The weekend after school closed from the coronavirus, my friends and I went snowboarding and skiing at Mt. Baldy Ski Resort. 

Mt. Baldy Ski Resort is in the San Gabriel Mountain Range overlooking Los Angeles. It is a really small, old resort only a two hour drive from Santa Barbara. The town at the base is tiny, with a quaint motel and diner that everyone runs to after a long day on the slopes. It takes 13 minutes on the chairlift to get to the lodge but with no line compared to the 5 minutes express lifts at Mammoth with a 30 plus minute line. Once you get mid mountain, there is a lodge with delicious food perfect for after a hard run, a ski rental shop, and a little tubing hill. As a result of LA being just down the hill, there are many tourists looking to play in the snow for the first time. 

There are a total of four chairlifts, each with their own anique charm. One kiddy hill for all the first timers but then the rest of the mountain is mostly intermediate and expert level runs, so you have to be aware. You could easily start down a steep run with moguls and have to slowly maneuver your way down. The run that I like to do over and over again is at the top of a mountain overlooking the rest of the San Gabriel Mountain Range, so it’s kinda scary getting too close to the edge. It can also get quite windy at the top, and some days to a point where you can barely see 5 feet in front of you. Similar to the last time I went, but the snow continues to be powdery. 

We have been to Mt. Baldy three times this year, and were lucky enough to go one last time before all the ski resorts were closed in California. My friend, Caitlin and I have our own snowboards and gear so we can go up whenever the conditions are good. (The tickets are really affordable there compared to bigger resorts like Mammoth and Vail). This time we took our friend, Ysabella, skiing for the first time. I learned how to ski before I started snowboarding from my dad, so the both of us tried to teach her how to go down the mountain without falling. She was very careful and did really well for her first time, but it was windy and snowy that day so she didn’t stay out for that long. We all had a lot of fun being in the snow before we were trapped in our houses for months on end. 

I love Mt. Baldy. It’s a small place to escape from the chaos of daily life. There is so much more to write about it and experience there. I can’t wait to go back next season.