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Backcountry Skiing -Southern California
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Definitely good spring conditions out there still. I skied Jepson down to 8600ft on May 20th. Conditions were as good as they get for spring skiing. I'm sure it's melted quite a bit since then, but I'm also sure it's still skiable if you're willing to take your skis on a hike. As for the Seirra, it's starting to sun cup lower down, but I toured the Rock Creek area on May 27th. Conditions were mostly good with some localized saturated snow. I'm thinking of Jepson again this Sunday afternoon. |
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In search of June turns and stymied from my plans for Mammoth by thunderstorms, I set my sights on Gorgonio. Uncertain of which face would hold the best snow, I decided to do the long loop via Dollar Lake to check out Charleton, Little Charleton, Jepson, and San Gorgonio. Snow coverage was intermittent the whole way, some snow banks were waist deep while other areas were bone dry. Charleton and Little Charleton still have areas of good coverage on north facing aspects but lots of sun cups. Jepson chutes were the best looking of the day, coverage was somewhat thin but minimal sun cupping. The bowl below still has snow for a longer run out but a fair amount of sun cups. Gorgonio northeast facing runs had some good looking snow in the more shaded areas behind the ridge. The main open runs northwest facing off Gorgonio area were moderately sun cupped up top but still held good turns without too much fuss. Down low held very deep sun cups and was no longer rideable. In retrospect I wish I had done the Jepson chutes but wanted to summit Gorgonio and by the time I topped out it was too late in the day to do anything other than the most direct route back to Dry Lake and the hike out. Overall I would say Gorgonio is not worth the effort of the hike right now, Jepson chutes are still good but will likely be too thin to ride in another week or two, especially with the rain this weekend.  First look at Gorgonio coverage on the approach in  Typically snow quality up high  Looking down Gorgonio's main chute  Never seen dry lake this full before |
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I was also out in the San G wilderness yesterday and can confirm the sun cups are real. I skied a couple lines off Big Draw and the east side of Jepson, and the steeper stuff higher up was fine. The sun cups lower down were too big to be fun. Great season down here though. Time to move my efforts north. |
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This has been done many times…LOL |
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Curious if anyone has been up this year, especially after the little system that just came through? |
Hank G wrote: Im wondering the same. I just heard from a local that there are many sharks still visible on Baldy…. But I would like to confirm this …any updates would be appreciated . |
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I was up before this last storm and there was basically zero cover from lots of warm temps. This is from January 12th (maybe near zekes?). Since I think this last storm was the only snow since then I have doubts about the skiable terrain.   |
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I went up to Snow Summit yesterday. Stopped a few times along the way to scope out the mountains via binocs. Coverage looks VERY thin. |
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Apparently there is a facebook group that is fairly active? "Southern California Backcountry Skiers & Snowboarders" https://www.facebook.com/groups/1339924180183772/   It seems a few turns could be had if you were really thirsting / driven... but I'd say if looking for a quality day or trip, just make the effort to drive up to the Sierra for now. It's still low tide there too, & you'd definitely have to go all the way north to Bishop at least, Mammoth area seems to be the most quality option for now. Not much in the forecast for southern-sierra but maybe we'll get some coverage by end of Feb. Tough year, keep the stoke alive- but it's safe to say SoCal wont be anything like last season : ( |
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I'm in the southern California backcountry skiers group and I don't see those photos. That doesn't look recent. Edit: actually it's a different group I'm in on Facebook but no one has posted anything there. I'd like to see more pics though I feel like sometimes people snow conditions "catfish". |
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I plan on getting out locally as soon as both storms pass through. I'm based out of LA. I'm interested in full days of 4 to 6k of vert, mostly on weekends. I'll take a weekday off if conditions merit it. DM if interested! E |
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Anyone have any idea what baldy looks like? Filled in enough to ski? Sanjac conditions make it sound like you could skin from humber ... Mt laguna had enough to skin at like 5200 today, too much for the dog to really trail run. I had to go lower elevation for him. 5200 feet below.  We went to bottom of noble canyon, below. A little more would have been perfect, but was still fun. First time he's seen snow.  |
Dave Schultz wrote: I’d wait for a thaw and another storm. Unless you don’t mind much more PTex… |
 The snow quality was excellent today. |
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22 year old woman still “missing” on Baldy. She went out on Sunday. |
Ethan Ayer wrote: Cool! On my way up this weekend then! |
phylp phylp wrote: Yes, SAR has been looking all week For the missing hiker. Someone found two items that belonged to her near San Antonio Waterfall. We saw nothing while we were out there yesterday. If you find anything, please contact the local search and rescue. |
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For those of you heading to Baldy - I attended a meeting with the Altadena SAR team last night and it was mentioned how the snow up there has not consolidated yet, and the slide risk is very high. Please be careful! |
Jeff J wrote: Thanks, sort of thought that. Waiting for a thaw and storm cycle… I plan a couple chutes this year if possible? That and I’m really getting into this gym climbing. However, still cowardly. I told people I was melting off a hold on an inverted climb, so they’d bought that. I was just too skittish… need to work on my bravery skills before going down Baldy again this year. |
