Mountain High, one of Southern California’s more popular skiing/snowboarding destinations, narrowly avoided a raging brush fire last night thanks to the hard work of local firefighters and employees.
Photos show the fire starting just before 10pm and burning up through an area just off Highway 2 towards Mountain High’s North Resort, formerly known as Table Mountain. Though the fire got close, no structures were damaged and Mountain High’s East & West Resorts were never threatened.
Roughly 600 people were evacuated from Table Mountain Campground and Camp “Care”, a local summer camp, as three LA County helicopters and one US Forest Service copter with night vision doused the flames. Strike teams on the ground consisting of engines, hand crews, and bull dozers helped knock down hot spots as well and contain the blaze. Mountain High assisted with personnel, staging areas, and water from its two above ground snowmaking reservoirs. New firefighting crews were deployed this morning and are now securing what seems to be the end of the threat.
Though there was no structural damage, officials are asking residents, sightseers, and disc golfers to stay out of the area so crews can continue cleanup efforts. Mother Nature has contributed as well with light rain and thunderstorms signifying the continuing build of this season’s El Nino.
Mountain High’s Sky High Disc Golf Course will not open this weekend but is expected to open next Friday, July 24th.
Says Ben Smith, Mountain High’s General Manager, “It was a long night but a fast one. There were helicopters flying until early this morning and we helped wherever we could. Thank you to everyone who helped prevent what could have been a terribly tragedy.”
Mountain High is located in the San Gabriel Mountains just off Highway 2 in the historic Big Pines region of the Angeles National Forest. The For more than 80 years winter enthusiasts have flocked to Big Pines making it one of the oldest, most historic winter destinations in Southern California. Learn more at http://www.mthigh.com/mountain/history
Mountain High would like to thank the firefighters and employees who worked tireless last night to keep the flames at bay, saving this piece of historic culture and current destination for winter sports. For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact John McColly, Chief Marketing Officer, at (760) 221-3945 or john@mthigh.com.
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Mountain High is Southern California’s closest winter resort located just an hour and a half from Los Angeles and Orange County. The area consists of three separate mountains (Mountain High East, West, and North), and offers a wide variety of lifts and trails, a world-class terrain park, an outstanding Winter Sports School, and the region’s largest tubing area. Night skiing & snowboarding is available 4 nights-a-week and snowmaking covers more than 80% of the slopes. Mountain High has been the first resort to open in Southern California for the past 17 years and traditionally operates from mid November to mid April. Get more at mthigh.com.
