Howdy Skiers and Snowboarders! Hope you have been getting into the Sierra in the past month or so. The end of season wrap-up has been as good as it gets, considering the winter drought. Corn conditions have been excellent and some cold storms have kept the powder skiing dream alive. On Monday and Tuesday we had a fantastic cold front pass through that dropped 2-4 inches of snow that stuck down to 8000 feet. A little moderate winds from SW …
Backcountry Snow Report – May 6, 2014
Skiers and Snowboarders… …that is, if there are any of you left out there. After a lot of wrangling, I was able to find one interested and available ski partner for a 3-day tour who wasn’t busy shaving their legs for a bike ride, complaining about the short ski season. Although things look like late May-early June out there, conditions are absolutely all-time. We enjoyed some of the best spring skiing imaginable during the last high pressure window. No sun …
Backcountry Snow Report – April 27, 2014
Hi there skiers and snowboarders! Apologies to all the followers of this blog. I hope both of you will forgive us, as we have been busy “getting it while we can” here in the Eastern Sierra. It has been great to run into so many friends from near and far around here with the same idea. Although it has been one of the driest seasons on record, the spring is actually shaping up for us. So many people are talking …
POV Ice Climbing Video from Alex Stepanek
Check out this Ice Climbing Trip Report from Alex Stepanek Click HERE use password: media Enjoy!
Sublimation: A Journey to the Black Divide with Glen Plake
Prologue It has been 3 seasons of drought for the Sierra. This makes a skier harken back to wetter and better times. Exactly 3 years ago, Easter week 2011, Glen Plake and I went on a multiday ski tour together and had a grand old time skiing some of the wildest and under-explored terrain in the High Sierra in a 5 day point-to-point tour. This was one of the biggest snow years on record and we had epic snow conditions. …
Backcountry Snow Report – April 13, 2014
Eastside panorama: Williamson to Split in the southern zone. Since the last report conditions have changed significantly, due to a major spring thaw in the past week. Evening temps have been below freezing above 10,000′ and radiation has been cooling the snowpack surface as well. Transitional spring snow conditions have transformed to Sierra corn and skiing has been excellent on most sun-exposed slopes with enough snow to ski, above 9500′, and without forest cover. Slopes that have yet to completely …
Backcountry Snow Report – April 7 & 8, 2014
Get it while you can – Janis Joplin Skiers and Snowboarders, The first half of April generally features the maximum snowpack of the season in the Eastern Sierra. This year coverage is thin, but surprisingly adequate if you choose your location thoughtfully. Yesterday on the 7th, SMG ski guide Mark Shelp and I were able to easily ski from and to the truck parked on the upper Buttermilk Road into Birch Creek. Today, we also skied from the Virginia Lakes Road …
Backcountry Snow Report – April 4, 2014
Hi there backcountry skiers and snowboarders! Today’s conditions report features the Bishop zone (for a change). If you are reading this then it is possible that, like us, you have not yet hung up your skis and skins and moved on to other endeavors like so many so-called Sierra skiers and riders. We are pleased as powder that our High Sierra has seen over a foot of new snow from the last series of spring storms. Temps have been cold too, …
Rendezvous in Red Rock – March 28-29, 2014
Not to be confused with the Red Rock Rendezvous, the mass gathering of climbers and gear manufacturers which happened to be going on the same March weekend, Alex Stepanek and I went ready to get up early and beat the crowds onto some of the most classic routes in Red Rock. In 2 days we logged about 20 pitches of rock climbing, none of which were short of excellent. Great days with a great partner and looking forward to more …
Backcountry Snow Report for March 26, 2014
Hi there Skiers and Snowboarders. This is an addendum to the state of the backcountry report we already posted. Many of you are thinking about the spring ski options and making plans based on the current snowpack and anticipated future conditions. The good news is that things are starting to change for the better. We expect 1-2 feet of snow above 9500′ in the next week if all pans out. After that it looks like perhaps an unsettled weather pattern …
On June Mountain by Backcountry Magazine
Did you catch this article in last month’s Backcountry Mag about June Mountain’s incredible backcountry and future potential? Witten by our friend and talented skier/ski writer Megan Michelson. Features quotes and photo from us. Leave a comment and we can tell you more of our thoughts on what Mammoth ought to do with June Mountain, if not sell it to someone with money and real vision. What an overlooked gem!
Backcountry Snow Report – March 18, 2014
The Sherwins on an avalanche course – March 16, 2014 Howdy skiers and snowboarders. We are just past St. Patty’s Day, and as an Irish citizen myself (Howie O’Schwartz is the name), I thought I would share some of me lucky charms with you so that we can still salvage the backcountry season here in the Eastern Sierra. If you haven’t already read my earlier State of the Backcountry report you should check that out too. At this point we …