Mt. Baldy, CA

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13 thoughts on “Mt. Baldy, CA

    • liftnerd December 29, 2022 / 7:00 am

      That is a great idea! As of 2022, it is quite possible:

      The towers, terminals, and possibly the cable are all in storage in several different locations on the mountain and nearby. I’m not sure about the portal tower, grips, and sheaves. My guess is that the portal tower is at the quarry with most of the towers and the grips and sheaves were used as parts for the venerable Valley Double there. The chairs were sold off. So, if Baldy got new chairs, grips, and sheaves from Rowema AG, Skytrans Manufacturing, or some other place, it would be a viable option.

      But where would they put it?

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  1. skier72 April 22, 2020 / 8:58 am

    This place once proposed to build an expansion with a high-speed quad chairlift, and several (double?) chairlifts. It seems it never got off the ground.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Somebody April 22, 2020 / 9:30 am

      I don’t know why it needed to be a HSQ or why they needed to install so many chairs back there. One 5,000′ long used double or triple would do the job just fine.

      Liked by 2 people

      • skier72 April 22, 2020 / 12:30 pm

        It does seem very overkill to have a high-speed quad, plus 6 additional fixed grips. One double (or triple) seems like it would serve the terrain just fine.

        Liked by 1 person

        • powderforever45 April 22, 2020 / 7:47 pm

          Plus that terrain would be very steep so only advanced and experts would be going back there. I think a triple or a low capacity HSQ would be fine.

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      • Joe Blake April 23, 2020 / 6:04 pm

        Maybe this is moot if they aren’t pursuing anything, but with any proposal on public land, a common strategy is to over-propose so one has the ability to compromise in theory without compromising in reality. At one point, I think right when Boyne took over, CM proposed a tram to the top of the King, but they let that go while gaining clearance for several upgraded lifts and two new lift lines. They also let go of lift-access mtb as well as the Park’s tacit tolerance of controlling/skiing Kemper’s, while in theory retaining the East Peak pod. This may have been a similar tack for Baldy.

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      • Shady Sean May 5, 2020 / 9:14 am

        Hahahahahahaha…that proposed expansion has been in Baldy’s trail map since like literally 1988! 😂

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    • El Chapo August 13, 2022 / 5:48 pm

      I think that map is just marketing spin. They were overselling their terrain

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  2. Truckee Local August 17, 2021 / 4:29 pm

    LIke a lot of the SoCal mountains, the snow quality at Baldy is highly variable. They don’t have much snowmaking at all, maybe just on a couple of trails. But if you catch it on the right day, it’s great. Although it’s considerably closer to the LA metropolitan area than the Big Bear resorts or Mountain High, Baldy gets overlooked a little because it’s small and so dependent on natural snow. There is nothing glitzy or pretentious or new about Baldy. For being small and funky and having pretty ancient lifts, it reminds me of Donner Ski Ranch up west of Truckee, another often-overlooked resort that can be really fun.

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    • El Chapo August 13, 2022 / 5:46 pm

      I used to ski Baldy back in the late 70s and early 80s and it was showing its age even then. But at least it got more snow and was open more frequently than it is now. The southwest has had so many drought years since the 1990s (or maybe the 1960s-1990s were just unusually snowy for So Cal) that Baldy can’t accumulate enough retained earnings or attract new investors to upgrade their infrastructure. I don’t live in California anymore but if I did I wouldn’t go near the place for skiing. It’s a shame cuz I have some good memories of Baldy back when it was old but not yet decrepit. Based on a quick scan of the lift database the same problem seems to be creeping up on all the SoCal ski areas. It seems the new detach at snow valley is the only new lift installation in the past 20 years and no major renovations

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  3. liftnerd December 29, 2022 / 7:04 am

    Where did the Ringer towers on Chair 2 come from? Was there a Ringer chair there?

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    • Lachlan Marler May 2, 2024 / 9:42 am

      Extras from chairs 1 and 3

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