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

Mt. Baldy is reopened according to KTLA.

https://ktla.com/2019/12/23/mount-baldy-...fallen-rescuer/

Please look at the live web camera established by Pavel for the road and weather condition of Mt. Baldy:
https://10064ft.com

Mt. Baldy road & Fire road: Dry
Below Ski hut: Snow is getting thin except shaded area.
Ski hut to the summit: Consolidated deep snow 2-3 feet. Trails were established.
Main Bowl: Snow got very thin.
West Bowl: Solid crusty snow.

The picnic table near Ski hut was destroyed (?) by the heavy snow.
The creek above Ski hut was completely covered with snow.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/AQddyGfxY9kNXTqNA

West Baldy condition:
Below Ski hut: Dry.
Beyond Ski hut to the ridge: Good amount of snow.
Main bowl: Almost dry..
West bowl: Good amount of snow.
beyond ridge to 9200: Almost dry.
To Baldy and West Baldy summit: Good amount snow.

Microspike and trekking poles will be helpful.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kvT2R8GfCpDVshe6A

Hey I can do a report! conditions to the Ski Hut dry one or two 5 foot patches of snow/ice. At the ski hut changes to winter conditions we went up the left side of the bowl /ridge some/ice very firm in the AM very crappy in the afternoon not soft enough to plunge step and hard pack in areas So mixed conditions for sure. I saw a lot of crampons and poles and some with spikes and poles , but you need something for safety , Boots were working for some but required slow going and risk of sliding. New system today so all this could change overnight!!!!

Mt. Baldy got good amount of snow last week.
The snow wasn't consolidated enough. More snow in the forecast.

Mt. Baldy road: Clear, no chain needed.
Fire road: Some snow
To Ski hut: good snow all the way
Bowl: 1-2 feet of unconsolidated snow
To summit: deep and soft snow
To Ski hut via Ski hut trail: unconsolidated deep snow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tzXAaAPbH9wJgkSw9

Be safe and be healthy.

Hi All,
It looks like Baldy will be open this Sat. Does that include all the
normal parking spots like at the Manker Flats TH? Here around SoCal
Malibu Creek and Pt. Mugu are open but there is no parking. Any input would be appreciated.
Stay Safe and Happy Hiking
Rick

I hiked Baldy today. Great to be backed and missed it terribly for two months.

Manker Flats parking is open. Trash bins were full and ppl left their bottles and trash lying around... terrible sight. Please everyone follow the rules and pack out your trash, I don't want them to close the forest again. Ice House Canyon parking lot was closed, but you can park on the streets.

Trail conditions: mostly clear with small patches of snow here and there. Very easy to navigate and no special gear necessary. Register ridge 100% snow free.

Thanks for the update. Look forward to getting back up soon.

Mt. Baldy is open today.

My friends went up Saturday.
But, they turned around 30 minutes before the summit because of extreme low temperature.
They are very strong hikers and had many climbing and hiking experience under severe winter snow conditions.

According to their photos as of early Saturday morning:
Manker flat parking : The road looked free of snow but wet. There was snow along the road and other area.
Ski hut area to 9400 ft: Fresh snow 6-12 in.
Baldy looked very cold with good snow.

There must be more snow by now.

Please look at "10064ft.com" for current snow condition on Mt. Baldy. ( click webcam )
The site has been created and managed by Pavel, the mayor of Mt. Baldy.

The snow on Mt. Baldy was thin and melting fast.
Mt. Baldy road: Dry and no chains.
Manker flat: Dry and good parking and the outhouse with TP.
Fire road: almost dry except some small icy area.
To Ski hut: almost dry and icy spots under or near trees.
To the summit: 6-12 inches of powdery snow. One single well packed trail. Microspikes and trekking poles are great help.
To West Baldy: 6-12 inches of snow.
To north direction of the summit : dry
To east direction DBT : thin snow.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aqXxoXNF9sq8VPCx9

Have a great hike.

Thanks Shin for the report and pictures. Just got a ping on facebook Heros hike climber to be on channel KTLA 5@ 7 pm tonight and listed another time on A&E 10 pm .

Off and on down south now so might struggle up your mountain some weekday.

Mt.Baldy got some snow but it didn't last long. ( till 11:00 a.m.)
No snow chain, crampons, ice axe needed.
Micro spike and poles are helpful.

Most of the trail is free of snow except:
Under the tree section to the ridge after rock garden.
Above 9500 ft. with thin snow. Maybe gone this afternoon.
Snow in the bowl was gone completely.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wibtG2dV5m6DYb3EA

There will be more snow on Monday(?).

Have a great hike.

My friend and I hiked Mt. Baldy, 12/30/20, today
Mt. Baldy road: CHP asked all vehicle to install a cable or chain except the vehicle with snow or mud tires. Many visitors were turned around. We drove "ice and snow free" Mt. Baldy road up to Manker flat. Why ?
Manker flat: Limited parking space.
Near the white gate: A large area was iced up.
Fire road: Covered with snow.
To Ski hut: soft and deep snow below knee.
From Ski hut to the saddle: above knee deep soft snow.
The Bowl: Covered with thin snow. Three climbers were in the bowl.
Rock garden: Covered with 1-2 ft deep soft snow.
Switch back in tree section to the ridge: Covered with deep soft snow. ( It was awful condition.)
Ridge to 9500: Covered with deep soft snow. Better to stay on
dry section of top of west bowl.
We didn't want to posthole above knee deep snow to the summit so we decided to turn around.
Going down was harder than going up because of deep soft snow.
The snow in the bowl got much thinner middle of afternoon.
The snow wasn't consolidated well enough so the trail condition was bad everywhere.

We only used micro spike. Crampons and ice axe were useless.
We should have taken a snowshoe.

The traffic on the Mt. Baldy road down was awful because of many visitors in the area. So, please prepare for very slow drive down.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYEc8zUe1z9oLeV99

A Happy new Year!

Mt. Baldy got fresh snow last weekend.
Mt. Baldy road: Chain/cable will be required this week.(more snow this week.)
To Ski hut: 1-2 feet of snow.
To ridge : 1-2 feet of fresh/powdery deep snow.
Route 1: left side of west bowl to the ridge.
We went up with snowshoes.
Route 2: summer trail to the ridge.
To summit : 1-2 feet of snow.
Baldy bowl got less snow than other area but there were a few climbers in the bowl.
No foot prints to DBT direction in the morning.
It was very cold and windy at the summit.
It was a good day to take snowshoes, poles, and micro spike.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7EdrkC2rbm7DRbUr7

Have a great hike.

Mt. Baldy got more snow last Thursday and Friday.
Mt. Baldy road was dry.
Manker flat parking lot got less parking space because of the snow.
There was solid snow from white gate to summit.
We took Zake's chute in main bowl up and down.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GURmpSyCpPspEzfG6
The snow was soft and deep and a bit wet. It got softer late morning.
Manker flat parking was covered with many cars with people wanted to play with the snow.
There were few miles long cars heading up to Mt. Baldy village area even late afternoon. Prepare for very slow traffic.

More snow than the Lone Pine area ,we had cloulds and starts but very little snow . Looks like TRhor is about covered but rocks are still showing and the chute above Iceberg is covered now so the upper elevation did get snow.

To Ski hut: Almost dry.
Snow on Mt. Baldy main bowl is getting very thin.
West bowl has good snow.
To the ridge from rock garden: Solid consolidate snow.
To 9200 ft : 40% of area is covered with thin snow.
To summit : Solid consolidate snow.
It was very cold and very windy.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZskhRAUcwZbQtmdK7

It was very nice to see Mark I. on the trail.

West bowl still has a good amount of consolidated snow but the main bowl is dry now.
There was a climber on west bowl today.

To Ski hut: Dry.
Rock garden to the ridge: hard packed snow and switchbacks in the tree section was a bit icy in the morning. ( Micro spike for on the way down)
8600-9200 ft: Almost dry.
9200 ft - summit: Consolidated snow.
The snow on the summit is thinning fast.
Good snow on west Baldy.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fxvgHUGcnpGwbb9N8

Hope that my update won't make you get bored every week.

Shin,

Bored? No way. Always good reports and photos thanks!

Hoping for a Miracle March, need snow/rain.