Ski Baldy Terrain

On paper, Baldy Ski Resort isn’t particularly large relative to some of the other BC ski resorts. With only 34 trails, on-piste there isn’t a lot on offer, and with only 2 main lifts servicing the terrain, the cat tracks to get to and from the runs becomes a little repetitive. However for off-piste skiers and snowboarders, Baldy Mountain Resort seems much larger because you can pretty much ride every inch of Baldy and all the trees are skiable. And the size of Baldy Ski Resort grows further if you hike the extra vertical up to the summit of Mt Baldy or you venture into the sidecountry to the far skiers’ left of the resort boundary.

The best news with respect to Ski Baldy is that it is so uncrowded that you’ll probably have most of the terrain to yourself. It’s sort of like having your own private ski resort for you and your mates. Of course it might not stay that way, and as word spreads, Baldy Mountain may become busier but it’s unlikely to reach the cult status of places like Whistler and Revelstoke – thank God!

Lifts

It may sound peculiar, but the slow double chair is the main lift at Baldy Ski Resort, as it services the majority of the terrain.

The new-ish quad chair mostly services tree lined intermediate and beginners runs, and you feel sort of privileged when your ride it because its installation sent the ski resort bankrupt in recent years.

The T-bar only services a couple of runs and a little terrain park, and it’s a bit of a relic.

The lifts are open Thursday through Monday.

Lift Tickets

Lift tickets are very cheap, and in the process of relaunching the ski resort in coming years, keep your eyes out for all sorts of lift pass deals such as refunded unused hours.

Baldy Snow

Baldy Ski Resort receives an average of 256 inches (6.5 metres) of snow per season, which is similar to nearby Apex Ski Resort and a little less than Big White (7.5m), but it’s definitely not in the same big dumps league as Whitewater and Revelstoke.

A pro is that Mt Baldy tends to get its snow from storms from all directions, with a tendency for frequent small to moderate snowfalls.

The snow falls reasonably dry, and a plus for the snow quality is the high base elevation which is the highest base of the western Canadian ski resorts, just pipping Marmot Basin at the post. The only downer to the snow quality is that the slopes have a huge range of aspects from southeast to west but none of them are north facing.

Ski Baldy for the Beginner

The novice area has a long magic carpet and there’s plenty of space for first-timers to fall on their butts in peace. For the next progression, the quad chair provides a couple of protected tree-lined trails that are ideal. The double chair is the next step, and it offers long trails, but the only limitation is that they are shared with much faster skiers and snowboarders using the track for access.

Intermediate Skiing Baldy

The intermediate piste terrain at Baldy is good, but those who need a lot of variety may find it a little monotonous. The quad chair and T-bar provide a handful of blue trails that run the full length of the lift, whilst unfortunately the intermediate runs off the double chair either commence or terminate with a green run.

Advanced Skiing On-Piste

In a similar fashion, there are only a few black runs that run the full vertical (Shaft is the best run for fall line skiing), whilst others require decent ingress +/- egress on a cat track. There are several cut piste where thankfully moguls take a long time to develop due to the negligible skier traffic. A couple of the black runs haven’t been well maintained and have some little pines poking through, but undoubtedly the Baldy team will progress to manicuring the slopes when other priorities have been completed.

The line between “piste” and “off-piste” is rather blurred when it comes to the rest of the advanced terrain. There are lots of glades, only some of which are named, as well as slightly tighter trees that are very skiable. As a general rule, the lines to skiers’ right are more mellow whereas those further to skiers’ left get progressively steeper. And snowboarders should be aware that if you head a decent way left on a powder day the traverse out may be a bit arduous. Perhaps find a couple of nice skiers to cut a track for you?

Expert Ski and Snowboard Terrain

The pitch of the tree skiing is delightful without being very steep. One of the runs is called C.D. (Certain Death) which is someone taking the mickey because there are no runs on the hill (including CD) that are that challenging! Experts are likely to have a lot of fun playing in the trees, but without really pitchy runs, rock features to launch off, or chutes, there is nothing super tricky at Baldy.