Mt. Baldy?

I'm moved from WA to Los Angeles for college a few years back, and put in about 50 days at Baldy my freshman year. 85% of the time it was horribly disappointing, but it really is the only place closer than Mammoth that occasionally has some decent terrain. If you ski Baldy, you will be the best rider on the mountain. By far. Guaranteed.

The second year I lived in LA I resigned myself to skiing park at Mt High and Bear and haven't looked back at Baldy.

I haven't been to Baldy since I was 6, but I heard when the snow is fresh that it's much better than Bear and High. Is it true?

That's what I've heard. Mt High sucks with fresh snow, nothing is steep enough to do anything there.

Mt. Baldy is nicer than Mt. High after a good snow. They actually have some pretty good terrain at Baldy if you look around. I hear they even have a tiny park there now. But its SoCal, its gonna be 70 degrees half the time you are riding, might as well go to Mt. High in the slush and enjoy all the crazy rails, hot chicks, people getting drunk/high and general SoCal atmosphere. Baldy is for old dudes.

Went last year and almost killed myself because of so many people. Last year I only went for a new snowboard, but I didn't notice any ski stuff. Do they actually carry any skis?

Actually I didn't go last year because it was at night for some reason and I had to work. The last couple years before that they did it during the day and it was more enjoyable. Its at night again this year though. Usually there is quite a bit of ski equipment if you look around, but not at good prices. Its really not worth buying skis there. I go to try on boots mostly because I can't afford to pay full price and get them fit, but I don't want to be a dick and try them on at a store then not buy them. You can also find some killer outerwear deals if you look hard enough. Plus its like $15 and you get a free ticket to Bear, so in my estimation they are basically paying you to be there. I usually bring a chick, its fun. You can get good deals on out of state trips there as well and like I said really cheap Baldy passes most years.

Here is the deal on Mt Baldy. It has the most vertical drop of any ski resort in So Cal. By far has the best steeps, bowls and glades. even some really rowdy cliffs and double stagers. The Baskside is insane with over 4000 ft of vertical drop in steep wide open bowls. But some may have gone on a crowded weekend or windy day which can both lead to frustration. If you can get to Baldy right after a big dump, mid-week is better, because it seems like all of So Cal shows up after big storms to get the pow. Get there EARLY cause the crowds on the road can blow part of your day too. They do have a small park with jibs, bonks, and boxes, and even a big air comp every year, but Baldy's true magic is the terrain. Like I said sometimes the weather or crowds can be a bummer, and yes the lifts are old and slow, but there are not a lot of rules here, and if you are a ripping skier, you will appreciate the freedom you get here to go big and fast. It's not like any other ski area down here, most of you should be stoked on that, but some will prefer a park over this type of bowl and steep glade skiing. It just depends on what you like, and if you venture out to find hidden pow stashes and cliffs. When it dumps, you're gonna want to be at Baldy instead of the flats of Big Bear or Mtn High.

Pretty much sums it up. The road going there is a huge bitch because there is no back way up as far as I know.

Downtown Los Angeles, with Mt Baldy in the background.

Does anyone ever built kickers in this powder you speak of?

Like Paul said, one of the things about Baldy that is awesome is that nobody cares what you do. I've seen people build stupidly sketchy booters directly under the lifts, and everyone just cheers them on.

I have a hard time justifying spending the time to build a good jump on a powder day because powder days don't happen very often in LA, but there are still a lot of fun drops and hucks around the mountain if you explore the OB.