Backcountry
Conditions Report
Report from May 5, 2022
Yesterday we went for a zone we’d noticed the day before that holds 3 stupendous chutes.
The 3 Bears Chutes (we’re calling them).
Everything north and east and likely west is absolutely gross right now with what we’re calling “Macro-Sastrugi” (basically huge corrugated chunks of snow that ski like shit – we skied it on Tuesday:ย Tioga Pass, CA Report: Solstice Couloir + Banana Chute = 1 Concussion, 1 Dislocated Shoulder, 2 Heinous Chutes)
The 3 Bears on the other hand appeared smooth, sleek, corny, perfect, and long.
We went for it.
The 3 chutes are gorgeous and flow straight down into an alpine lake all with a view of Mono Lake in the huge valley below.
We started walking at 9 am.
Made the lake by 10:30 am.
It was windier than we thought it’d be.
It was cloudier than we thought it’d be.
It was colder than we thought it’d be.
We sat.
After about 40 minutes our buddies who had left early came ripping down Mama Bear chute and said it was still firm, but good enough.
We started up.
Matty, Fox, Lee, and I skinned & cramponed up Baby Bear.
The chute was about 1,600-vertical-feet and was more magnificent than we thought.
We’d originally planned to just use it as an up ramp, but the thing was rad once we were in it.
We dropped in and skied freakin’ perfect corn from the top right down to the lake.
We were pumped.
I was tired, but it was so good, I suggested we ski another.
Everyone agreed.
We all skinned and cramponed back up Baby Bear and scrambled over a gruesome boulder field to Mama Bear.
Matty kept on to Papa Bear since he’d already skied the other 2.
I skied the ‘sneaker entrance’ to Mama Bear for added spice but sandbagged myself a bit as the ‘sneaker entrance’ and the main gut of Mama Bear didn’t exactly connect…
Once down in the throat of Mama Bear I was dazzled.
The walls were tall, the chute was steep, the view was grandiose.
The snow in the most walled part of the chute was sticky and tough, unfortunately…
We were a bit late not dropping in until about 3:30 pm.
We should have skied Mama Bear 1st…ย
But, hindsight is 20/20 and we’ll most certainly be back.
Especially if all the north and east-facing chutes in this zone continue to be corrugated nightmares…
I was pretty tired at this point after 3 days in a row and about 11,000-vertical-feet in 3 days off the couch.
The walk down the final 1,600-vertical-feet was noticeable.
Back at the car, we were all smiles.
Mobile Mart for fish and carnitas tacos and a huge Modelo beer.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
The sunset in Mammoth was absolutely bonkers last night…
The lenticular clouds that had hovered above us all day took flight as the evening sun lite them up in oranges, pinks, and purples.
One of the best sunsets I’ve seen.
Better than the northern lights, I think…
Thank you, California!
Photos in Chronological Order
