June 13-15, Far West Ski Assn. Palm Springs and Climb San Jacinto

[Tony Crocker]

Driving from Mammoth May 9 I got a call from Jane Wyckoff, Far West Ski Association Convention Chairperson. FWSA awarded me the Bill Berry Hard News Award for 2025

So she asked if I could attend the annual convention in Palm Springs to receive it. I said yes, and when I got home and examined the schedule, I noticed the Public Affairs Panel: Climate Change and the Future of Snowsports.

I sent Jane a few charts on the topic which I had previously prepared for the NASJA Northeast Weather Summit in 2018, so she invited me onto the panel.

Far West Ski Association is an association of ski clubs of the Pacific States, plus Arizona , Nevada and Idaho. Officers at the start of the Saturday lunch meeting:

Climate Change and Snowsports Panel:

Me with the award:

That as the only pic Liz got; I’m requesting better ones from FWSA. There may also be a video posted later of the Climate Change and Snowsports Panel.

We had considered when in Palm Springs in May for the DesertX art installations that we might return to hike San Jacinto from the Palm Springs tram. So that’s what we did Sunday. The tram opens 8AM weekends and 10AM weekdays. We were on the 8:45AM tram.

Even by Alps standards this is a steep tram, climbing from 2,643 feet to 8,516 feet.

We saw several people with these packs.

San Jacinto is a very rocky mountain, and there are some places very convenient to the upper tram station for rock climbing.

View of San Jacinto Peak from the upper tram station:

The hike is 6 miles one way mostly through forest. This was fortunate because high was 85F at the upper tram and reputedly 117F in Palm Springs. We started hiking 10AM

Map:

Wellman’s Divide at 3.2 miles and 9,700 feet is the first spot on the rail with any kind of view.

This is looking south around noon; highest peaks in that direction are about 8,800.

My age/altitude situation got worse above Wellman’s so Liz eventually went on ahead of me. As the trail heads south, it eventually breaks out of the forest into a bushy hillside.

This is around the last time that the upper tram station is visible.

Liz found this heart shaped rock by the trail interesting.

These bushes get buried in a decent winter.

Ben Solish and Adam skied this on AT gear in February 2017.

Most of the trail was about as rocky as this.

I slowed my pace, but with step ups over rocks still had to take short breaks every 20 minutes or so. I had no overt altitude symptoms like headache but just moved very slowly. The only comparable experience was at 14,000 feet on Mt. Whitney in 1999.

Liz looked inside this hut just short of the peak but I was too tired.

The final ~300 vertical is a scramble over boulders.

My guess by distance and elevation gain was that we would summit at 3PM. Liz got there at 2:50.

The boulders necessitated two rest stops for me, and on the second one I got dizzy. I called Liz to warn her that I was close but not sure how much longer it would take. She was on the summit but within earshot. When I got there at 3:15 I rested quite a while.

View west over Lake Perris toward L.A.:

That’s probably Baldy in upper right corner.

View southwest over Diamond Valley reservoir with crows soaring above the peak:

View northeast of the wind farms in San Gorgonio Pass:

I had to crawl carefully onto the proper boulder to get the view down the precipitous north face.

That’s a 9,000 foot vertical drop to the I-10 and route 111 junction, rare in the US lower 48 states. San Jacinto has a higher spire measure than any place in Utah or Colorado and ranks 6th in California.

You can ski maybe half of that in spring of a high snow year. But recall what happened here after the big dump of February 2023.

View east over Coachella Valley from Palm Springs to Indio:

Zoom southeast to the Salton Sea:

Back on top together before we headed down at 4PM:

Even in the forest we pass lots of boulders.

We got back to the tram station about 7:50 and rode the tram down about 8:15PM.

 

[EMSC]

We saw several people with these packs.

Large parts of the country would be baffled with what those packs are for. Of course very common seeing those out here by me with ridiculous numbers of climbers and boulder-ers.

 

[jimk]

Congrats on the award!
You have every right to be tired on that hike given the heat and the elevation. Liz is an animal. Actually, it's very good that you have a partner to look out for each other. All I can say about your fitness/altitude issue is that staying active ought to be the best medicine. Also, you are still doing stuff that most your age won't even think about.

A few weeks ago my wife and I started hiking the famed Navajo Loop trail at Bryce Canyon NP. It's only like 1.5 miles total, but straight down, then straight up. It was only about 75-80 degs, but there was an intense sun with little shade. We started down and got within about 1/4 mile of the turn around point, when I called it and said "let's head back up now." We had a big day/week of travel ahead of us and I didn't want to deal with anything like heat stroke for my wife or myself.

 

[Tony Crocker]

You have every right to be tired on that hike given the heat and the elevation.

The heat was not an issue. The hike was shaded until above 10,000 feet, at which point it was quite comfortable and even a little breezy.

Liz and I have done a lot of rigorous hikes as enumerated recently here (all of them Nov. 2011 and later), but they have nearly all been at low altitude. Our high altitude experiences have all been skiing, and the only one of those that involved much alpine touring was the Schwarztor in Zermatt in 2014.

As we all know, altitude sensitivity is mostly individual physiology, and Liz and I have been similarly blessed with better than average (not extreme like Staley) ability to handle it. Liz and I climbed Baldy from the Notch (7,800 - 10,000 with almost no shade) in 2016 and it was not a big deal for either of us. I think San Jacinto would have been similar for me in 2018 or 2019, based upon some of my ski activities in those years.

I observed changes in my altitude performance starting Dec. 2022 at Mammoth and insisted over the next year upon every pulmonary/cardiac test in the book and they found nothing.

Liz and I have since well before we met both expressed interest in climbing Kilimanjaro. The past three years have made it evident that option has passed me by. But Liz has signed up to do it next February. Since she is the age I was in 2019, this is a classic Warren Miller trip (If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older...).

In August 2023 I hiked most of the way up Mt. Hoffman in Yosemite, by myself because Liz was recovering from her knee replacement surgeries. That hike had the same altitude parameters as San Jacinto. I was slow on that one but not as much as on Sunday. I don't know it that's being 2 years older or that I slept two nights in Mammoth before Mt. Hoffman. The highest SoCal hikes are a good test of one's altitude sensitivity because they are daytrips after sleeping near sea level. 11,500 foot San Gorgonio is the toughest with easiest trailhead Fish Creek at 8,180 and 9.4 miles one way. If Liz wants to try that, I'm not likely to make it much past 10,000. I hiked up Fish Creek to San Gorgonio and down Vivian Creek (8 miles to 6,500 feet) in 1999. I hiked from Fish Creek in May 2011 with skis, could not make it to San Gorgonio and skied 1K from 10,000 closer to the trailhead.

Jimk: It was only about 75-80 degs, but there was an intense sun with little shade.

Bryce is only about 8,500 and Jimk had been living in Utah for 5 months, so had to be about heat sensitivity. Altitude sensitivity is not all that gets worse with age. I notice some with heat, cold and alcohol as well. Cold can be compensated some by clothing. My attitude with heat historically has been to be aggressive about staying hydrated, but I think Jimk is right about being conservative in one's exposure, especially if not feeling quite right.

 

[jimk]

"The highest SoCal hikes are a good test of one's altitude sensitivity because they are daytrips after sleeping near sea level." That's a huge factor and can explain a lot.

I'm not particularly good at altitude adjustment. I've gotten altitude sickness a few times in my life on ski trips from sea level to Colorado and NM, including as far back as my 30s.

In Jan of 2023 I did two days at Monarch, CO. It was on my drive from VA to UT and my first two ski days at altitude that winter. Monarch is high, the parking lot is ~10,700'. I was sucking wind a tremendous amount those two days. There was a storm with avi danger that closed the ski area on the day in between my two days. I was going to ski three straight, but the forced off-day was probably the best thing for me. Other than heavy breathing during the day with some extra fatigue, I did not get sick. Sleeping down in Salida (elev ~7100') was a help too.

At this point I'm pretty cautious about high climbs for skiing or summer hiking even if I've been at altitude for a while. The climb up Mt Baldy in April 2025 was a big deal for me and I went VERY slow. In my view you two are doing wonderfully.

I had a pretty optimal hiking situation in late March 2024. Did about four miles including about 1000 vertical, but it was at ~5000' at Antelope Island near Salt Lake City and I'd been continuously skiing the Cottonwoods for the prior two months.

View of the Wasatch Mtns from 5,278' Dooly Knob on Antelope Island. My car is in the parking lot below.

 

[Tony Crocker]

The climb up Mt Baldy in April 2025 was a big deal for me

I presume that was to ski Main Chute? Those days (Main 1990, 2007, 2013, Little Chute 2014) are probably over for me. How long was the hike, and was it from Alta or Snowbird side?

My current situation is purely amount of effort/burst of energy I can exert, that being reduced the higher I go. We passed through Monarch late March 2023 between Gunnison and Eagle, and I remember nothing happening at Monarch as it's a mellow ski area with short vertical. But the next two days I'm taking suck wind breaks on Birds Of Prey at Beaver Creek.

Jimk: I'm not particularly good at altitude adjustment. I've gotten altitude sickness a few times in my life on ski trips from sea level to Colorado and NM, including as far back as my 30s.

That's the individual physiology part, which is usually overcome by enough acclimatization time. So it's not much of an issue at Snowbird when Jimk is sleeping at ~5,000 feet for 5 months.

Since there is very little cheap vertical at Snowbird, Iron Blosam Week is when my suck wind breaks while skiing are most frequent. I've only skied with Jimk there a couple of times, but he seems not to have my problem. And I am not much better at the end of the week than at the beginning.

 

[jimk]

I presume that was to ski Main Chute? Those days (Main 1990, 2007, 2013, Little Chute 2014) are probably over for me. How long was the hike, and was it from Alta or Snowbird side?

My current situation is purely amount of effort/burst of energy I can exert, that being reduced the higher I go. We passed through Monarch late March 2023 between Gunnison and Eagle, and I remember nothing happening at Monarch as it's a mellow ski area with short vertical. But the next two days I'm taking suck wind breaks on Birds Of Prey at Beaver Creek.

Yes the hike for Main Chute was from the Snowbird side/summit. The hike starts on the cat track that winds behind the summit and goes towards peruvian gulch above the tunnel. It took me probably 30 minutes?? On the toughest parts I would take 100 steps between rest breaks But a fit, young person would think that hike was a breeze.

 

[Tony Crocker]

My first three Baldy hikes were from Alta. Thanks to 2013 documentation I found this:

I'm skiing more often now [in retirement] so the hike took 28 minutes vs. 34 then and 45 my first time in 1990.

In 1990 it was on the first day of a trip after driving form SoCal and getting to bed in SLC at 1AM. Snowbird side in 2014 was about 10 minutes up to the High Baldy Traverse, then another 15 to the top of Baldy. So 30 minutes is not that slow for a retiree or tourist.

I'm sure Jimk would agree, since he is Exhibit A, that the first years of retirement benefit from an increase in time for exercise, conditioning and overall ability to take on more strenuous and technical skiing. In my case the age related decline after that was very gradual for the first 9 years or so. Thus I spent a lot of time on the Warren Miller plan during those years. Kilimanjaro was definitely my most conspicuous omission during that window, so the best I can do is cheerlead Liz now.

 

[Sbooker]

Great to see you and Liz still walking up hills in a beautiful part of the world. Most 70+ year olds have a round a golf as their strenuous exercise.
I hope to be doing the same as you in 20 years.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Most 70+ year olds

I am reminded on days like Sunday that Liz is 66.

 

[Sbooker]

I am reminded on days like Sunday that Liz is 66.

Sorry. No offense intended of course. I knew you had passed your 70th birthday.........
Still a big effort by Liz.

 

[jasoncapecod]

Large parts of the country would be baffled with what those packs are for. Of course very common seeing those out here by me with ridiculous numbers of climbers and boulder-ers.

They aren’t packs
But small mattress or called bouldering pads

 

[snowave]

congrats on the award!

 

[EMSC]

They aren’t packs
But small mattress or called bouldering pads

Yep. But can't tell you how many times I've overheard average joe people talking amongst their group on "what is that weird looking backpack?" when in general tourist spots that also have short hikes to good climbing and bouldering.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Most 70+ year olds have a round a golf as their strenuous exercise.

Not saying that it's apples/apples but walking 18 holes on a long, hilly golf course during a hot day is a type of endurance that shouldn't be underestimated. We have some strenuous courses around here and by the 15th hole, I often start to drag and am always impressed by people (especially those 70+!) who continue to play well all the way through the round.