Mountain Baldy Report

Ok...lunchbox in the ER...pirates ejected from Baldy...let's hear the story guys.

Waiting...

ummmmm........ this should be good...

WTF? updates updates updates updates updates updates

lets all send lunchbox our best wishes! hopefully nothing serious, get back in the saddle soon lunchbox!

oh, and come tell us what happened!

Uh oh...

Well, we didn't really get "ejack-ted." We left on our own rather than risk an expensive ticket. There were ~13 of us. Myron, Colin, Billy with a couple of his friends, Dave, Iz, Tim and few others. There was another non-GP group there (including one young whipper-snapper that I know that slays the trails at Laguna).

We paid $25, although the lady at the front desk gave all of us a tough time about the discount, not knowing about it, etc. The other non-GP guys got charged $40 after asking for a discount.

We got 2 1/2 runs in, and then things went wrong. Billy messed up a step-down hip and crashed out. The lip looked squirrely and the landing was bad. He messed up his collar bone (didn't look broken) and maybe bruised his lung. He was obviously in pain and had trouble breathing.

And then the forest service a-holes rolled up in an SUV and gave us a hard time, just as we were attending to Billy. They saw the last couple of slower riders coming down, and basically told us to stop riding the trails. They said we were "eroding" them, and the trails were only for the hikers. We are only allowed to ride the FIREROAD. News to us.

Anyway, Billy's guys took him to ER. The rest of us thought about keep riding, but most of them bailed and went to GMR. I bailed and went home, since I rode that yesterday and got a ride tomorrow too. The other non-GP group kept riding. When we finished 3 runs, it was only about 12:30 or so.

Apparently, the forest service patrols the area regularly at Baldy. We just got very unlucky and got noticed. It is clear that Baldy knows about this FIREROAD ONLY policy but wants the DH money, so they let riders deal with forest service if they get caught.

As far as the trails there, we only did 2. Billy said there are more but not as good. The lower half of the main line was fun with techy but do-able rock gardens, drops, rolls, and doubles. The upper half and the other line were loose and steep.

Hope Billy's injury is nothing serious. He led the group down and did a great job before the crash.

Damn Billy!!!!

damn guys...get well soon Billy...

Billy is OK, just soft tissue damage and bruised collar bone. He said the neck brace.did its job. I had fun at baldy, real loose and fast. I'll put some Gopro footage up later. The ranger is not usually around, we just caught him on the day he happened to stop by. Our huge group didn't help either. But that's just how we roll!

Thar she blows

Damm sounds like a crazy day....and windy as Fuck!

heres a taste of old baldy.

Some fun on Mt Baldy on pinkbike.com

Billy, glad to hear it's not too serious. Hope you heal up fast. It was a pleasure meting everyone today.

ya still taking half breaths and cant move much at all in my shoulder area and my lines dont match from side to side. seriously it should have taking 4 4mg shots of moriphine to keep the pain managable and im use to pain and have the scars to show.. as im staring at the mirror it doesnt look rite and i think monday im going to my personal doctor for more xrays. i am very used to broken bones and things wrong with my body and something doesnt feel rite but nothing to do till monday. and the other trails it was that they are bad they are just alot more techy and loose and a couple of the crew were not down with someof the lines we were doing which i totally agree its not for just anyone, i made convo with the president while getting my ride down to the parking lot and basically as cable guy said they want the dh money and they dont care where u ride but just try not to get noticed and if you do just say yes sire no sir sorry and move on and continue riding. with that said he was interested in giving the team and riders of gp a 25dollar deal all the time also not to mention he was thinking about running one of the upper lifts as well as the lower one this season. i havent gone through my bike yet but tomarrow my friend will be riding it at skidx and ill be shuttle driver. all in all i had a freakin blast and will be back to baldy alot more this year

Baldy is a Beast. I haven't ridden there for two years because of the ridiculous price hike (20 to 50). But if you say gp's get in for 25 thats worth the lift access. (even though only two runs are worth doing). I spend more than that in gas shuttling one run all day. Glad to hear your ok Lunchbox.

Baldy is a good place to learn how to control your bike while sliding down loose rock/shale. (good practice for Mammoth) haha. Hope to ride with you guys soon.

hey billy glad your upright, we talked about you staying on your bike not under it. hope you feel better soon.

Damn, sorry it didn't go so good. Kinda glad I didn't go this time. I've really been wanting to check it out. Maybe we could all get together agian and do it later.

I am glad to here Billy is ok too! a little scary for a few minutes there on the fire rd. Then we run into dam forest service and me shootin my mouth off! I will be going back because everything up to on point was great then SHHIIT went bad oh well lesson learned for me.

Glad to hear Billy is ok. But I think it's bad business on Baldy's part. I'm sure there's great trails. But they're all illegal, and Baldy makes you deal with the Forest Service. I don't think they'll be getting my money, tempting as it is.

Unlucky 13! Glad Bilbo 'lunchbox lung bruiser' baggins is airee.

I think I'd rather go hit up BB on my AM rig...

Haven't been there but from looking at the video all I can think of is the top half of mammoth

Good to hear, as mentioned, that it ain't toooo serious Billy. Heal up qucik.

there are 2 more all mountain/backcountry type of trails that run off the very top of baldy peak. one drops 4000 and the other 6000 vertical. we did the 6000 one last summer (climbed the whole 6000 to get to the peak) and i plan to do the 4000 one this summer. there is some crazy HAB to get to the peak, its tough for sure.

Heres lunchboxes crash, he ate it hard feet in the air and everything. Pirates are tough though and he got back up quick.

Billy eats it hard on pinkbike.com