Doc Searls Weblog

Just trying to make stuff happen

On not skiing

Shows here in EdHat that there’s snow on Mount Baldy. That means there’s skiing in Los Angeles. Or close enough. Mt. Baldy is the highest point in the San Gabriel Mountains, which overlook Los Angeles from the North. Imagine a 10,064 mountain on Staten Island and you get the picture.

Skiing on Mt. Baldy is a trip. Mainly, a short one. Ignoring traffic (which you can do if you leave early enough), you can be there in under an hour from most of the L.A. basin. On a clear day you can see it from nearly anywhere there too. Its the big snow-capped one.

Here’s a photo set that gathers a few of my shots of Baldy, both from the ground and from airplanes.

And here’s a post I put up after a day of not-very-good skiing there. The snow wasn’t too bad, considering. The main problem was rookie snowboarders who crashed into the kid and I when they weren’t sitting on their butts like a bunch of traffic cones. From that post…

Rules for snowboarding on Mt. Baldy:

1. Fall on your ass.
2. Sit on your ass, for as long as possible.
3. Wait for your friends to come and fall on their asses next to your ass.
4. Sit on your ass with your friends on their asses, for as long as possilbe.
5. Do all this in the middle of a trail. The narrower the trail, the better.
6. If possible, fall on your ass in the path of somebody else.
7. Have no skills. Other than falling on your ass.
8. When actually snowboarding, run into people.
9. When running into people, fall on your ass again.
10. Bonus: get the people you run into to fall on their asses too.

Anyway, the kid is skiing this weekend in the Sierras somewhere, while I work in Atlanta. That’ll be fun too, but not quite the same.

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Doc Searls

5 responses to “On not skiing”

  1. reid Avatar
    reid

    Hey Doc, you should get out of town and get yourself to ski country. In addition to being a fan of yours, I’ve spent many years skiing and reviewing ski resorts, and for a variety of reasons Steamboat Springs, Colo., is tops. Mt. Baldy sounds painful and crowded. Take yourself to Steamboat, where they trademark terms like champagne powder. I was just there a week ago, found some hot deals (free lift tix) and wrote about it in my travel blog. Stop by my site if you are interested in skiing some fluffy snow, and minus the crowds.

    Reply
  2. Doc Searls Avatar
    Doc Searls

    Thanks, reid. Mt. Baldy’s single virtue is convenience — and the fun irony of skiing in Los Angeles. You can get to Baldy in 20 minutes from Pomona. You can get to Steamboat in nearly that many hours.

    But you have me dreaming of Steamboat. Considering your work, that’s a high recommendation.

    Reply
  3. Derek K. Miller Avatar
    Derek K. Miller

    We have three very good ski mountains within a half hour drive of our house in Burnaby, BC, next to Vancouver. I can see all three from my front window. And both Whistler and Mount Baker (snowiest place in the world) are only a couple of hours or less away too. In the spring you can ski in the morning and sail in the afternoon if you want.

    So if you want some decent skiing (3 metres of base on one of the local mountains) within a bus ride of a beautiful city, make your way up to Vancouver.

    Reply
  4. reid Avatar
    reid

    Doc,

    Thanks for the response and the visit to the site. I skied Big Bear when I lived in Venice. It was interesting, to say the least. And I’m guessing Steamboat is a 2-hour flight from LA? It’s hard to replace a 20-minute commute.

    Feel free to ping me if you ever need any recommendations for deals, etc., in ski country. As I mentioned, I’ve skied them all.

    Until then, thanks for helping create this thing we call web 2.0, and the ability to blog to our hearts delight.

    Reid

    Reply
  5. Doc Searls Avatar
    Doc Searls

    Thanks too, Reid. Here’s one question… If we wanted to get some late spring skiing in somewhere, what would you recommend?

    Reply

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