It is the end of the season with no more patrolling and many of the US Forest Service recreation staff on to the work of getting the district ready for summer activities.

Two Sierra Club wilderness training groups and a Meet Up group snow shoed around the mountain. A search and rescue team and two Boy Scout groups are spending the night in separate training sessions.

On Saturday, August 26th an “open house” was held at Nordic Base for individuals interested in joining the Mt. Pinos Nordic Ski Patrol.

We will be hosting a “open house” on Mt Pinos for people interested in joining our patrol on August 26th.

This season was unique: We have never had the road to Mt Pinos closed for so long. Fortunately it opened in time for our last scheduled patrol weekend.

April 12th Update: Kern County updated their road status page today to show the road up Mt Pinos is now open.

Kern County did a nice job clearing the road and the crowds appreciated it.

What a weekend! First we were informed that the road would not be open at all so our members started making other plans.

During the week we received conflicting information about whether the road would be plowed and the mountain opened for this weekend. Kern County roads came through and got the road plowed. Not just plowed but really cleared of snow. With melt and refreeze there are always icy spots, so chains and careful driving are the rule, but for the most part the road is clear and dry.

January 6th Update: Kern County plowed the road today and the last report we received is that the snow gate is open. Chains are required.

The storm that came in Saturday afternoon was wet but warm so it was unclear how much or how good the snow was going to be on Mt Pinos. We decided to check it out.

So far the winter storms have been a little disappointing but we did have enough snow last weekend for skiing and for some toboggan training.

Our intrepid photographer arrived at the snow gate just when Kern County was opening the road and was able to get these photographs.

Status as of March 12, 2021

There are very few places in Southern California as good as Mount Pinos for back country skiing, snowshoeing and snow play.

The sunny days since the last storm have left the exposed south facing area bare but on the shady and north facing slopes there was enough snow to have some fun skiing, hiking or snow playing.

Went to summit and down the west side as far as the Chumash sign today. The two storms we’ve had have put some good coverage, 6-10 inches, I’d say, but skiing was difficult. I would have cussed the crust, but I’ve never seen it quite like this—scalloped drifts with something like graupel embedded in it. It reminded me of crunchy peanut brittle and was about as easy to ski. Pinos often creates a fantastic flocking and this was also unusual—a rainbow spectrum of ice and frost on every twig.

In just a few days, after we've recovered from the annual ritual of eating way too much, and providing everything looks good, Nordic Base, snow dependent of course, should be open for business.

The past season is over; Patrollers eagerly prepare for the next - coming soon, as in days away. Snow? Not as much as we'd like but there were a few good days - just a few, and Mt. Pinos showed her true colors coming alive under a blanket of white. Though our new season is now upon us, we take time to reflect on the great things our Patrol did last year.

Until Christmas.

Today was a banner day for all National Ski Patrol (NSP) volunteers as the California State Senate took time to honor members of the Far West Division and NSP.

With temperatures in the mid 90s and summer still in full swing, snow is certainly not high on the list of things to think about. When there is beach and sand and fun in the sun?? Thinking about snow?

Our Patrol volunteers have had a wonderful weekend meeting new neighbors, and saying "hello" to old friends who've stopped by our booth at Fiesta Days.

The 48th Annual Fiesta Days: August 7, 8 and 9

While Patrollers certainly share a love of the outdoors and the beautiful winter season, what brings us back, year, to year, is our desire to serve and help our community. For a Patroller, providing service above and beyond is something we all strive for.

May Social Hike at Mt. Pinos on May 24th.

The 2013-14 winter season was disappointing with respect to snow. Essentially there was none. Yes, we did have about 4 lovely weekends with a foot or so of snow, but after falling, it promptly melted away and percolated onto the soils of our beloved Mt. Pinos.

I generally think of a typical mountain as being a constant. Weather and seasons change of course. But a visit to Mount Pinos a year or so from now will not be enough for the fallen tree to decay back into the soil and the meadow that had lovely flowers last spring is likely to have lovely flowers next spring.

We had a pretty mellow weekend of ski patrolling on Mt. Pinos this past President's day weekend (Feb 16-17, 2013). Saturday morning was cold and blustery, but then the weather warmed up and we had sunny weather in the 40s for the rest of the day and on Sunday.

We had great SoCal weather on Mt. Pinos this past weekend (Jan 19-20, 2013). The skies were clear and deep blue and from the top of the mountain we could see the Pacific ocean as well as snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.

This is a NSP course that is available for NSP Patrollers as well as the general public. The course involves 8 hours of classroom and 16 hours of field work;

Saturday October 20th was our annual "On The Hill Refresher" where Patrollers, Hill Hosts and Candidates came up to Nordic Base to spend the day refreshing on various skill stations in preparation for the 2012-2013 season. We get together every October and work together on skills such as navigation, radio communication, rope work, avalanche and ICS. This year we were joined by our friends from Mammoth Basin Backcountry Patrol and Winter SAR Ski Patrol South. The weather was perfect and great fun was had by all while shaking off the rust of summer.

Quiet weekend of patrolling 03/24-25/2012. The skiing on Sunday was stellar - 8" of snow and more falling as we left - covered up all the bare spots on trails. The snow was wet to being and as the temp dropped, it kept getting drier. Hero snow today!

The storm last weekend dumped between 16 and 18 inches of snow at Nordic Base. This has consolidated to about 12 inches as of this morning.

All patrollers and candidates,

Ski training-candidate and all patrollers welcome. At Bear Mountain.I have contacted Joe McCoy and we have come up with a tentative ski training schedule. The dates are as follows:

There was candidate training at Nordic Base this last weekend. The snow coverage is minimal and for our purposes, non-existent. As of Sunday, no new snow happened. It probably rained Friday night-Saturday morning because the road up was icy past the second snow gate.

The latest weather forecast for Mt. Pinos has 7 to 15 inches of show occurring over the course of today and tomorrow. Dust off those skis!

The Number 1 Nordic Ski Patrol In the Nation for 1993 * 1996 * 1999 * 2006 * 2011