Baldy’s North Face

Here's Mount Baldy's north face, as seen from near the summit of Throop Peak off Highway 2 yesterday. By the standards of today, there is still a lot of snow out there, though things are melting quickly now.

There are people out there, hiking and even skiing. Wilderness is such a place of solace and refuge for us; I certainly understand the longing to get away to the hills. If you do decide to leave home, please be conservative. Do not put yourself or others in harm's way.

— April 27, 2020

Andy Lewicky is the author and creator of SierraDescents

Charles April 27, 2020 at 5:25 pm

Great image!
So much steep terrain in SoCal, really amazing.

Brad Brown April 30, 2020 at 6:59 am

TR for Throop? Bob and I did a loop a couple of years ago starting with Baden Powell, a bump called Mt Burnham, and Throop...looked like good skiing could be had from summit? Baldy looks sweet, wonder if warm enough for reasonable descent?

Dan Conger April 30, 2020 at 9:08 am

Would love to see lifts put on that ... but consistent snow in a changing climate would make that pretty tough to make profitable.

Matt D May 1, 2020 at 11:29 pm

Throop is a great descent imho. Faces north, you get a few gullies to choose from and you come out near the highest point on the 2, meaning you have a decent chance of having snow all the way to the road. I’ve skied it to within a few hundred feet of the road in May in several recent years. If the road is open it’s super easy, if not, well... at least it’s an easy hike.