Hiker Slips to Death Whilst Climbing Granite Cliffs of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, CA A hiker in Yosemite National Park fell to his death on Monday afternoon while climbing the iconic granite cliffs of Half Dome in rainy conditions, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported yesterday. NPS spokeswoman Jamie Richards said the man and a companion were scaling the steepest part of the trail where rangers recently installed cables to help hikers to climb the […] Steven Agar | May 23, 2018 3 Comments
VIDEO: Caltrans Plowing Snow Off Tioga Pass Rd. in Yosemite, CA in Front of Half Dome In California right now, everyone is talking asking when 9,943′ Tioga Pass in Yosemite, CA will open for the season. Tioga Pass allows access to some of the best skiing and riding in California. Caltrans has been working on clearing the road since April 18th, 2016. The hoped to open it last Friday, but a storm changed those plans. We’ve got […] SnowBrains | May 5, 2016 0 Comments
Half Dome Loses Large Chunk – Leaves NW Face Route Unclimbable A large section of the Regular Northwest Face route on Yosemite, CA’s über-famous Half Dome has fallen off. The piece that fell left the Regular Northwest Face route, one of the world’s most historic routes, unclimbable. The large ledge at the end of Pitch 11, the traverse at the start of […] SnowBrains | July 7, 2015 6 Comments
Dean Potter Sets Fastest Time on Half Dome Dean Potter has broken the record for the fastest known time up and down Half Dome in Yosemite, California. He did it this past weekend. Dean’s up and down round trip time was 2 hours, 17 minutes, 52 seconds. This is six minutes faster than the record of 2:23:51 set by Kyle Williams in September 2014. Dean wore a T-shirt, shorts, socks, and shoes and brought no food nor water. Dean Potter is a living legend who has done things many of […] SnowBrains | May 5, 2015 2 Comments
Tioga Pass Report Today: 12″ of New Snow in Ellery Chutes, Ice Cream, Half Dome, Hot Springs I left Waterford, CA this morning at 7:30am headed for Sonora Pass. At the highway 108/120 split, the sign said Sonora Pass closed, Tioga Pass open. Change of plans. I drove up highway 120 to Yosemite, stopped to jump into Rainbow Pools, took pictures of Half Dome, stopped to take pictures of a guy who’d driven out onto Toulomne Meadows and gotten stuck, asked the Park Rangerette on Tioga Pass how much snow they’d gotten, she said 8-12 inches since May 6th, then arrived at Ellery Lake on Tioga Pass at about 11am. […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | May 9, 2014 2 Comments
Argentina Bans Domestic and International Flights Until September Essentially Ending Ski Season Argentina has banned all internal and international commercial flight sales until at least 1 September due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although we have yet to hear confirmation of South American ski resorts’ intentions at this time, our own experience is that August and September are THE best months to ski there. With no flights being sold to or within Argentina, it looks […] Industry News SnowBrains | April 28, 2020 0 Comments
Overall Crime in Eagle County, CO (Vail) Halved Due to Lockdown | Domestic Violence Calls Up 300% Arrest numbers for March 2020 in Eagle County, CO, home to Vail Resort, were half that of March 2019 the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office has revealed. Jail populations in Colorado’s 5th Judicial District (the counties of Eagle, Summit, Lake and Clear Creek) were down an average of 43%, law enforcement officials say. The decrease can be attributed to the state-mandated […] SnowBrains | April 24, 2020 0 Comments
California Adventure Report: Tioga Pass, Rainbow Pools, Mono Lake, Hot Springs, Water Spouts… California can shine and it very well may shine brightest in springtime. This year, we had a low snow year and that’s the yang. The yin is that Tioga Pass opened very early so in one day, you can easily experience the foothills, the white granite domes, the high mountains, the east side, and the desert. Today, I woke up in Waterford, CA and got on the road by 7:30am. From there, it was a classic California adventure: Flipping into Rainbow Pools in the foothills, gaping at Half Dome, skiing Poop Chute on Tioga Pass, gawking at […] Miles Clark | May 16, 2014 3 Comments