Easy Rider is the shortest lift on the Mountain High East side of the resort.View down the short lift line.This lift services only one trail.Unload area and CTEC operator house.The bottom station and first standalone tower.Counterweight cover.Loading area and motor room.Side view of the bottom station.
6 thoughts on “Easy Rider #10 – Mountain High, CA”
Mr IncredibleJune 20, 2020 / 9:38 am
This lift never operates, even in good snow years. Part of the problem is that it is not contiguous with the rest of MH East. Although it is shown on the trail map i would classify it as non operational
This lift is effectively “out-of-service”. Please update your list. It has not been run in a couple of decades, that I can remember anyway.
It always looks lonely – like “why is nobody riding me?” This part of the resort would make a fantastic dedicated tubing/snowplay area, but instead the lift is abandoned. Mothballed. Neglected. It could also be extended to go to the top of the mountain, but that would have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening. This lift should be removed from the list of active lifts.
It ran in the last 8-9 years b/c I took my daughter on it when she was 4-5 years old. But haven’t seen it in operation since then. Not sure that terrain is steep enough for tubing though – painfully flat even for a tubing park. Would be ideal for snow play though to keep that activity away from the main base. Ultimately, MH isn’t really committed to operating MH East as a ski area anymore outside of skimming the cream when big storms hit and they need the extra capacity, so crowding the base area isn’t really a consideration for them.
You’re all too correct about MH lacking the commitment to operate MH East on a consistent basis. This stems from two factors. First, maybe I’m looking at the previous 5 decades with rose-coloured glasses, but I suspect there’s less natural snowfall occurring down to the 6,000′ level, which is Wrightwood’s basic elevation – MH East’s base is about 6,600′ – 5,000′ snow levels are far better. Second, and more critically, MH post-HSQ used to make snow top to bottom on Gold Rush in December if the weather pattern was favourable temperature and humidity wise – or better if at least 6-12″ fell in December or January as the first natural snowfall, those snow guns were blasting away, augmenting Mother Nature on Gold Rush, Rangers, and Sundance/Wildcard. That commitment no longer exists. As well, that low commitment very likely extends to not keeping the MH Express well-maintained and running at 5m/sec, or even 4m/sec, as eloquently noted by Maboomba. It’s a pity, for MH East is a high speed cruising paradise in SoCal.
They were running this lift in November 2023. They were doing something on the lift I don’t know but maybe maintenance not sure. They were starting the lift up then they would run then stop it but they were running the ski lift.
Still standing as of today. The whole East area isn’t operating due to lack of snow, but even when they had snow this past weekend I don’t think they opened this lift. But it definitely hasn’t been removed.
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This lift never operates, even in good snow years. Part of the problem is that it is not contiguous with the rest of MH East. Although it is shown on the trail map i would classify it as non operational
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This lift is effectively “out-of-service”. Please update your list. It has not been run in a couple of decades, that I can remember anyway.
It always looks lonely – like “why is nobody riding me?” This part of the resort would make a fantastic dedicated tubing/snowplay area, but instead the lift is abandoned. Mothballed. Neglected. It could also be extended to go to the top of the mountain, but that would have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening. This lift should be removed from the list of active lifts.
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It ran in the last 8-9 years b/c I took my daughter on it when she was 4-5 years old. But haven’t seen it in operation since then. Not sure that terrain is steep enough for tubing though – painfully flat even for a tubing park. Would be ideal for snow play though to keep that activity away from the main base. Ultimately, MH isn’t really committed to operating MH East as a ski area anymore outside of skimming the cream when big storms hit and they need the extra capacity, so crowding the base area isn’t really a consideration for them.
LikeLike
You’re all too correct about MH lacking the commitment to operate MH East on a consistent basis. This stems from two factors. First, maybe I’m looking at the previous 5 decades with rose-coloured glasses, but I suspect there’s less natural snowfall occurring down to the 6,000′ level, which is Wrightwood’s basic elevation – MH East’s base is about 6,600′ – 5,000′ snow levels are far better. Second, and more critically, MH post-HSQ used to make snow top to bottom on Gold Rush in December if the weather pattern was favourable temperature and humidity wise – or better if at least 6-12″ fell in December or January as the first natural snowfall, those snow guns were blasting away, augmenting Mother Nature on Gold Rush, Rangers, and Sundance/Wildcard. That commitment no longer exists. As well, that low commitment very likely extends to not keeping the MH Express well-maintained and running at 5m/sec, or even 4m/sec, as eloquently noted by Maboomba. It’s a pity, for MH East is a high speed cruising paradise in SoCal.
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They were running this lift in November 2023. They were doing something on the lift I don’t know but maybe maintenance not sure. They were starting the lift up then they would run then stop it but they were running the ski lift.
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Still standing as of today. The whole East area isn’t operating due to lack of snow, but even when they had snow this past weekend I don’t think they opened this lift. But it definitely hasn’t been removed.
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