there is no parking at any of the venues. Accessible shuttle buses will transport you through the Whistler area. Bus transportation is included in the price of your ticket.

OLYMPIC STREETCAR DEMONSTRATION PROJECT – During the Olympics, the City of Vancouver and the Bombardier Corporation will run a free, 1.8KM streetcar line from the Olympic Village to Granville Island with two stops in between. The ridership will be evaluated to help determine if the streetcar system should be expanded throughout the city.

BC FERRIES - operates service throughout the coastal region, notably to the beautiful city of Victoria on Vancouver Island. Bus service is available to/from both Vancouver and Victoria/Nanaimo.

Olympics or not, Vancouver is a great place to visit. Have fun!

-Darryl
Pictures courtesy of Wikimedia
Alisdair McLellan under CC-SA license
Seglea under CC-SA license
scondarywalts under CC-BY license
Phillippe Giabbanelli under CC-BY license