Mt Baldy Ski Lifts

I wish I could give it less than 1 star. If you want to ski or snowboard near LA, I suggest going to Mountain High. My friend came out from Arizona to snowboard with me and we found a groupon for mount Baldy. The conditions were terrible and the runs are set up so awkwardly. You have to take a lift to get to the mountain, then ride down and around some corner (we had to ask a handful of people where to go because it is not clear and no one knew) to another lift that takes you to the top. Its not like one main lodge where all the runs lead to. I don’t suggest going here at all. The bottom of my board is all scratched up because the snow didn’t even cover the ground. The mountain shouldn’t have been open. There were bushes, plants, rocks, sticks, branches, etc on all (and by all, I mean the 3 they had open) the runs. We left after about an hour or so.
When we first got there, there was a woman who was trying to sell us her tickets because she said they would not refund her so we didn’t even try to refund ours.

It’s a awesome place to come and enjoy. The lift to the top of the mountain is part of the enjoyment. Pricey but worth it when you looking to do something outside the box and break the routine

What a rip off! Planned to ski 2 days but our equipment was so tore up from rocks and all of our boards had a layer of black sticky stuff on them at the end of the day. Had to pay $ 30 to get the equipment fixed at their shop. Left big gouges out of our boards. Management wouldn’t refund second day tickets because we weren’t about to snowboard a second day. Conditions up here are terrible. Don’t even know how they can charge people to ride up there.
I will say that the girl who fit my niece for skis was really helpful and nice. It was her first time and we were teaching her. And Anthony in the repair shop was nice, was supposed to wax our boards but didn’t.
wouldn’t recommend anyone try this place out. went tubing to, it wasn’t even steep enough to get any speed going down. Brianhead in Utah has way better tubing. and you don’t have to carry your tube up. its probably the same price or cheaper.

Groupon mess and it was for snow tubing. Lol.
Lines, lines and more lines.
Wifey got a Groupon and invited friends & family to join us for Snow Tubing!
We were in Lake Tahoe last year & my son loved it, so here we are.
The drive up (and down) was terrible. It was Sunday and it was sunny. A perfect day to go snow tubing and everyone and their neighbor had the same idea. Everyone had the Groupon deal too for that matter. They weren’t prepared for this. The line to redeem the Groupon deal was all the way back to the parking lot.
2 hours later, we got to the front of the line and just in time. As we hit the counter, they announced that they were not taking any more Groupon deal and they would be refunding only from that moment on.
The good part:
*The the ski lift ride up (and down) the mountain was so nice, very peaceful and beautiful.
*The view from the top of the mountain was priceless. Almost worth the hassle to get up here.
*My son was with my wife the first time through, while I took video of their ride. When they finished he asked his mom if he could go by himself. Seeing my son go by himself and screaming his lungs out in enjoyment was also very priceless =)
The bad part:
More lines for the tubing. They blocked out time for everyone. I think it was 1 ½ hours of tubing per session. And remember all those folks in line down the mountain, well they are all up here now too. hahaha. We got 2 rides each and that was all she wrote.
I used to ski a lot, at Bear Mountain mostly. Never tried Mt Baldy until now. I’d go back for the nice view and maybe some skiing, but not for tubing =)

Horrible experience yet with customer service and you will probably get what you pay. I bought the scenic view tickets they have online. When you try calling their number to inquire its always put to the voicemail. Today got a chance to talk with somebody human but It was better I guess not to talk to someone who must have been so busy or was just not really a customer service staff. I tried calling back 2x again it was put back to the voicemail. Just the same since I have tickets which are not refundable then I am going. I just hope first impression will not bring me more nightmare to this park.
MY ACTUAL TRIP
Went on day scheduled. Had no hard time getting our tix ready cause they explained you need an activation if you bought it from Groupon or other subsidiaries. It was nice on top of the restaurant TOP of the Notch when you can see the view of Santa CAtalina Island. Staff in the resto were good. Over all with my actual experience I would say it was average.

Context: Went on Super Bowl Sunday. But, there are more people than I expected. I also bought the lift tickets beforehand from Groupon to save.
I’m not sure why this resort has 3 stars. Such a shame. The staff are very friendly and inviting. When I was redeeming my lift ticket on the entrance, the attendant offered to give Kind Snacks for free, which I gladly took. On the skill rental located at the base, the whole staff was sociable and made you feel comfortable about the size fitting of the snowboards. Finally, the attendants on Chairs 2 and 3 are incredibly friendly. Thus, why I give the resort 5 stars. Hope to come back next winter!
TIP: If you have a snowboarding/​ski lift ticket, you can go on the «fast pass» lane of the scenic lift ride.

I’m writing this review to express my disgust in the majority of the staff working today, 2÷6÷2016:
1.) the young gentleman work in the brown hut where they sell retail: he was extremely rude and short with ALL the customers who he helped infront of me, including myself. This was around 11am
2.) the man who worked the top of the ski lift, he grabbed my daughter off the lift and nearly threw her to the ground after taking her off! I exchanged words and he was an absolute a**hole. This was around 1145am
3.) around 230pm, while people where waiting in line for tubing area, there were kids playing around the area. A staff member, came out with a HUGE DRILL screaming at everyone, saying «WHO’S KIDS ARE THESE?!» and started yelling at everyone! That is HORRIBLE!
4.) the STAFF: despite the beautiful weather and my kids having a good time, my husband and I let each and everyone of you get a pass, all I heard and saw were sour attitudes — but for the man with the drill?! Management — you need to step in immediately and teach your employees customer service. I am naming all the times I had these encounters so you can pinpoint your people who were scheduled at those times.
I’m never coming back to this mountain.

Best way to see a beautiful view for 17mins! Spent $ 100 on 2 adult lift tix plus a 4y/​o child with tubingx3. Pretty pricey! We went on a thursday afternoon and there were hardly anyone there (perks of going on the last day of winter). No lines on tubing, however, my dad almost got a heart attack and vertigo as the baldy guys had to spin him in the tube while pushing him downhill. You have to walk uphill after sliding down. I only went twice on the tubing, as it was too short of a ride for me. The views were great and staff would either be nice or rude, depending on how good you are with FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS!
Tips: buy from groupon if available, have tix before walking to the lift because there are no signs whatsoever to have tix ready. Or you can walk back and fort and find out the hard way yourself.
And no personal sleds allowed up there :(
Overall, i love mt. Baldy for scenic view and solitude! Never for snowboarding ! Not for beginners like me!

Through one star is for the view. The was the only thing that made us happy to be there.
my girlfriend and I bought our lift tickets via groupon and we were there by 7:40am so there wasn’t a line at all really. Neither of us had ever been to mt. Baldy and she had never been snowboarding. We take the lift up and the employees place our board on the lift behind us. My issue with that was when the wind was blowing my board was moving and it made me really nervous haha. Anyway, we get up there and there are no signs of which trail is where or where the bunny hill is so I see the snow tubing area and ask an employee where the bunny hill is but he says he doesn’t know. I decide okay well ill just find a small area with a slant and teach her. Then I see other people learning on the other side. If that was the hill it was the worst bunny hill I’ve ever seen. And for an intermediate rider to get to the lift that would take me up the mountain I needed to go down this tiny hill that at one point became so flat and had so many patches of dirt I had to get off my board and walk to the lift! I took the lift on the left which took us right back to where the tubing was. Disappointing. I then did it all over again and took the lift to the right. Up there the view was beautiful. But the ride? So many people on their boards were walking at one point because it was so flat that there was no momentum even if you tried skating.
I personally don’t think it was worth the 2 ½ hr drive or the $ 69 for us both because we did more walking and skating than we did snowboarding. The mountain should not say that they have 2 lifts open. It’s more like 1 and 3 trails, very flat trails. They should be closed for boarders and skiers. And the snow tubing area was so small!
I would not recommend this mountain for snow related activities but I would suggest it for hikers.
Side note: during my run down the mountain I noticed hikers on there as well. It was weird and a little dangerous

Frustrating experience trying to go tubing with the kids last weekend, passing this along for other folks who are thinking of going to Mt. Baldy.
We pre-​purchased what we thought were tickets from the Mt. Baldy website for a 10:30 session. Turns out they are basically non-​refundable vouchers, so buyer beware.
Didn’t realize the line would be so long (obvious in hindsight, it was a 45 minute wait), but got to the head of the line to learn that sessions were full until 2pm. Couldn’t wait around that long, so asked if we could reserve tickets for the next weekend. Answer: no. Asked if we could get a refund, were told yes, just needed to call Liftopia (the company that does the ticketing). Wife called Liftopia this week, and no luck. No refunds allowed, even if you don’t make it past the parking lot!
Net result, we’re out a hundred bucks with some disappointed kids. I suppose the lesson is to get there early, expect some lines, and read the details on the website before purchasing!

Even if you buy your tickets online/​Groupon you have to wait in line like the rest of the folks that buy there tickets last minute. Before heading to Mt. Baldy, I have called them, they never answer there phone, it takes me to voicemail and then the voicemail is full! ANSWER THE PHONE! Don’t put your phone number on the website if you have questions that couldn’t be found on the website if you don’t answer your phone and we can’t leave a message!
Anyways the view on the lift was amazing! Best part of the Mt. Baldy trip!
Then we go to the restaurant. EXPENSIVE! $ 10 for cheese fries. Supply and demand. Anyways, the carpet in there is so gross!
Tubing– long arse lines to go tubing! We only went once because of the lines!
I’ll have to go again and bring my family since I enjoyed the views more than the experience.

Had a great time tubbing and the lift was really nice. Tubbing is definitely best for younger kids but grown ups were having a blast too.
There was only one downfall to our trip, the line to get our lift tickets was stupid long! You had to wait in line even if you had already purchased your tickets online. Also! Be sure to ACTIVATE your tickets online as well, that’s a separate step after purchasing them.

I purchased a groupon for this place to use on MLK day, what’s funny is I called twice to find information about redeeming the voucher. The gentleman who answered the phone confirmed that we could not bring our own sleds and that the voucher would be okay to use on a holiday. However, they did not mention anything about having to activate the voucher.
Fast forward to MLK day it was pretty busy despite the fact that my family and I got there before 10am. After waiting in line for about 10 – 20 mins. the gentleman at the window says,“did you follow the directions?” I informed him that I called and no one said anything about activating anything. He continued to reprimand me,“why not?” «Next time we won’t be able to honor this, etc.» He was soooo rude! Also, if the majority of your customers aren’t following directions then maybe you haven’t made them clear enough.
Anywho mt. baldy was covered in snow!!! It was beautiful. I love how close it is to LA and that I didn’t need any chains to get there.
Cons:
There’s no sledding permitted so if you’re a big family you have to settle for body sledding and snow fights. They have a reserved area for tubbing but it’s $ 20.00 per adult and it’s a really small area.
They do have skiing and snowboarding but in order to participate in those activities you have to make sure you purchase those types of tickets before getting on ski lift. Or else you have to upgrade them at the restaurant, it just seems really unorganized.
Overall:
It’s obviously not a 5 star ski resort but it does do the trick if you want to experience a little winter wonderland.

Went here for the skiing. Pre-​purchased a lift ticket from Liftopia and got on the slopes for $ 35 for the entire day. It was about 4 days after a large storm that had dumped 25″ of snow. They had two runs well groomed and I stayed on them the entire day. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, my nice skis both had core shots from rocks.
The staff was excellent, the lines are nonexistent and the view was spectacular. However, damaging my skis while staying on the only two groomed runs didn’t make me happy.
Would I go back there again? Hell yes! But it would have to be right after a large dumping of snow. Waiting 4 days left the coverage a little thin even though I stayed on the two groomed runs from lift 3.
All in all, it was a great day. Fun and relaxing for sure.

I’ll pretty much echo what Christine Y. said in her review. This place is a nightmare of a cluster-​F. With only a narrow two lane hwy to get up to the lift area, it just cannot handle the amount of people trying to get up there. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for 2 ½ hours to get to the lift. The roads within two miles of the ski lifts are poorly maintained and were an absolute mess of slush and mud. The parking lot for the lift area is so ridiculously small you’re forced to park on the winding road far below and hike uphill to get there.
Then once there, we were told the tubing was at capacity and no one else would be allowed in. So ya basically screwed, turn around and march through the slush back into traffic down the hill for another hour. This was at 3pm. I can totally see why now I’ve lived in L.A. all my life and never have been here before. That’s why. It blows. This is basically a place where Mexicans bring their kids to play in the snow on the side of the road and useless for anything other than that.

Here’s the thing about Mt. Baldy– yes, you can haul your family up here (without chains) and complain when the lines are too long for tubing. Yes, you can complain if the restaurant is too full, or parking is difficult, or the weather didn’t cooperate with your plans. Frankly, I don’t think this has anything to do with the appeal of Mt. Baldy; but you CAN do all of these things.
Or, you could hike to the peak to see Catalina Island, DTLA, the Mojave, and the southern tip of the Sierras on the horizon AT THE SAME TIME. On the ridge, you’re exposed to some of the San Gabriels’ most extreme winds and temperatures, along with incredibly beautiful views. Set up your rock skis or board– get there EARLY on a powder day and ride the best inbound terrain in southern California (hands down, and I will not argue with you on this). We did this very thing on the morning of 1÷8÷16 and cut fresh tracks in two-​foot stashes between trees all day. If you want to slurp cocoa and be a groomer jockey, you’ll have way more fun at Bear or High– I promise.
Be prepared– bring snacks and beers to share with friends, water to drink, extra clothes and a first aid kit (just in case). Pay close attention to weather conditions, and bring chains and recovery gear if necessary. As much domestication as this mountain has undergone, you can still get in trouble if nature doesn’t agree with you.
To put it simply, Baldy is a gateway to ADVENTURE. Adventures don’t come in small, measured doses– certainties do. Go somewhere else for those.

I was pretty impressed by the restaurant and the ski lifts.
I decided to hike this mountain for the 5^th time, hoping to reach the top of Mt. Baldy (for the 5^th time) but was unfortunately turned back due to the lack of proper snow equipment.
I have hiked this mountain in snow before, but the recent downpour of El Nino has left this mountain completely covered in snow, and great for snowboarding and skiing. That being said, the fresh snow made it incredibly hard for hikers to walk through knee and sometimes waist deep snow. I decided to take the route to the ski lift from the trail head because it was the safer route than Baldy Bowl Rd.
Upon making it to the Ski Lifts my friends who were not adequately equipped with waterproof shoes, were freezing their feet off, on top of cramping from not being use to mountain hiking. So we entered the restaurant where we enjoyed a fulfilling lunch and a beer, and decided that for their sake (their frozen feet’s sake) that it was best we took the one way ticket down the mountain.
The 1 way ticket down the mountain was $ 12 dollars and it was an exciting experience. The ski lift is a double seater and it was exciting to record the snowboarders going down the slopes. It was an exciting day. Great staff too.

Great family fun the drive up from Upland is only about 40 minutes. The staff at the lifts are very friendly and seem to really like their jobs. With a fresh batch of snow it’s definitely worth the trip. Check out the website for hours of operation and up to date weather conditions.

I will agree with another review, ski lift is beautiful and people are kind.
However the top of the notch restraint is horrible! We walked in and weren’t helped for twenty minutes, we had to ask for service. Our waitress couldn’t answer a single question, had to keep walking away to find out. Prices are outrageous especially since the food is disgusting. Couldn’t get a refund since we did it through groupon. The restaurant really ruined the experience and put a bad taste in our mouth.

After 7 hours of hiking we enjoyed a lovely $ 12 (one way, per person) lift down the mountain. This shaved off approx. 4 miles of our hike which we were totally fine with, since it was all downhill from here. I love climbing but descending and coming down is never my favorite thing about a hike.
I also thought it would be fun to ride a ski lift in the summer sans the skis and It Was :) We sat back, relaxed and enjoyed some snacks while looking at the service road that we would have been coming down and taking in the beautiful views. It was my boyfriends first time ever on a ski lift. I think he enjoyed sitting back and relaxing as we concluded our hike to the peak of Mt. Baldy.
After hopping off the lift, the walk back to Maker Flats was about ten minutes.
The two staff we encountered when we got on and got off were both very friendly.
Fun stuff!