Snowboarding The Pacific Crest Trail - Backcountry Boarding In The San Gabriel Mountains

No better way to celebrate the start of Spring than to do a little backcountry snowboarding in the San Gabriels. I met up with fellow split boarder Jeff S. to ride the chutes of Mt. Baden Powell in the Angeles National Forest. We packed up at the parking lot at Vincent Gap then headed past the gate along Angeles Crest Highway. After a short walk along ACH we came to a north facing chute that was begging to be ridden. We stapped on the split boards and started to skin up the steep, steep chute. After a short distance we realized it was becoming too steep to skin effectively and it was time to put on the crampons.

After a few hours of skinning/climbing we arrived at a small knob near the summit of Mt Baden Powell. We had the entire area to ourselves, except for one guy hiking the ridge along the route of the Pacific Crest Trail. The snow was fantastic and soft, the trees were perfectly spaced for riding, and the chutes were steep and shaped like natural half pipes. Another well spent day in the mountains. - Dave

Hiking along Angeles Crest Highway

Posing at the bottom of the chute

Skinning up the chute

View of the Antelope Valley

Crampon time

The climb begins

North face of Baden Powell

Another great view of the Antelope Valley

Hanging out on top

Mt Baden Powell

Mt Burnham and Throop Peak in the distance

Jeff dropping the cornice

Perfect natural halfpipe

Jeff in the tree section

Yummy!

Double black at least

Baden Powell

Mt Baldy looking more like the Sierras

Another chute for another day

Mt Pinos Epic

A couple of years ago if I had heard Mammoth just picked up over two feet of snow I would be in my car headed up there just for the day. Well maybe I am getting older, or lazier, or whatever but I did not head up to Mammoth this weekend and good thing I did not. I found Mt Pinos to have primo powder following last weeks small storm and definitely the place to be.

I met with locals Ian, Ross, and Kevin at the trailhead all of whom were snowshoeing it to the top. A couple of other locals helped break trail with their snowshoes on the way up to Mcgill Campground. The snow in the upper bowls was well over a foot and as good and fluffy as can be seen in any mags or videos.

Following the first run, subsequent climbs up the trail became easier and easier especially when on skins. It is a lot of work but the payoff comes when you are able to take runs all day and make fresh tracks on every run. The photos do not do justice to the epic conditions out on Mt Pinos!- Dave

View Of The Sig Bowls

The Trail Is A Little Difficult To Follow At Times
Nearing The Top

MMM MMM Good!

Ian, Ross, and Kevin On The Ski Lift

Payback- Ian and Ross

Kevin

Ian Catching Air Off The Natural Terrain

Backcountry Snowboarding In The Los Padres National Forest 1-23-10

It's hard to believe that we live this close to such good backcountry ski and snowboard action! Mt Pinos, barely two hours away is at the edge of our LPNF and about 8000' above Santa Barbara. Lots of rain and cold conditions this week meant snow at Mt Pinos, and I had been tracking the amounts all week. At the parking lot they had received about 3-4 feet and up higher much more than that.

The road to the top of Mt Pinos is a great grade for skinning on x-country skis or in my case skinning on a split snowboard. A split snowboard is a snowboard that has been built out of two longitudinal pieces that can be separated to create a pair of skis. "Skins" are applied to the base to assist in climbing uphill and are removed when heading going down. A little heavier than a normal snowboard and a little more awkward than a pair of x-country skis but able to do far more than either.

My Split Board As One

"Ski Mode"

The adventure at Mt Pinos starts at the parking lot which has great views of the two "Signature Bowls". Both these bowls looked far too unstable and I avoided going anywhere near them today.
The Mcgill Trail, a fun hiking and biking trail in the Summer and a great winter trail when conditions allow.
For my route this time I followed Mt Pinos Road approximately 3 miles up to an area known as "Vroom and Board". The road was in the process of being plowed as shown below so a little hiking was done before strapping on my skis to skin uphill.

The views from Mt. Pinos into the Lockwood Valley were spectacular.

Lockwood Valley

I noticed the snow to be a little more packed today and easier to ski up. I soon found out why, this local had rode his snowmobile up the day before and was headed to the top again today.

I had the creamy powder of the Vroom and Board Bowls all to myself.

The Vroom and Board Bowl views

The Cornice

A few of the other people on the snow this day.

Plug Of The Day- Auto Trac Snow Chains, they take about a minute to put on and no need to stop and tighten as you go because they self tighten.

Some of the things I like about backcountry are that you can go anywhere do anything with no limitations, not to mention the lack of crowds, great workout and it's free! This particular day I saw maybe 6 other people heading up to the top. Get out there and enjoy before it's all gone- Dave

Los Padres N.F. Snowboard Session

This past Tuesday I had a little free time so I decided to take advantage of the nice snow mother nature had brought us. Mt. Pinos was the location, in the far eastern part of the LPNF. Great place to bike in the Summer also as the mountain has a great 6 mile single track that goes from top to bottom. That single track, also known as the McGill trail was my starting point. My weapon of choice was my Burton Omen split snowboard. For those of you unfamiliar, this is a snowboard that splits into skis that enable you to climb up hill, then click back into a snowboard for the fun ride home.

Unlike many previous adventures in the snow, someone else had already "broken trail". Breaking trail is difficult and much more work than just following where others have already skied. I followed the McGill Trail uphill for about 2 miles and approximately 1500 ft before deciding to head back down. The area I dropped into is known as the Signature Bowls. These bowls are really steep and provide some excellent terrain but are a huge avalanche danger as well. The views all along this trail were spectacular down into neighboring valleys. The weather was perfect, clear and in the 30's, and very little wind. The snow could have been a little deeper in spots, but who's complaining. I have to say I probably like backcountry snowboarding better than resort boarding because the crowds are nil and the effort makes it so much sweeter. The trip was successful and as always I snapped a couple of shots to remember the adventure.

McGill Trail Head

No Yielding Today

Sig. Bowl/ My Trail

The Views

Me Right Before Unsplitting