For arrest practice the snow was slow. We ascended to the left of the rocks and the route was fine but a bit slushy since it was warm. A few days should consolidate it.

The snow conditions in the bowl on 1/15/2011 were excellent, though there was a constant trickle of projectiles raining down. My trip report is here.

Don’t turn your back on Baldy.......yikes!

Two glissaders almost caught in an avy over on the Western Bowl on 1-16-2011.











Glad you 2 made a quick left turn and out of harms way
Boyz….give someone special a big hug and buy a lottery ticket tonight

Kudos to Team Subaru for giving the avy shout-out

I was surprised how the snow wasn't more consolidated after this week's warm weather. I honestly didn't find the conditions to be that great; still somewhat soft and not fully consolidated (and obviously not without avalanche risk).

TacoDelRio wrote:Yeah, it's kind of a bitch at the moment. I ended up postholing most of the 7+ miles and 7,000+ft for the NF the other day. Any idea when the next system is supposed to arrive?

Yeah Taco, I saw your burly circuit down into Fish Fork and back up the north side of West Baldy. That's some proud stomping
Current forecast calls for mild temps and sunny conditions thru next weekend.....looks like more snow will be melting.

Here is what Baldy Bowl looked like on January 22:



The photo was taken from the summit of Ontario Peak after an ascent of the obscure Ollestad Canyon.

it must be a sloppy mess up there now, I hope winter comes back.

Hey guys!
I live on the east cost and I am going to be in the San Bernardino, Palm desert area to do some hiking on the 4,5,6th of Feb. I want to get one long strenuous/harsh day and another moderate/difficult day. I was thinking Baldy, Islip, San Gorgonio or even Cactus to the Clouds. Ideal length would be between 15-24 miles, over 6,000 feet gain and a bit technical is good but nothing that requires ropes. Any suggestions?
Also, is there a good route that I could do Baldy with out going up the Bowl?

~Kristin

You may find some that disagree, but the C2C is nothing that I would attempt in winter....period. Perhaps I'm naive and this is easier than I think, but I would not want to be up there in winter....particularly the last 2-3K before the tram station. It could also be that I don't know the route well enough for a winter climb, i'll be interested to hear others feedback on this.

San G from Vivian Creek or Baldy from the village (no bowl) are good bets, nothing technical at all but you get the desired gain for sure, just under 6K on both.

GreenMountainBoy wrote:Perhaps I'm naive and this is easier than I think, but I would not want to be up there in winter....particularly the last 2-3K before the tram station.

Yeah, don't do that. Even if you know where the trail goes, it can be pretty rough. GMB's other suggestions would be much better.

Thank you for the recommendations! I book between 10-15 mile and 5-6k gain a week in the white mountains in the winter so I’m good with some tech, plan on crampons, ice axe ect. Is the weather any worse then 0- -10 F temp, 3-6 feet of snow, winds 20-40 mph? Because that is what I am in most of the time...

~K

Kristin5berry wrote:Hey guys!
I live on the east cost and I am going to be in the San Bernardino, Palm desert area to do some hiking on the 4,5,6th of Feb. I want to get one long strenuous/harsh day and another moderate/difficult day. I was thinking Baldy, Islip, San Gorgonio or even Cactus to the Clouds. Ideal length would be between 15-24 miles, over 6,000 feet gain and a bit technical is good but nothing that requires ropes. Any suggestions?
Also, is there a good route that I could do Baldy with out going up the Bowl?

~Kristin

San G from South Fork or Fish Creek would be more interesting than Vivian trail. Also, check out Rabbit Peak ....that'll be a nice long day for ya!
Baldy via the Backbone is pretty cool, especially with snow and wind....nothing technical but you need to be "on your toes."

On January 30, we found continuous, consolidated snow from about 8200 feet to the summit on the south side of Mt. Baldy. We ascended the obscure Goode Canyon. On our descent, we found that the consolidated snow ended at the Ski Hut, but fresh snow was accumulating all the way down to the road. That fresh stuff could already be melted by now.

Here is my trip report.


~9300 feet in Goode Canyon.

So, did anyone feel like fighting traffic to get up there today? It looks pretty plastered. I decided not to risk my life and hiked up Bedford Peak in OC (which has a few inches of snow on top).

The NWS say's there could be another dumping on Friday, just in time for the weekend.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... it=0&lg=en

Friday Night: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 26. Breezy, with a west wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 9 to 13 inches possible.