Mountain High Ski Resort about 90 minutes from LA for great local ski/snowboarding (12/09)

      Driving to Mountain High winter resort is like a gentle drive to grandma’s house, but the easy-to-get-to play area is anything but old school. The drive is a bit less than 2 hours from LA depending on traffic, which makes the perfect day getaway to this great local ski resort.
     Skewed to the cool teens and young adults, Mountain High offers snowboarders ample terrain, a rockin’ event calendar and, through social networking, daily specials. No wonder snowboarders outnumber skiers by a 10-1 ratio, though the two adjacent hills offer skiers enough diversity to keep them returning.  There are 3 mountains in total (North, East and West) with the West being the most popular. The West side also offers night skiing from 5-10pm.  The mountain opened very early this year and has great conditions from the snowfall and their snowmaking ability.
     The first local resort to inaugurate three-pronged Trike skis (kind of like going down the mountain on a bike with no pedals), Mountain High works to one-up the nearby San Bernardino Mountain resorts.  Its former Ski Sunrise property-Mountain High North–located opposite Mountain High West, offers tubing for all ages during the day until 4pm.
 Mountain High is well staffed at the lifts, ticket windows, and ski/snowboard rental shops. Many of their workers are commuter based driving up to the resort each day.  With parking at a premium, arrive early, or be prepared to park along the highway and catch a shuttle. My only complaint was that one of lift operator managers named Clayton closed the main chair lift on the East Mountain early not due to weather. I skied down to take one last lift and he mentioned the chair lift just closed.  I said it is only 3:58pm and the lift is supposed to stay open until at least 4pm. He agreed but said sorry but Ski Patrol took the last chair up for the day. Big Party Foul and that should NEVER happen. Otherwise, it was a fantastic day and we highly recommend Mountain High Ski Resort.

Location is:

24510 State Highway 2
Wrightwood, CA 92397
(760) 249-5808

More about the resort, tickets, weather and events at  www.mthigh.com