Southern California Ski Resort Opens For First Time In Four Years
Mt Waterman Ski Lifts is the closest day ski area in Los Angeles, and the area rarely opens. In a stroke of luck, however, Mt Waterman reported that they opened this weekend, March 16th & 17th from 9:30am-4:30pm.
Mt Waterman in business. Photo courtesy of Mt Waterman.
This was adjusted when the resort posted that it will now be open only half a day on Saturday, from noon to 4 PM. However, the area does not have snowmaking, relying completely on Mother Nature to cover the terrain.
Sometimes, even when there is enough snow, problems still arise from issues related to spinning chairlifts.
Additionally, in 2023, a road collapsed, making the skiing inaccessible. See Mt Waterman's Facebook post detailing the situation below.
Mt Waterman has 3 chair lifts and 25 runs, but 65% of the hill is advanced, with beginner and intermediate runs at the top of the mountain.
The claim to fame for this ski area is that they provide the closest ski lift area to the L.A basin, and for that reason, Mt Waterman is now deemed a national monument.
See Mt Waterman in relationship to Los Angeles on Google Maps below. (Mt Waterman is the red marker reading CA-2.)
Courtesy of Google Maps.
However, while they are a national monument, locals have expressed disappointment in how little they open despite getting snow.
Their business page on Facebook has over 6,000 followers in Southern California, presumably skiers and riders interesting in powder chasing by LA.
Over the last four years, the page, and posts, have received thousands of negative, or at the very least doubtful, comments.
One commenter wrote below this update, "Run two days, Gets the forest service off your back for another year."
Another wrote, "Will there be T-shirts commemorating this monumental event I can buy?" Still another wrote, "Pics or it didn’t happen."
Despite all of this, officials of the resort instructed guests to bring their good vibes and wear green for St. Patty's Day for this weekend's opening.
With the roads to the resort finally clear, officials also noted, importantly, that directions to the mountain have changed.
Take Hwy 2 from La Canada then go LEFT onto Forest Hwy toward Palmdale then go RIGHT at Upper Big Tujunga then go LEFT at Hwy 2, we are 7 miles past Newcombs Ranch.
Another interesting aspect of the ski area is that there is no internet on the mountain. There are also no gas stations on Hwy 2.
However, for those who can do without those two amenities, officials at Mt Waterman write that "the snow is great and we look forward to seeing you up on the hill."
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