Mt. Baldy Resort — Attraction in Wrightwood

I was looking for a place to snowboard that was relatively close to the Orange County area, so I looked at my options. I had considered Mountain High, but I thought it might be too crowded. I had also considered Bear Mountain/Snow Summit (too far for that day) and Snow Valley (closer than Big Bear, but still on the far side). I knew Mt. Baldy had ski lifts, but it never occurred to me that snowboarding was an option there... especially since conditions in recent years were less than optimal due to the drought. However, I found out that the slopes were open there... so I decided to give it a try. The drive up to Mt. Baldy was fine for the time I went. From northern Orange County, it took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The roads were clear, but I have heard there are some instances where chains might be needed and/or useful. Parking is $5 (you should see a parking lot attendant as you approach the Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts), and the attendant will collect the $5 and give you a paper stub. There should be parking staff to guide you to a parking spot. I had arrived relatively late on a Saturday morning, so I had a bit of an uphill walk to the ticket windows. At about 11 AM on a Saturday morning, I had about a 15-20 minute wait to buy my lift ticket. There were lots of families, which is understandable since it was the weekend. Once I bought my snowboarding lift ticket, I walked uphill to take the lifts up to the top. That is where everything is (e.g., Top of the Notch Restaurant, snowboard/ski rentals, slopes, etc.). I had some trouble finding the snowboard rental shop, but I was able to find it. Process was relatively quick. You fill out a piece of paper with your information on it, pay, and then go through the different stations (i.e., fitting for boots, getting fitted for your board). At the boots station, the rental shop will hold your shoes (until you return your rental boots). Because of this, you do not have to be concerned with finding a locker for your shoes (lockers are six quarters). After being fitted for the boots, I was fitted for the board. I personally had a good experience with the board fitting, as the person helping with the fitting did more than just size me up against a snowboard. He had me try on the board with both bindings to make sure the boots fit OK on the bindings. At that point, I was ready to hit the slopes. Because I wanted to work on my technique, I ended up snowboarding only up/down Chair Lift #2 (which is the beginner's lift) for the time I was there. The run consists of a few curves and is relatively short. It was rather icy, as I guess conditions had warmed up ever since the snow had last fallen. That made it a little difficult for me (especially later in the afternoon, as it got icier). The beginner chair lifts are relatively slower (compared to other ski resorts), so I think that can be either a positive (for kids or newer snowboarders) or a negative (it obviously takes longer to get to the top, so fewer runs). Since conditions were icy, I can't confidently say that Mt. Baldy was a good value (even if the lift tickets are cheaper). The one nice thing about Mt. Baldy, though, is that they have a free/complimentary learning area with a couple of coaches to help out. For anything brand new or relatively new to skiing or snowboarding, it can be really helpful. I went through it just to experience it, and all of the coaches were encouraging and tried their best to help and answer questions. Overall, it was an OK experience to snowboard here. I think better powder can be found elsewhere, but the appeal of Mt. Baldy will be the views and the proximity to the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas. As a heads up, please check the Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts website (and/or their Facebook page) for the latest updates on mountain conditions. Up to a few days before I went, I think Mt. Baldy was intermittently closed due to a high wind warning. It's best to check in advance to make sure the slopes will be open...

Absolutely NOTHING beats Baldy!

I usually don't write reviews. Most of the time, I just enjoy the experience and move on. But skiing Baldy (over five times now!) has been such a transformative experience, so I feel like I need to put in a plug for this awesome, yet rather underrated place.

A little bit of background: I'm originally from the East Coast, and I've skied in many solid places throughout my time there. I've hit the slopes in the White Mountains in NH and the fabled Windham Mt. in the Catskills. So I'd like to think that I know my snow pretty well!

Now that I've been in Los Angeles for two years now, I sometimes still get homesick. I've made it my mission to find the best ski resort around here. I've tried Big Bear, Mammoth, Mountain High, Snow Valley, and even Tahoe. All the big-name places, some that are super far away. But let me tell you a little secret: Baldy is the best!!

First, let's start with the skiing itself. It's absolutely pristine here. You're usually above the tree line, so there aren't that many pine trees or other obstacles in the way. The snow here is absolute fresh fluff powder. Rarely, rarely, rarely any ice. You got views for days. Piste runs that are beyond incredible (notable shoutouts: Skyline and Emile's), hugging the sheer cliffs on either the LA side or the desert vista. Some look at the fact that there are very few chair lifts as a negative. I actually view it as a positive. There are more than 20 configurations you can explore just from riding Chair 3. I feel like most of the trails are accessible by either Chair 3 and 4, and that makes it a lot easier and efficient to get shreddin'. But if that's not enough for you, and you're feeling very adventurous, you can go ahead and ski Baldy Bowl on your own after a gruelling snowshoe hike.

Now, onto the staff and the restaurant. Nothing beats the expertise and warmth of people like Anthony and Valerie. People like to refer to this place as a "mom-and-pop operation," but really, it just feels like everybody is just one big family. They've been here for decades, and they're so down to earth. They spread their infectious love and calm to everyone who visits the mountain. Even when celebrities like Jeremy Sisto are here, nobody makes a fuss. It's all about the skiing and the good time. Also, Rental equipment is great. When I accidentally got a 153cm blade, they called after me and changed it to 160 no problem. Extremely professional and knowledgeable. As for the food, those chilli cheese fries are the bomb! The food here fills you up after some intense runs, and only in Southern California could you get a burrito with avocado while 8000' high! There're also nice drinks for an afternoon cap (though I wish they had some apple and hard ciders for us New Englanders!).

I've found that there are only two real caveats to the experience at Baldy. Once you acknowledge them, I think it'll make for an epic time! The first is that Chair 3 does not have a foot bar. Breathe, calm yourself, and move on... The other caveat is that it needs to dump here. The season of 2016-17 has so far been very generous (we even got one storm that dumped 60"+ over a weekend), and hitting the piste and the backcountry has been a true pleasure! But sometimes, like the five years beforehand, it's been rough out here. So what I always do is I look at the forecast, and when there's a snowstorm coming, I snatch a flexible ticket for a day or two after the storm. That way, you're guaranteed to have a great skiing experience, and there'll be no reason to moan or whine!

And remember how awesome it is to know that you're only a 45 minute ride from palm trees and Downtown LA.

Check out my pictures below. They don't really do the views justice, but I tried. I guarantee you that this place will just BLOW YOU AWAY!

(Can't wait to try the zipline...

So I took my five year old today for a day of tubing and we had the most fun time ever. All of the employees are wonderful people who deserve medals of honor for how kind, polite, courteous and helpful they were.

I bought tix in advance which was good because they sold out before we even got there at 11:30 am. The ticket for sledding is for a two hour block but you can stay up as long as you want on the mountain (I think) which is good because the check in line with reservations ran 45 mins 😳

We rode the chair lift up and the guy at the bottom was hilarious - singing and dancing to music. My daughter was so thrilled and he was super kind in helping her onto the lift. We dropped the bar and rode up, at one point we started swaying but I managed to stay calm as my daughter was counting out the ten-foot bounce we were doing “up, down, up, down” 😂 Anyway we made it to the top.

The tubing staff were AMAZING. I didn’t see that my daughters mask came off, and the employee nicely requested I put it back on her without being a jerk.

The staff at the top of the hill were so kind, took a great photo of us, held my backpack as we rode down the hill, sent us down perfectly straight or spun us on request (and my daughter was changing her mind non-stop). They were also monitoring the bottom of the hill at the end of the day as the runs turn to ice and you start going higher and higher each time. They are concerned about safety which I appreciated because you do go kinda fast. The run is quick and the hike back up easy but I still felt like I was getting a good workout. The weather was beautiful and we were comfortable in sweatshirts and bib overall ski pants which was nice.

The restaurant at the top had a good variety of food, we paid $15.75 for a veggie burger and fries and it was actually really good. Way better than most other ski resorts I’ve been too. You can pre-pay for lunch but the wait in line and the wait for food was minimal today.

We ended up staying later and there were no lines so we went sledding for a bit longer than our block which I appreciated. Obviously if there were people there we wouldn’t have done that but it was getting late and the temp had dropped a good 20 degrees so the place was clearing out.

We rode the lift down which was better, no bouncing, the guy at the bottom was hilarious again and ran to get my daughter a giant pine cone, so super nice, great vibe!

We paid $58/ticket and it was completely worth it for the fun and memories. Next time I would leave LA earlier and get up the mountain around 9-10 am before the line for the ski lift backs up again. I would also bring a helmet for my daughter as the runs became icy by the end of the day and I saw someone go off the path. But the rest of the day was perfect. Bring a balaclava for after 3 pm when the wind picks up and make sure your jacket is wind-proof, it’s super windy at the top.

Request for the facility - please move the picnic tables out of the wind, we ended up eating on the rocks behind the restaurant which wasn’t as comfortable. Otherwise super fun perfection!

Thanks for a great...