Iconic shuttered LA ski hill back on the market after private club plans fail

LA’s beleaguered hometown ski hill is hunting for a new owner.

Two years after plans emerged to transform historic Mount Waterman in the San Gabriel Mountains into a private members-only club, the iconic site is back on the market — and actively seeking a new buyer.

After years of battling a slew of difficulties largely centered around the whims of Mother Nature, Angeles Mountain Partners LLC announced in late 2024 that they had bought the mountain, which opened in 1939, and were going to overhaul the popular getaway destination, which sits on federally-controlled land, promising “more powder, less people.”

The company even advertised membership into the elite “Waterman 100” — which would grant you “a lifetime of exclusive access to this iconic mountain.”

The only problem was that Mountain Partners never closed escrow on the property, listing agent Marc Ramirez revealed to SFGATE.

“They went ahead and were a little gung-ho and did a marketing plan before it closed escrow,” Ramirez told the outlet.

“Good old Mount Waterman is listed for sale again,” he said.

Just 60 miles from Los Angeles in Pearblossom, Mount Waterman emerged as a ski destination at the tail end of the Great Depression. The resort was owned by the same family from 1939 until the 90s.

After closing for the majority of the 2000s, it briefly reopened in 2008 after being purchased by Rick Metcalf — only to close again the following year.

Metcalf died in a roadside accident in 2025, near Adelanto, when he was reportedly hit by a passing car on Highway 395, according to officials at the time.

That tragic death, the wildfires that same year and struggles dealing with the U.S. Forest Service all contributed to Waterman’s languishing on the market, Ramirez said.

The site was initially listed for $2.275 million in 2024. After the deal with Mountain Partners fell through, the property was relisted for $3.275 million last month — but there’s a catch.

That price tag is mainly for a 20 year permit from the U.S. Forest Service to operate a resort there, not for the land itself.

The deal also comes with 3 chair lifts, two mobile homes, three snowcats, five snowmobiles, a ticket booth, and a warming hut with a full kitchen, bar and a lounge with a wood burning fireplace.

Mountain Partners had lofty plans for the resort, including the promise that Waterman100 members would be ferried to the mountain on helicopters, and that they could access the mountain exclusively on days with prime conditions.

According to Ramirez, staff changes at the Forest Service stalled the permit-transferring service in the deal with Mountain Partners.  

“People we’d started working with were no longer there,” Ramirez told SFGATE.

“I’m trying to find the right individual or group who will utilize it most effectively and have it open to the public as much as possible, and not someone who will go ahead and make it a private resort,” he said.

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