Powder room

Decades before the $60 lift ticket and snowmaking machines, there were skiers who strapped on the sticks and made for wild snow. They struggled up ridges in rudimentary gear for the sake of a few precious turns on untamed slopes. It’s an intrepid spirit you can, surprisingly, still indulge -- and locally too.

Just off the stampeded slopes, there are prime backcountry runs in the San Gabriel Mountains that offer tree-lined glades and natural courses for every level of skier. You can scratch your backcountry itch and still be home for dinner. With backcountry savvy, the right equipment, survival skills and a sense of adventure, skilled mountain hands can leave the masses behind and experience the freedom and solitude of the wilderness in winter.

It’s easier to access these areas than ever, thanks to lighter and safer ski gear. Experienced alpine skiers can use a randonnee, or alpine touring system, to hike with a free heel for ascents and lock down to carve parallel turns with the touch of a ski pole. Modern telemark gear has drastically reduced the learning curve of a decade ago for cross-country skiers looking to tackle steeper lines, and new snowshoe design has helped boarders find hidden half-pipes along high ridgelines.

Because the San Gabriels are a young mountain range -- still growing, in fact -- slopes can be steep and prone to slides. The following routes, with the exception of Mt. Baden-Powell, take fire roads to well-protected bowls with little chance of avalanche. It’s always wise, though, to wait 24 hours after a storm, both to give the snow time to settle and to allow Caltrans to clear the road to the trail head.

Mt. Islip,

north face

After the first big storms, take the Angeles Crest Highway to the junction of California 39. Caltrans usually closes the road here until spring. A bighorn sheep may be standing sentinel on the ridge as you unload your skis in the frosty stillness and suck in the sharp sting of winter. Walk around the gate and hike the road, taking in the views of the Mojave Desert to the north. If you’re lucky and early, the first tracks will be yours.

Look for a yellow gate on your right. Follow this fire road as it climbs through lodgepole and cedar pine, weaving through morning shadows and pillows of windblown powder. The snow here is deep and full of promise. Continue on to Little Jimmy Campground, a walk-in camp empty for the season. The climb to the summit ridge of Mt. Islip begins directly to the south. Islip’s north-facing slopes can hold powder days after a storm. As you switchback up the forested slope, thighs will burn and skis will grow heavy, but fight the temptation to turn around until you have made the ridge. In the shadow of stunted trees gleaming with ice, click into your bindings and slash the powder back to Little Jimmy.

Kratka Ridge

February used to be the time to ski the lifts at Kratka Ridge, now called Snowcrest. It’s unlikely that Snowcrest’s single chair will be running this year, after a fire destroyed the lift house. But the excellent tree skiing from the top of the ridge can be accessed from a fire road just past Buckhorn Campground.

A short hike to the end of the road brings you to the base of some sweet bowls that once were the site of a USC Ski Club rope tow. Remnants of the original rope tow stand forlorn in the snow, reminders of the days of woolen knickers and bamboo poles.

Ascend the hill to the left. On a late winter powder day, under a fierce blue sky, the north-facing chutes lie glittering and white as a bridal gown. Carving turns down the fall line, you forget where you are, then remember, and grin.

Mt. Baden-

Powell

The San Gabriel snowpack can linger well into May or disappear overnight with the onset of Santa Ana winds. Variable conditions are the norm, perfectly illustrated at Mt. Baden-Powell, where you can encounter thick powder, hard ice, bottomless crud and perfect corn, a silky surface that makes for effortless turns.

Park below Vincent Gap and pick your way among the boulders and avalanche debris half a mile below the Crest to Roadside Attraction, a 1,000-foot, 35-degree gully. Scattered like soldiers on a battlefield, huge broken trees are a reminder of the power of the mountains.

Kick steps into the slope and start ascending the old-fashioned way, perching on the toes of your boots, sometimes sinking to your knees in loose sugar.

About midway up the mountain, the reward is acres of untracked, silky corn. Give in to gravity, point your board or skis at the gully and swoop through the trees on your own personal downhill course.

Any excursion into the mountains requires awareness. Know your limits and ski within them. If you cannot distinguish between north and south, stay home. Lost skiers and boarders create access problems for everyone else. Have fun but be careful.