We took a late afternoon drive up the Angeles Crest Saturday, and I thought Liz would enjoy exploring Kratka Ridge (also known as Snowcrest). We hiked up the single black run in the center of this pic.
Ticket office is at lower left.
The lift towers and single chairs are still there, dating back to 1954.
But the base station for the lift was wiped out by an avalanche in February 2001. A nearby base lodge and bar burned down in December 2001. The Angeles Crest Resorts ownership collected insurance but never rebuilt. The current Metcalf ownership has its hands full reviving Mt. Waterman and has not done anything yet with Kratka.
After climbing that ski run we hiked along the ridge for awhile. There was a view of the upper San Gabriel River Canyon with the Highway 39 cut at left.
The connection from Hwy 39 to the Angeles Crest Highway was severed by mudslides in 1978 and has never reopened.
Eventually we reached the top unloading station of the 700 vertical single chair.
Upper lift shack
Zoom view of Mt. Waterman's upper Chair 2
Liz ascended a lift tower.
We descended a blue run toward the original base lodge.
Those cars had some damage (tires, windshields) and ~3 year old registrations.
Soon we reached the top of the beginner chair
This was built in late 1980's. When I skied Kratka as a beginner in 1977 and 1978 there were only rope tows in this area. I brought Andrew here as a beginner in 1994 to use this chair, and skied the single just a few times. The only time I skied the single extensively was in 1981.
Rope tow pulley with day lodge in background.
Food service deck at the day lodge
Somehow I remembered this setup very well from my few visits.
We left Kratka and then stopped at Buckhorn.
I brought Adam up here at age 2 on plastic skis
I did not notice the lodge or longer ropetows then.
Supposedly the 3 ropetows access a combined 680 vertical feet , nearly as much as Kratka.
There is a well-maintained lodge that sleeps up to 40 people.
We stopped at Mt. Waterman also and happened to run into caretaker Todd Brugger, whom I met hiking up there with Samantha the year after the Station Fire. He explained that Buckhorn is indeed a going concern as a private ski club. I asked about the long ropetows and Todd explained that members uses a belt and "gripper" to attach. This is the same as the famous New Zealand "nutcrackers" and I had been thinking that Buckhorn looked like a smaller version of the NZ club fields I had visited in 2010. Todd did not know about the NZ areas, but we both knew that nutcracker tows are not permitted in public ski areas in the US.
Mt. Waterman is open on summer weekends, with chair 1 scenic ride access, food at the day lodge and a frisbee golf course set up around the chair 2 ski runs.
Ticket office is at lower left.
The lift towers and single chairs are still there, dating back to 1954.
But the base station for the lift was wiped out by an avalanche in February 2001. A nearby base lodge and bar burned down in December 2001. The Angeles Crest Resorts ownership collected insurance but never rebuilt. The current Metcalf ownership has its hands full reviving Mt. Waterman and has not done anything yet with Kratka.
After climbing that ski run we hiked along the ridge for awhile. There was a view of the upper San Gabriel River Canyon with the Highway 39 cut at left.
The connection from Hwy 39 to the Angeles Crest Highway was severed by mudslides in 1978 and has never reopened.
Eventually we reached the top unloading station of the 700 vertical single chair.
Upper lift shack
Zoom view of Mt. Waterman's upper Chair 2
Liz ascended a lift tower.
We descended a blue run toward the original base lodge.
Those cars had some damage (tires, windshields) and ~3 year old registrations.
Soon we reached the top of the beginner chair
This was built in late 1980's. When I skied Kratka as a beginner in 1977 and 1978 there were only rope tows in this area. I brought Andrew here as a beginner in 1994 to use this chair, and skied the single just a few times. The only time I skied the single extensively was in 1981.
Rope tow pulley with day lodge in background.
Food service deck at the day lodge
Somehow I remembered this setup very well from my few visits.
We left Kratka and then stopped at Buckhorn.
I brought Adam up here at age 2 on plastic skis
I did not notice the lodge or longer ropetows then.
Supposedly the 3 ropetows access a combined 680 vertical feet , nearly as much as Kratka.
There is a well-maintained lodge that sleeps up to 40 people.
We stopped at Mt. Waterman also and happened to run into caretaker Todd Brugger, whom I met hiking up there with Samantha the year after the Station Fire. He explained that Buckhorn is indeed a going concern as a private ski club. I asked about the long ropetows and Todd explained that members uses a belt and "gripper" to attach. This is the same as the famous New Zealand "nutcrackers" and I had been thinking that Buckhorn looked like a smaller version of the NZ club fields I had visited in 2010. Todd did not know about the NZ areas, but we both knew that nutcracker tows are not permitted in public ski areas in the US.
Mt. Waterman is open on summer weekends, with chair 1 scenic ride access, food at the day lodge and a frisbee golf course set up around the chair 2 ski runs.