Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Conditions On Baldy

Ok seriously, the Baldy Bowl (ski hut) trail is dry and dusty right now after a long summer of hikers. Lots of loose dirt and dust over rocks, the usual. Backbone looks about the same. I would imagine Bear Canyon would be comparable. 1000 posts in this thread yay!

Congratulations on being the one thousand reply. Maybe Doug will give you a free tour of the store and Hostel.

paul

Was hoping for free passes to the Whitney Portal Day Spa, my toes are hideous.

You did notice who posted the question, right?

OK so it was a trick, I was watching when the views passed 1 Million then 2 then 3 so the 1000 was another benchmark , As I call many of my post dribble I have over the years held that would not post much on the Baldy thread , maybe just try to get people to do the Heros Hike.
Baldy is a fine place to train for Whitney I think better than some of the quote Standard hikes, it is close and with the elevation gain in the short distance it builds endurance. Add a few 20 milers on flat ground to test for friction burns and blisters and pacing you should be ready for Whitney.

Another plus for Baldy is you join a group of regulars and they can help you with tips and other Baldy trails that reach the Summit.
The view from the top of Baldy ,one direction you look into the beast the other the vast expanse to the east and at night the light show !!!!!

So many clever retorts but nothing more than, Et tu Axeman?

Rick G. and I enjoyed snow capped Mt. Baldy last Sunday.
The snow was very good,6-12 inch, above 9500 feet.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QgvgcY67khc5sR9S8

But, maybe gone by now due to yesterday's Santa Ana wind.

Great pics Shin thanks for sharing. Amazing for October. Hoping for more.

Hi,
Mt. Baldy got a good snow above 8000 feet last week.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dGNNmZy5cxKXwYSX6

Microspike or crampons will be helpful for some icy sections.

Let's hope more snow this week.

Have a great hike.

Hi,
Our friend Pavel Dvorak, aka Mayor of Mt. Baldy, has set up a very useful website for conditions of along Mt. Baldy road and Ski hut with 5 real time webcams.

http:10064ft.com

He has been working the project over one year.
Thank you Pavel for all the things you have been doing for city
people.

Thank you Pavel!!!!

Sorry,
The site is
http://10064ft.com

Look at LIVE CAMs.

This is great! Valuable information for a pre dawn winter drive and hike . Thank you Pavel and thank you Shin for showing the link.

Norma R., Shin, Rick Graham and I did the Baldy Bowl Saturday perfect weather very warm on the Bowl. It was nice to catch up with everyone especially Norma since we don't connect often. Helicopter was flying over Baldy early Saturday morning then a 2nd one came over a snowboarder fell(slid) from 3/4 the way up the Bowl slid 600ft from what I know minor injures and was in shock,medics took him away. On are way up the Bowl Norma started having leg cramps in her leg then both legs she ended up glissading down the Bowl back to the hut. 3/4 up the Bowl I was hit with a large piece of ice from one of the trees on my thigh knocked me off my feet grabbed my axe thinking I'm going down like the snowboarder but I stopped don't know what stopped me but I only went maybe 2 ft scared the sh*t out of me but you have to remember everything happened in milliseconds.

Rick G. veered off to the Left(thanks for making steps Rick) and made tracks up the slope to get out of the bowling alley a lot of rocks and ice came down yesterday. When we got to the top of the ridge I told Shin and Rick go to the summit I'm going down main trail to the hut I didn't want to put any pressure on my leg to the summit. 3 small avalanches in the Bowl yesterday as we were going up. We all walked down to Manker very crowded yesterday but had a good time with Shin, Rick and Norma..

Just another Bitchen(and interesting) day on Baldy

Pictures Here

]

Hi Mark,
Indeed, it was an exciting day on the Baldy Bowl and glad you made it out OK
With the warm temps on Sat, the ryme trees at the top of the Bowl were bombing the Bowl with icy chunks.
The Helio extraction of the snowboarder was amazing to watch. Those SAR and Helio Teams are incredible

I went back up on Monday, and snow has completely consolidated and very slick in the Bowl and on the summit dome.
On Monday, another guy fell down the Bowl (near the center) and broke his ankle and got some other contusions. His group had a SPOT device and a helio came in a did a fly over and then left (?). I suspect that it was too windy for the Helio to lower a Medic and perform an extraction. Luckily, a couple of SAR guys had just arrived at the Hut and were alerted to the situation. I never saw the Helio return

Folks need to take heed that Mt Baldy and the Bowl can offer some serious conditions with rock-fall, ice-fall, slippery slopes, high winds, etc.
Currently, I would recommend micro-spikes and poles for the Summer Trail, and crampons and ice-axe (with knowledge on how to properly use them) for any of the Bowl routes.

Have fun and stay safe on Baldy

Here are my photos:
https://grahamcracker.smugmug.com/2019/Baldy-Bowl-Zen-Chute-Jan-19-2019/

Shin-san asked me to post his photos (his WPSMB log-in isn't working)
Here you go......
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4yNuYiDvXxg2QJ9z5

Nice day for the group hike meeting new friends seeing old friends..

We waited for Richard P. but he never showed up we figure he took the wrong off ramp.

What made this day more exciting was the wind, I enjoy weather. What a great bunch of people from all walks of life.

Thanks Patrick for inviting me..

Pictures Here

Nice pics Mark!

Awesome day, here's a few more pics:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100492563@N07/albums/72157689166185063

Just a heads up the Heroes hike this year is May 19 and you can sign up now it is open .Great cause supporting Veterans.

Hi Doug,
The snow is still very heavy on Mt. Baldy.
Hope, it will melt by May 19th.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VhW2EwbKGRgDsoza9

Mt. Baldy road: Dry
Fire road: Dry. It was maintained nicely.
7500-8200ft: Hard packed snow on some sections of the trail.
Detour for the fallen tree.
Ski hut to the summit: Hard packed snow 1-3 feet deep
all the way to the summit.
Crampons and poles are must.
Have a great hike.