I know it’s been a long hiatus from this report skiers and snowboarders, but we wanted to keep the pictures up as long as possible from the epic 2 days of backcountry powder skiing we had reported on at the end of February. Plus, there just hasn’t been that much to report. I presented “Skiing the California Drought & The State of the Backcountry 2015” in Mammoth Lakes this weekend at an event hosted by Community Skis and will post slides …
Eastern Sierra Ice Report – March 24, 2015 (End of Season)
Hi there ice climbers!, Happy spring. The end of another Eastside ice season is nigh. It’s been an interesting one, with lots of warm temps and falling ice, but it always provided just enough fun, with reasonable access conditions. It is nice to re-affirm that even in such a warm climate, the Eastern Sierra still hosts the most reliable winter ice climbing on the west coast. Though temps have cooled slightly in the past few days, spring has sprung and the …
Eastern Sierra Backcountry Snow Report – February 25, 2015
Hi bc skiers and snowboarders, The pictures tell most of the story. Best worst winter ever! People are asking us about where to find the goods. It is a bit tricky at the moment but if you succeed then you will be welcomed to nirvana. Cold smoke and face shots are so cool and refreshing after an eternal indian summer. Here’s the secret: The snow is incredible between 10,000′ and 12’000′ where the terrain is sheltered from the wind, shaded …
Eastern Sierra Ice Report – February 25, 2015
Hi there ice climbers, We are finally having a return to winter! The high temperatures have dropped around 25 degrees F over the weekend and have remained cool at night since. We even have received some much needed snow. That means the ice is back to growing and solidifying instead of shrinking and delaminating. It also means the approaches are back to their least favorable state with a bit of slippery snow on talus. Horsetail Falls is still out of recommended …
Eastern Sierra Backcountry Snow Report – February 21, 2015
Howdy backcountry skiers and snowboarders! Since the atmospheric river weather event hit 2 weeks ago, the backcountry has been in excellent conditions. This is definitely a good news-bad news scenario though. The coverage below 10,000′ and on sunny aspects at all elevations is sparse, but what we have is very supportable and skis well. The storm finished colder leaving a skiff of snow on top of rain crust and densely packed storm snow. Warm days with unusually high temperatures and …
Eastern Sierra Backcountry Snow Report – February 13th, 2015
Backcountry skiers and snowboarders, Happy Friday the 13th! Well, in case you haven’t been paying attention, the Groundhog Day spell has been broken. Today is tomorrow! We had an atmospheric river weather event that put up to around a foot of snow down at the higher elevations. For such a significant moisture tap this was disappointing but this season we’ll take what we get and like it. The bad news is that most of the precipitation fell as rain in …
Eastern Sierra Ice Report – February 2nd, 2015
Hi Ice Climbers, Happy Groundhogs Day. 6 more weeks of winter, according to the little marmot. Hope you are enjoying the warm temps. The ice is hanging in there since last report. There are limited climbs for this time of year, but fortunately some lines that would normally be buried in snow are in great shape. anything that was thin or delicate has disappeared for now, but the fatter main lines are climbing well. Be wary of hollow ice with …
Eastern Sierra Backcountry Snow Report – February 2nd, 2015
Howdy backcountry skiers and snowboarders, It’s Groundhog Day!!! Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow this morning which means 6 more weeks of winter. We had a couple weeks of it so far this season and we are looking forward to some more of it. Fortunately, the Sierra backcountry season really is best and most reliable in what is technically considered spring, but the spring season is usually just better and longer when we have a big winter too. Though we die …
Eastern Sierra Backcountry Snow Report – January 28, 2015
Not feeling too inspired to update the last report, but I figured we all could use another shot of Groundhog Day humor. Maybe we are all becoming better people for living the same dry and stormless winter weather day after day: Unfortunately, this is not looking to be like last year where the end of January yielded a decent winter storm to end the dry spell and we could ski again on Groundhog Day. This year we are currently having …
Eastern Sierra Ice Report – January 21, 2015
Hey Ice Climbers, Hope you get to enjoy the ice before it is gone. We usually don’t say that until mid-March, but this year all bets are off. We all know that ice does not fare well in a warming globe, and that goes for California too, not just polar ice caps. 2014 was the warmest year in recorded California history, by a long shot. December 2014 was incredibly warm and it wasn’t until the end of the month that …
Eastern Sierra Ice Report – January 12, 2015
Howdy Ice Climbers! It’s been an exciting week here on the Eastside. June-uary is in full effect with mega warm temps and amazing rock climbing weather. Unfortunately, this is not good news for ice. After an awesome cold snap, warm temperatures returned a bit too soon, culminating in a Friday evening that didn’t freeze below 8500′. This resulted in late March conditions in early January. We witnessed the center of Horsetail Falls, which was completely covered in ice 1 week ago, …
Eastern Sierra Backcountry Snow Report – January 12, 2015
Hi there backcountry skiers and snowboarders. I hope you have been getting out in the backcountry lately. But not in the Eastern Sierra. Here, cold temps and north winds turned to warm temps and sun, which turned to warm temps with clouds and showers. When I say warm, I mean above freezing temps early Saturday morning up to ~8500′ that contributed to the calving of a large central section of the Horsetail Falls ice climbing area Saturday afternoon. And when …