Mt. Baldy, 3/20/2010

[baldyskier]

Baldy has great spring conditions now. There wasn't enough snow at the bottom of Chair One to allow me to load with my skis on, but that was one of the only noticeable affects of the retreating snow. I started skiing at about 9:30, with my first 2 runs on chair 4. The coverage is still good there, though some bare spots are visible. I noticed skiers were coming down Thunder Mtn. (which I thought would be icy until later), so I headed over there. The groomed runs were nice, while the ungroomed needed a little more sun to soften them up (they weren't really icy, just a little hard). I saw Socal at about noon- unfortunately he had to head out before Thunder reached its prime. I stuck mostly with the groomers, then took a break for lunch from about 1:15-2:00 PM. After that, the snow on Thunder was very nice. I hit South Bowl a few times (still good coverage, even on the entry area and the runout.) It wasn't quite as soft as Liftline, Skyline, etc., but skied well. I left at about 3:30, skiing down to the parking lot by way of Bentley's. I jammed my pole down to check the depth of the snow about 2/3 of the way down the run, and it went down at least 4'. By staying high I was able to avoid the bare areas near the stream and ski down near where my car was parked. I got in about 21K of vertical today- not even as much as a good powder day by Tony's standards, but I enjoyed it. I may load a couple pictures tomorrow if I get a chance. They aren't as pretty as the ones I took back on Feb. 10th, but they do show decent coverage, still. There were a lot less people up there today- liftlines were nonexistent for the most part.

 

[SoCal Rider]

I'm going to be there around 11 tomorrow. Hopefully I can get a few runs in on 4 before it gets too sloppy (but the board is freshly waxed).

 

[Tony Crocker]

I got in about 21K of vertical today-

That's quite a bit for the hours you were there. My February days I was there 8:00 - 4:30, got 23-25K. Conditions seem similar to Garry's comments. The ungroomed on Thunder is good until 4:15 closing, worth staying for I would think.

Another case where the earlier daylight savings is not serving skiers optimally. There should be another hour of softening snow there.

 

[SoCal Rider]

Softer today than Monday. Emile's was sweet from the top down by the time I got there. Liftlines appeared to noticeably more forgiving, but I never quite made it over that far. South Bowl is still more than adequate. I think I liked the surfaces elsewhere better though.

 

[Anonymous]

Another case where the earlier daylight savings is not serving skiers optimally. There should be another hour of softening snow there.

My guess is their employees are used to their schedules and wouldn't want to change them, plus there's the hassle of informing the public of a change in hours -- a potentially deadly PR problem which could be solved by opening at the same time, but remaining open an extra hour in the evening. However, this cuts their profit margin, particularly if it creates a situation where overtime must be payed. Now, for next season, all their notices to the public could be prepared with a change in hours after the change to daylight saving time clearly stated from the get go.

You wrote here on 2/14/2010 in "Mt. Baldy, Feb. 13, 2010", "I heard there is a new investor/partial owner, and by sheer fluke I rode my last chair on Thunder with him at 3:45PM. Needless to say Tom Treaccar and I had a lengthy conversation. He's been trying to get involved for awhile, and finally the family ownership saw the light and let him buy in last year. Tom's first steps are to put some more professionalism into the operation, for example replacing the missing slats on many of the chairs." So it sounds like you may have an inside track to help facilitate this improvement in hours for next season. Got any skiing To Do Lists handy?