This past Saturday I had the pleasure of doing a little recon work up in the San Gabriel mountains in the form of a trip to the fabled Mt. Waterman Ski Area. I had heard the name dropped here and there over the past few years in random conversation, but the conversation always seemed to end something like..."they just could'nt keep up and stayed the same as they were back in the day." While this would send most headed to their nearest snowboard obstacle/condominium supermarket resort, I was intrigued and knew I had to see these places.
Waterman sits high above downtown Los Angeles, at the top of California State Highway 2, also known as the Angeles Crest Highway. This road has also been called the Devil's Highway by bikers who face the curvy and treacherous 6000 foot climb that takes place in under 40 miles. The road is pretty crazy, looking a lot more like New Zealand than Southern California. It is one of the main places that cyclists train for the Tour de France climbing stages and is damn impressive. Anyone that complains about Southern California being all about pavement and traffic needs to see this to believe it. The desert valley floor gives way to chaparral and boulder strewn canyons, which morph into steep, alpine ridgeline systems near the top that rival any terrain that you would find anywhere in the Lower 48.
After a quick shot up the 5, and then the winding road up the Angeles Crest, I arrived at Mt. Waterman. Now when I say this place is roots, I mean it in the strictest sense of the word. One of the owners was directing traffic in the parking lot, the other loading chairs at the bottom. Roots. Rick and Bruce Metcalf are the guys who saved the resort from being absorbed back into the Angeles National Forest by coming up with the two million bucks to keep the lifts spinning. They have been coming up here since they were young and are keeping it going because they love the resort and what it means to people. Imagine that.
After hiking most of the back terrain until the later hours, I headed down the valley a few more miles to the now abandoned Snow Crest. Formerly known as Kratka Ridge, Snow Crest was in it's heyday in the 60's and 70's until insurance and the rising cost and need for snowmaking put them under. All of the trails are still there, as are the lifts, although they are in bad shape. Definitely hikable, and there will be lines there until the late spring.
In between those two areas lies Buckhorn Ski Club. Buckhorn is tucked just out of sight from the main road and is maintained and operated entirely by it's members, mostly families from LA and Orange Counties that just love escaping for the weekend. 
The main lift is an 800 foot harness rope tow similar to those used at the club fields in New Zealand. I ventured back and got the tour from Rod, the president of the club. He showed me around and gave me the full rundown of the history, showing me all of the topographical maps and some club history photos, including ones of the massive roof rebuild they had to do after the winter of 2005 when over 12 feet of snow collapsed the building to the ground. 
Rod was a great guy, and explained that he started going up there when he first had kids, and that all of the families just enjoyed being out there so much that they dedicate their time to keeping it going until their kids can do the same. Needless to say, we are taking Eva out there for her first runs in early April...More photos here.
Check out the Mt. Waterman website.
