Nearby winter wonderland still here after recent storms

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Maile Breaux-Paul, 2 of Altadena, built a snow man with the help of her mother at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Nick Chee of Eagle Rock slides down a snowy hill near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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A smiling man takes a selfie with a snowy background at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Samantha Sainz, 10 of Los Angeles, makes snowballs at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Sophie Zarate, 2 of Lake View Terrace plays in the snow at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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The road was closed at the parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Desi Torres, 23 of Los Angeles, throws a snow ball at Alex Thompson, 23 of Los Angeles, as he takes her photo at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Sasha Vottitta, 18 of Los Angeles, came wearing shorts to the snow at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Nick Walker, 14 of Eagle Rock, slides down a snowy hillside on a fire road at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Francesca Walker, 13, left, makes a snow angel as her friend Nick Chee, 14, looks on, right, on an fire road at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Roland Christ, right, pushes William Alsina, both 17 and from Eagle Rock, down a snowy embankment at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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With snow on the ground, downtown Los Angeles can be seen above La Cañada Flintridge in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan.ial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Grass peeks through the snow above La Cañada Flintridge in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan./ 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Snow was plentiful some 20 miles from Glendale and above La Cañada Flintridge in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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It’s a winter wonderland above La Cañada Flintridge in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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CBS2 weather-caster Amber Lee tries to interview Trotter Rinkes, a 10-year-old golden doodle, in a snowy turnout in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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A spotted towhee forages in the snow above La Cañada Flintridge in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Maile Breaux-Paul, 2 of Altadena, right, built a snow man with the help of her mother Chumi Paul, left, at a parking lot near the intersection of Mt. Wilson and Rincon Red Box roads in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Recent El Niño storms have dropped substantial snow in the local mountains, closing Mt. Wilson Road and Angeles Forest Highway at Angeles Crest Highway. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

By Sara CardineStaff Writer

Jan. 13, 2016 6:22 PM PT

With snow still blanketing the ground from last week’s winter storms, Southland residents have been flocking to the Angeles National Forest to build snowmen, race sleds downhill and enjoy the rarity of a Southern California winter wonderland.

And on Saturday morning, for the first time since the 2010-11 winter season, the independently owned Mt. Waterman Ski Lifts, which relies entirely on natural snowfall, will be fully operational and open to the public.

Co-owner Brien Metcalf said caretakers were grooming the snow and that the owners planned to head up on Friday to oversee the opening which, if all goes well, could last throughout the season.

“We’ve got a solid 3 feet, with a little bit more in some places and a little bit less in others,” Metcalf reported Wednesday. “Our beginning and intermediate slopes are absolutely wonderful — we’re 100% ready to go.”

The ski facility will remain open throughout the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For updates about the snow status at Mt. Waterman, visit mtwaterman.org or call (818) 790-2002.

Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine