Mt. Waterman Joins Exclusive-Access Trend With 'Private Powder Days'
With new ownership in place, Southern California's on-again off-again Mt. Waterman will become latest ski and snowboard mountain to allow a chosen few to pay extra for exclusive access to the slopes.
Although no cost has been revealed, becoming one of the "Waterman100" means a lifetime pass for all winter and summer facilities, private access to a portion of the hill on powder days, use of a mid-mountain helipad, and backcountry snowcat tours. It also comes with a 10 percent equity share in Waterman. And the membership can be transferred to the next generation without fee, or sold at market price.
The public will still be allowed on the hill at all times, although the private powder-day program will rope off certain sections of the mountain after a storm. Daily adult ticket prices stand at $70 for now; no season pass is currently available.
Owners have outlined an aggressive upgrade plan with snowmaking, revamped base lodge and warming hut, and new lifts -- all requiring National Forest approvals -- to be phased in. At most Western resorts, location upon public land prohibits limiting access, but Waterman has found a way with the Angeles National Forest.
Situated just an hour's drive from downtown Los Angeles, Mt. Waterman has long been a locals' favorite to grab a few afternoon runs or hit first-chair powder on the weekends. However, the erratic nature of snowfall in the San Gabriels has forced operations to be sporatic, to say the least. The lifts have been silent since 2020. The mountain was closed from 2011-2015 and 2016-2017 for lack of snow. In 2022-2023, the mountain never opened -- first for lack of snow, then for road closures when a storm dropped eigtht feet. A wildfire closed the access road for 2009-2010 and again for 2020-2021 season.
The mountain has three old chairlifts (youngster went up in 1972) serving a 1,030-foot vertical drop on 390 acres. A bit of an "upside down" mountain, all of Waterman's beginner runs are at the top of the mountain (8,038 feet high), and most of the expert runs at the bottom. Runs break out 20% green and blue, 60% black.
Quaintly named Mt. Waterman Ski Lifts opened in 1939 with a rope tow and installed the state's second chairlift in 1941. Its positioning at 8,000 feet of elevation has historically produced the deepest snowfall among SoCal ski and snowboard mountains.
Similar to Waterman, Utah's Powder Mountain keeps the majority of its mountain open to the public but permanently ropes off a quarter of its 8,000 acres for exclusive access by property owners. Both Eagle Point in southern Utah and Silverton Mountain in the Colorado San Juan Mountains can be rented for the day by private parties -- taking the public off the whole hill.
In the West, other fully or partial private ski and snowboard resorts with lifts include Yellowstone Ranch in Montana (proof of $3 million net worth required) and Cimarron Mountain Club (limited to 13 families) in Colorado. Under development is Stagecoach, near Steamboat, with plans to go full-on private with lifts for property owners.
