An Uncertain Certainty: The Future of Skiing in Southern California
Seven thousand feet up, a blue bird sky, and a stiff cold breeze. The perfect day on the hill. One hundred miles from downtown Los Angeles there is a small mountain town named Big Bear Lake that houses two of the largest ski resorts in the region. From the top of one the resorts, Snow Summit, you can look out and see the entire river valley below including brief glimpses of the Inland Empire.
The experience of getting to participate in winter sports in Southern California may soon disappear, and this isn't just a problem for those with enough time and money to go skiing. It will also have an effect on local communities that benefit most from winter sports and may server as precursors for mountain towns across the world.
Despite a banner year in which countless precipitation records were broken including the wettest February on record the future of skiing and snowboarding in Southern California is anything but certain. With rising temperatures, and long periods of continued drought, operating ski resorts have relied on the costly practice of snow making.
A Canary in the Mine
Thirty minutes outside Seligman, Arizona is White Dove Ranch. Among the scattered juniper trees are the partial and broken structures of Raven Galarza’s isolated home. The only signs of civilization are the rough dirt roads, cattle guards, and the reclusive neighbors on their own forty-acre parcels.
Raven sleeps under a metal roof with three walls, with the fourth side left open to the elements. The toilet is a portable outhouse and the shower stall lay blown over from a windstorm. Food is stored in a steel shed a hundred feet away with a refrigerator powered by a gasoline generator, which supplies electricity to the other buildings through extension cords strung across the property. Water is trucked in from the city and stored in tanks and barrels……
https://mcs.atavist.com/a-canary-in-the-mine
Scanning The Horizon
Over seven thousand feet above sea level, the San Bernardino Valley spreads out below.
Ron Wilhelm pointed out the landmarks.
"That's San Bernardino over there, this is the airport, and those two are Santiago Peak, and Modjeska Peak that make up Saddleback."
He is 30 feet off the ground on a wooden walkway that wraps around the Strawberry Peak Fire Lookout. The 14 by 14-foot wood building sits on a metal structure that has stood at this location since 1934.
He is part of an organization that helps to keep the forest safe from wildfires, one that is made up entirely of volunteers.
Fueled by a love for the forest and a sense of civic duty, these volunteers stay vigilant…….
https://uscstoryspace.com/2018-2019/rtwalker/Fall_Midterm/
Washed Away
If you walk down the stretch of Towne Avenue from East 6th Street that cuts through Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, you'll find scenes typical of the so-called homelessness capital of America: sidewalks lined with grubby nylon tents; streets sticky with trash and waste; and people sitting or milling around dazedly, often with nowhere else to go……..
https://uscstoryspace.com/2018-2019/rtwalker/Summer/