Mountain Snowmelt: 'Patch Pond Skim'

Editor's Note: Our friend and Patch colleague Guy discovered this crew that we thought might inspire our local surfers and snowboarders in what seems an only-in-Southern-California scene. A new sport called snurfing?

The wet winter left a decent snowpack high in the mountains of Southern California, but with valley highs in the 90s the past few days, all that snow is melting fast.

So much snow turned to water this week that local snowboarders near Wrightwood found a way to ski and surf in the same location, an activity they call "pond-skimming."

Mark Girardeau, Zack Foster, J.D. Floen, Kaela Mare and LaFonzo "Snowdogg" Carter call their spot off the Angeles Crest Highway "the Patch."

It's a finger of snow in a steep gully between Vincent Gap and Islip Saddle, west of Wrightwood. Because it faces north, it tends to last longer into the spring each year when the rest of the snow melts, and its characteristics make it an ideal place to snowboard in shorts on a hot day.

Some years the snow lasts into June and they can drive right up to the Patch.

On Tuesday, though, the gate at Vincent Gap was still locked, so Foster, Floen, Mare, Carter and Girardeau had to walk a fair distance to get to the Patch. The Angeles Crest Highway traverses eroding mountain slopes in that area, in part because they retain so much snow deep into spring.

The walk was worth it, Carter said Wednesday.

Photos and video by Girardeau and Carter tell the story. While the guys all used snowboards to skim the Pond, Mare showed them how to waterski.

Similar conditions exist right now above varying elevations in the north-facing San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto mountains, from Los Angeles County to Riverside County.

The mountain groups are all part of the east-west trending Transverse Ranges, which sport high, north-facing slopes that retain snowfields in spring even as temperatures in the valleys and deserts below reach near 100.

It's just another aspect of Southern California to appreciate as the real heat of summer approaches. Enjoy the spring while it lasts.