Mountain High resort is a winter resort in the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Mountain High is one of the most-visited resorts in Southern California. The resort is located along State Route 2 west of

Wrightwood Wrightwood is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California. It sits at an elevation of . The population was 4,525 at the 2010 census, up from the population of 3,837 at the 2000 census. Wrightwood is located northeast of Lo ...

. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of the resort is to for the Mountain High East Resort, to for the West Resort and to for the North Resort.

History

Coinciding with the population growth of Southern California in the 1920s, hikers and ski enthusiasts began using Big Pines, an area near the present day Mountain High resort. In 1929 the construction began on the world's largest ski jump of that time in an attempt to attract the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

. The Mountain High West Resort was originally known as Blue Ridge and is one of the oldest ski resorts in the country. Its first year of operation was 1937 with a rope tow, and it built the 2nd chairlift in California in 1947. In 1975, upon being sold by its original owners, it was renamed Mountain High. The Mountain High East Resort, originally known as Holiday Hill, opened in 1948. In the 1960s, the cost of a lift ticket was $1.50. In 1979, the resort was sold to the new owner of the Mountain High resort and used primarily as parking for the West Resort, as well as add terrain when there was adequate snow and skiing conditions. The Mountain High North Resort was originally known as Table Mountain Ski Area in 1938 and later changed to Ski Sunrise in 1975. Due to several years of poor snow conditions and lack of snowmaking equipment, it was sold in 2004 to the owners of Mountain High. Mountain High now operates the North Resort as a ski school, tubing and snow play area to relieve congestion at the West Resort, but have not yet installed snowmaking equipment there. Table Mountain has been used previously as a U.S. Geologic Survey site and a Smithsonian Museum site. Mountain High was sold to

Oaktree Capital Management Oaktree Capital Management is an American global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of March 31, 2022, the company managed $164 billion for its clientele. The firm was co-founded in 1995 by a group that ...

in 1997. Valor Equity Partners acquired Mountain High in 2005. CNL Lifestyle acquired Mountain High in 2007 and leased it back to resort management. CNL sold the resort to

Och-Ziff Capital Management Sculptor Capital Management (formerly Och-Ziff Capital Management Group) is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world. The firm operates m ...

in 2016. Resort management acquired the Mountain High property from Och-Ziff in 2017.

Resort

Mountain High's resort is separated into three different areas along State Route 2. Lift tickets purchased at any one of the areas are good at the other two, and a shuttle normally operates between the west and east resorts, ferrying skiers and snowboarders back and forth.

The Mountain High West Resort

At -), the West Resort is the most popular of the three resorts, and most of its terrain has been dedicated to Mountain High's Terrain Park. The Terrain park contains many original terrain features such as the Slayer Box, and the Paradox catering mostly to the sport of

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

. Aside from the terrain parks, the West Resort also has excellent glade skiing and snowboarding in an area known as "The Reef." This area is only open when there is a substantial amount of snow. Due to its slightly higher elevation, the West Resort is often the first resort in Southern California to open and the last to close.

The Mountain High East Resort

At (-) the East Resort has longer runs and more open terrain providing a more alpine snowsports experience. The longest run at Mountain High, Goldrush, is long and located at the East Resort, and is also the longest run in Southern California. Mountain High Resort Mountain Statistics (2007)

The Mountain High North Resort

At (-) the North Resort is dedicated to mainly beginner and intermediate terrain and snow play. This resort, formerly known as Ski Sunrise, only has one quad chair lift and three handle tows. It is also the location of the Yeti snow play area.

Sky High Disc Golf Course

The Mountain High North Resort is open during the summer to offer disc golf. "Sky High" offers three courses with nine holes that meander throughout the Angeles National Forest. The course was first developed in 1999 by Dave Dunipace when the resort was still known as Ski Sunrise.

References

External links

*
Mountain High Ski Patrol Website

Mountain High Media Kit

Wrightwoodca.com: Skiing and Snowboarding in Wrightwood

— ''includes photos''. {{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in California Angeles National Forest San Gabriel Mountains Wrightwood, California Hill and mountain resorts Sports venues in Los Angeles County, California Tourist attractions in Los Angeles County, California