Christobal,
Since you are taking a fancy to winter climbing, I highly recommend that you purchase Mountaineering, The Freedom of the Hills, which is the Bible of mountaineering, in my opinion.
Mt. Baldy is an excellent training area for snow and ice travel, once winter conditions set in on Mt. Baldy. That is where I first practiced with my ice axe and crampons. And since I lived in Pasadena for 27 years, I also practiced up in the San Gabriels when we had good snow fall. I also lived in San Diego for eight years, but traveled to Baldy, San Jacinto and Gorgonio for winter camping and climbing. Those areas are also excellent for snowshoe training.
You can't beat professional training by SMI mentioned above. I took the glacial training by RMI on Mt. Rainier, which was excellent training for ice axe control and team-climbing.