A large tract of land in the San Gabriel Mountains was leased from the United States Forest Service in 1888 to master trailblazer and cabin builder Louis Newcomb.

Waterman, together with his wife Liz and their friend Perry Switzer, completed a three-week hike from La Cañada to the Antelope Valley and back in May 1889.

Newcomb sold Mount Waterman to a group of Southern California businessmen, the main investors being Barry R. Stubblefield of Valencia, owner of a lighting business,[3] and his brother Gregory R. Stubblefield of Pasadena a United Way benefactor[4] and regional president and chairman of Enterprise Rent-A-Car[5]), James "Jim" R. Newcomb, [6] and Charles "Chuck" W. Ojala both also residing in Valencia.[7]).

Together they formed Angeles Crest Resorts (ACR) and operated Mount Waterman and neighboring Snowcrest ski area beginning in 1999.

Mount Waterman has higher natural snowfall (average 180 inches) than most Southern California ski areas and its snow is fairly well preserved by tree shading and steep north exposure.

Stories of long hikes up the closed Angeles Crest Highway to Cloudburst Summit, then onto the buried lodge, are remembered by a select few.

A new Mount Waterman web site launched on January 11, 2008, published a notice that set an opening date in early February.

Mount Waterman operated during the 2008/2009 ski season with all three lifts running, and the resort received over 3 feet of snow in December.

Conditions throughout the season were variable due to warm weather patterns and winter rain, and the resort usually operated on a Friday-Sunday schedule from December 21 - January 12, then again from February 13 - March 15.

The Station Fire (2009) exploded out of control on August 29–30, 2009, and was visible to Mount Waterman caretaker Todd Brugger several miles west of the ski area.

After seeing smoke coming from Devil's Canyon directly behind the ski area, he took a bulldozer up to the ridgeline and dumped some dirt off the back to form a firebreak.

In the Winston side country west of the ski area, the fire crossed the ridge and burned some ground cover but not the forest.

The Station Fire's most serious impact upon Mount Waterman was the closure of the Angeles Crest Highway above La Cañada for all of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 ski seasons.

[11] Near the top there is a 5 million gallon, tadpole-filled reservoir intended for a future snowmaking system, and at the 8,036 ft (2,449 m) summit there is a plateau with large boulders.