Backcountry Skiing -Southern California

Ethan Ayerwrote:

Where do you live in LA? 

about 1-2 miles west of downtown LA.

Glad I found this thread! Aiare 1, big bear “local” (bought up here in 2016). WFH, looking for some people to tour with in the area - have never (always in mammoth or somewhere with much better terrain)— ig is @kimkla for those curious! Would also love to see any routes on garmin/strava if you guys could share!

Got out to Mt Baldy today. 

Everything was green light. The forecast mostly aligned with what was expected, expect for the constant wind, which actually probably helped from letting the snow become too soft.  Snowpack was still pretty good, any obstacles were easy to detect. Climbed and skied two the of chutes, skied like SoCal spring corn, a good day out. 

Would love to go up tomorrow or monday for a little tour if anyone else might be going up!

Hey everyone! I'm in grad school at UCLA and really hoping to find some backcountry partners. I'll be back in LA this Friday and would love to find folks to do some touring with. I have an AIARE 1 and all the necessary avalanche gear. I've been on some solid tours this winter in Colorado. I'm a very confident skier and have grown up skiing in bounds in CO my whole life. I'm a newbie to SoCal and would love to get out and explore some of these CA mountains! 

Elise Chessmanwrote:

Hey everyone! I'm in grad school at UCLA and really hoping to find some backcountry partners. I'll be back in LA this Friday and would love to find folks to do some touring with. I have an AIARE 1 and all the necessary avalanche gear. I've been on some solid tours this winter in Colorado. I'm a very confident skier and have grown up skiing in bounds in CO my whole life. I'm a newbie to SoCal and would love to get out and explore some of these CA mountains! 

Hi Elise, if it ever snows again I’m always eager to find good partners! I’m recovering from a ski related injury so I‘ll be out for a month. I’ve found some really solid partners on Mountain Project in the past.  Due the warm temps and lack of precipitation, the skiing in SoCal can be terrible.  The San Gabriel Mountains have generally steep and complex terrain. Having said that, it can still mean a fun day in the mountains if you set your expectations. And some areas require a substantial approach. Your best bet is to drive north several hours to the Eastern Sierras. If the weather pattern becomes active, so will this thread.

I’m hoping to climb today at the Tunnel Crag by Islip Saddle.   I’ll let you all know what snow conditions look like in the area.   I might head up to Kratka this week and do a few skin laps if it looks good or bring my ebike and ride the closed road to ski Throop.  

Plenty of snow at Kratka and beyond.   Tons still at Waterman too.   Cold and windy with firm conditions.  

Climbing was good once the wind died down. 

San G wilderness! Horrible snow conditions but at least some turns were had. Not corn yet….

With the warming conditions, I will head back by waterman at some point in the next few days (mid morning) to see if the conditions soften a bit.  Let me know if anyone is interested in joining.  Was up in the Mammoth/June Lake area over the weekend on an AIARE 2 course.  Skiing was great at lower elevations in the trees in untracked areas where faceting was dominant in the upper layer.  It’s getting harder to find untracked spots though and the tracks are staying firm. Lots of unusual conditions, including some serious surface hoar.  

Robert Urbandwrote:

With the warming conditions, I will head back by waterman at some point in the next few days (mid morning) to see if the conditions soften a bit.  Let me know if anyone is interested in joining.  Was up in the Mammoth/June Lake area over the weekend on an AIARE 2 course.  Skiing was great at lower elevations in the trees in untracked areas where faceting was dominant in the upper layer.  It’s getting harder to find untracked spots though and the tracks are staying firm. Lots of unusual conditions, including some serious surface hoar.  

I’m down - just let me know when!

Hey gang! I’m currently living in Big Bear and WFH’ing. I’m a hard booting split boarder, took a Backcountry Rec1 (avi1 + rescue) in December. I’ve been touring laps at Snow Summit and surrounding mountainside for health and reps, and am planning an exploratory hike (tour?) up South Fork towards Dry Lake on Saturday. Never been back in towards San G with snow -  not sure what I’m getting myself into! All intel, tips, or advice greatly appreciated! Also keen to find some touring buddies in the area.

Cheers!

/RickD

rick at d5world dot com

Pretty mellow up to Dry Lake. You could park at the old road junction with Jenks Lake Road and take that until you hit the trail which crosses that road heading to Poopout Hill. After that it's just ghost forest to South Fork Meadows. Hopefully you'll be in snow by then. If so you can take the creek bed up to Dry Lake instead of the trail, which winds up the hillside. I'm not sure if this is multi-dayer or not, but Dry Lake is a great spot to camp. The terrain above Dry Lake, when the conditions are right, is a backcountry ski heaven.

Here's a link showing Jenks Lake and Poopout Hill - the parking spot you need is that junction at the sharp bend right below the lake.

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=34.15264,-116.86992&z=15&b=t&o=f16a%2Cr&n=1,0.25

The road is longer than the trail but for my old bones a lot less frustrating.

Chris Owenwrote:

Pretty mellow up to Dry Lake. You could park at the old road junction with Jenks Lake Road and take that until you hit the trail which crosses that road heading to Poopout Hill. After that it's just ghost forest to South Fork Meadows. Hopefully you'll be in snow by then. If so you can take the creek bed up to Dry Lake instead of the trail, which winds up the hillside. I'm not sure if this is multi-dayer or not, but Dry Lake is a great spot to camp. The terrain above Dry Lake, when the conditions are right, is a backcountry ski heaven.

Here's a link showing Jenks Lake and Poopout Hill - the parking spot you need is that junction at the sharp bend right below the lake.

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=34.15264,-116.86992&z=15&b=t&o=f16a%2Cr&n=1,0.25

The road is longer than the trail but for my old bones a lot less frustrating.

Where are you parking? Bottom of road south fork fire road? Sometimes they leave the gate open for firewood but mostly it’s closed… 

Yes, parked at the fire road junction. In the good old days you could drive all the way to Poopout Hill :-(

I am looking for additional backcountry ski partners for Eastern Sierra ski touring.  I live in the LA area.  I have been skiing my whole life and grew up skiing in Montana but only have been backcountry skiing 1 year.  I have my AIARE 1 cert and have mostly been on guided ski tours.  If anyone is interested DM me. 

(Also looking for gym climbing partners, I have been going to the stronghold in LA, been climbing about a year and project at about the 5.10b/c gym level TR, very gradually looking to get outside).

Was able to make it out with a couple people this last Saturday to Kratka ridge in the San Gabriels and the snow conditions were good.  Almost like blower power from this last storm. Maybe like 4 to 5 inches of fresh snow on top of a pencil hard layer and a knife hard base below that.  Little snow on southern aspects.  Was great skiing for the day, supposed to warm up a lot next week so there is a pretty short window to get out there.

San G area in excellent condition up high last week. Very cold, very fun.

Did you get high and leave your snowboard in the car park for Mount Charlton Sunday? Message me a description and get it back.

I can’t claim a board left at the trailhead. Heck - I’d forget my car before I’d forget my splitty!