12 Months in a Row Skiing California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains

Report from Friday, October 27, 2023

We woke up around 8 a.m. to below-freezing temperatures and bright blue fall skies, unsure what to expect for the day.

However, one thing was for sure: we were going to find some snow, strap in, and make a few delightful October turns to accomplish our goal of skiing 12 months straight. 

I had two different locations in mind, but with some helpful insight from a few folks on Instagram, I decided we would try our luck at the patch again.

The dirt road still had a beautiful dusting of snow lingering in the shadows from the small storm on Wednesday/Thursday.

As we slowly continued along, there was more and more snow visible, and our excitement kept growing.

But the road was in much worse shape than a month ago.

There were two-to-four-foot ruts, large boulders partially hidden by a couple of inches of snow, and a nice coating of ice layering the rocky road.

My Subaru wasn’t up for the challenge this time.

We parked the car, loaded up our skis and snowboard, and started on our roughly mile-long hike to find a patch. 

A short 20-minute hike brought us to the first patch, the one we skied back in September.

The snow was almost completely melted out, minus the fresh dusting from the day before. 

Another five minutes of hiking brought us to the next patch, still scattered with rails and tubes, still showing signs of the summer-time sending.

This was our objective, and it was doable and also less than ideal. 

However, I got some inside scoop a couple of days before that the furthest patch up at the pass was ‘still looking pretty good’!

So on we went…

For the next half mile, we traipsed along the narrow, winding road across rocks, ice, and three to five inches of wind-blown, stiff snow cratered in the deep ruts. 

After just about a mile and a half of hiking in, hoping to find a patch worth shredding, we laid eyes on the prize.

We had a quick snack, basked in the glory of the stunning mountains surrounding us, and booted up.

Just before dropping in, another skier passed us, coming from another area, and we shared a quick hoot and holler over securing our October turns.

The snow was punchy with a firm wind crust, some solid patches of ice, and of course, some sharks poking out here and there.

But regardless, it felt damn good to be out there sliding on snow again. 

Plus, I would say it still beat the giant, icy sun cups we were expecting if we hadn’t gotten that little fresh snow.

We got to the bottom with huge smiles and high-fived as we shared a special moment before we started the hike back up for another one.

One more go down the October snow and a quick hike back up to our packs proved to be more than enough for the both of us.

We successfully skied 12 months in a row in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

With ski resorts opening in the Tahoe area in the next few weeks, months 13-19 should be a breeze!

Keep doing those snow dances, people!

Forecast