Mt. Baldy's reopening did attract the attention of the local media.snowave":3bwpb0yj said:Pretty ballsy move by Baldy for a lot of reasons. Hopefully for them, it doesn't backfire and get them in the [censored] tank.
A neighbor told me that Baldy was mentioned on local TV news too.
On Friday they were more explicit about required safety measures. On both days two employees were stationed at the entrance to the parking lot to allow only people with prepaid tickets or season passes in.
The lifties at both base and top of chair 1 reminded us to leave masks on and observe 6 foot distancing at the base of Thunder.
Riding chair 1 I observed that Bentley's has deteriorated over the last two days so even the nutcases probably weren't skiing it Friday.
Core area of Thunder when I started skiing at 9:30AM:
Snow was soft already as there was no overnight freeze, which also prevented grooming.
I warmed up on Bonanza, Skyline and Robin's. With no grooming there were some clumps so skiing was best in skier packed lines. This was "old school" Baldy skiing like in the 1980's. Back then there were intense moguls but with the current lower density I'd describe it as moguls under construction.
The slot I skied off the fire road on Wednesday was more marginal Friday so I took a pass.
But the cover is still excellent on Skyline and Emile's.
There was an extra attendant at the base of Thunder enforcing the masks and distancing. I was glad to see this in case any media or local authority decided to inspect. With the lift moving I never saw more than 5-6 people waiting. The exception was when Thunder stopped at 10:50 for 10 minutes.
South Bowl was open but today you needed to go out the ridge a bit to ski a sheltered line through the trees as the main bowl had taken too much sun. I'm about to drop in here with 10,000 foot Baldy peak in the background.
It was nearly noon so I stopped to put away my windbreaker and ski in a T-shirt the rest of the day. It probably hit 70F up there midday. A couple of other skiers came by.
Getting back to Thunder was easier than Wednesday with a set traverse track, though it had burned off in a couple of spots.
Liftline was still good at 1PM.
As on Wednesday I now finished up the most sheltered lines, Goldridge, Robin's trees and Emile's trees to Tortilla Flats. These runs took some more effort in the blazing sun but not quite as much as on Wednesday when I skied them an hour and a half later in the day.
I downloaded chair 1 at 1:45 after skiing 15,300 vertical.
I was surprised to see at least 10 people riding up at this way past prime hour, all with skis or snowboards on the chair behind. Sightseers and snowplayers are not allowed past those parking attendants.
Friday was the peak day of the current heat wave. It was 102F when I stopped at In-N-Out in Glendora on the way home. The coastal area temps will moderate starting Sunday but the inland mountains and deserts are predicted to remain warm (Big Bear high 73, low 40) through Wednesday.
Baldy will be closed Monday/Tuesday but plans to reopen Wednesday. My first thought was to return Wednesday after the two off days, but by last night the earliest available Wednesday ticket was at 11AM. Today I reserved 8:40AM Friday, when temperatures are predicted about 10 degrees lower.