Hometown Mountain Shoutout: Kirkwood, CA – The Wood Growing up just south of San Fransisco, Tahoe and the Sierra was my playground in the winter. When I was learning to ski my family would make the drive to Northstar and Squaw Valley, but as I got older, Kirkwood began to draw my attention. Out of all the mountains I grew up skiing, my eyes drew to Kirkwood more […] Industry News Ryan Flynn | October 2, 2023 4 Comments
Lake Tahoe, CA Report: 10,300′ Round Top’s “Crescent Couloir” & Memories of the “Dogahawk” Report from May 11, 2022 Yesterday I awoke at 6am in the California delta. On the road by 7am headed directly to Mammoth to ski the afternoon. 24-hour fast day. I swerved around a crashed truck at 8am in the valley. Green grass and oak trees in the foothills. Snowy in the upper foothills. Then quite a bit of snow […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | May 11, 2022 1 Comment
Huge Snowstorm Brings First Reported Avalanche of the Season in California (Carson Pass Area) The Sierra Avalanche Center is reporting a large avalanche on Steven’s Peak in California, following the huge snowstorm over the last few days. Related: The Dangers of Early Season Backcountry Skiing Report below: The October 24-25 storm event deposited copious amounts of rain followed by 6 to 40 inches of new snow across the forecast area. The areas of the […] Avalanche AvyBrains | October 27, 2021 0 Comments
The Abandoned – Iron Mountain, CA In today’s mega-resorts/mega-passes era, it almost seems as if some of the big resort names in the ski industry could never fail as a business (excluding if mother nature has something to say about it). This was not always the case. For most of the ski industry’s time in the United States, resorts closing their doors were more common headlines. […] Brains Ryan Flynn | January 4, 2021 20 Comments
August Aggression Session on The Sisters – Tahoe, CA How big was winter 2016/17 in the Tahoe region? The answer: we’re skiing non-glaciated terrain at the end of August! At around 6AM of August 24th, Joe Stewart and I ventured out on HWY 88 from South Lake Tahoe en route to Woods Lake. By just before 7AM, we were on the trail up towards The Sisters to find some late August turns. The Sisters are a few tall peaks (just above 10,000 feet) located due East of Kirkwood that hold north facing pockets of snow well into late Summer. We knew there would be snow, however, the big question for late Summer skiing is the state of the suncups. Massive suncups equate to the worst possible skiing surface known to man. Luckily, with the sun shining and a relatively easy hike up to the ski boot transition zone, we were greeted by a long steep slope with minimal suncups. Yippie! Trip Report Casey Cane | November 7, 2017 4 Comments
VIDEO: Skier Goes for Ride in Avalanche on Carson Pass, CA (Lake Tahoe) Yesterday [arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IIebfrgdJQ&feature=share"] AvyBrains | April 11, 2017 0 Likes 3 Tweets 0 Comments
**Updated** Skier Partially Buried in Avalanche in Lake Tahoe, CA Yesterday | Avy Report: **This article was updated at 5:20pm PST when the Sierra Avalanche Center updated their report with a report directly from a skier who was in the group of the skier caught in the avalanche, an avalanche accident analysis, and two photos of the avalanche from today. A backcountry skier was carried 150-vertical-feet by an avalanche and partially buried on Elephants […] Avalanche SnowBrains | November 12, 2015 6 Comments
Terminating the Terrible Tahoe Season @ Carson Pass, CA Given the absolutely dismal year we had here in Northern California, I never would have guessed that the annual mid-June climb to ski around the Carson Pass area would have the snow to pull it off. Well, after above average snowfall for May 2015, Round Top Peak (10,381 ft) and the Sisters Peaks (10,153 ft) failed to disappoint. Backcountry Casey Cane | July 17, 2015 5 Comments
Skier-Triggered Avalanche in Lake Tahoe, CA Today: First skier descended slope without incident (ski track mostly covered by debris, but visible in middle left of photo). Second skier did a hard ski cut really pushing with his legs and triggered the avalanche (skier visible at crown in photo). The debris ran over our skin track. We did go one at a time though that area but it seemed solid. We were heading to the looker’s left area shot Eback, but did not like the layers and dropped over to this area, I did a hasty pit and it seemed okay, clearly it was not. […] Avalanche SnowBrains | December 13, 2014 5 Comments
VIDEO of Snowboarder Taking a 500′ Ride in an Avalanche on Monday in Lake Tahoe, CA This video is of the snowboarder who was caught in an avalanche in Lake Tahoe, California on Tuesday near the Sisters in the Kirkwood area. The snowboarder who triggered it went for a frightening 500-foot ride. The guy was lucky and ended up on top and uninjured. Just another reminder that you can never count avalanches out in the backcountry, even when there’s only one storm’s worth of snow out there. This is a time of year when many […] Avalanche SnowBrains | December 3, 2014 5 Comments
Triumph of Tahoe Turns @ Carson Pass, CA – 06/15/14 After one of the driest years on record and in midst of a drought…would my June turns even come to fruition? It has almost become a yearly ritual in my household. Come mid-June, to climb and ski around the Carson Pass area off of Round Top Peak at 10,381 ft and then continue up and the down the chutes of all the Sisters Peaks (10,153 ft) down to Round Top Lake[…] Backcountry Casey Cane | June 24, 2014 6 Comments
Skiing in Tahoe on September 1st words and photos by Matt Bansak. After hearing from a friend who had scoped the area the day before, September skiing was officially a ‘go’ for the Round Top patches, one of the few areas in Tahoe that holds snow at this time of year. Round Top is a 10,000 foot peak a little east of Kirkwood, down in Carson Pass, and is my favorite place for summer turns for its accessibility and beauty. My friend Keenan Hawkins, who is always up for an adventure, was onboard for an evening hike up. We had spent the first part of our day with some friends, hucking bikes off a ramp that Keenan had built into an undisclosed […] Matt Bansak | September 6, 2013 4 Comments
Tahoe Turns on July 4th…possible? During my skiing lifetime around Northern California, there have been two massive years with top to bottom lift-served skiing on July 4th. Those years were the Summer of 1995 and 2011. But what about a normal year or worse yet, a below normal year? Bottom line for the Summer of 2013 – Head South on Hwy 88 near Carson Pass. […] Casey Cane | July 3, 2013 4 Comments
“Summering in the Sultry Sierra” | Carson Pass, CA Conditions Report June 15th It’s that time of year again in Northern California…hiking, snow skiing, boating & jet skiing! Unknown to what we would find on a back to back low snow year, the objective was clear…to climb and ski around the Carson Pass area off of Round Top Peak (Moon Crescent zone @ 10,381 ft), and to climb and ski as many lines as possible around the Sisters Peaks (10,153 ft).[…] Casey Cane | June 21, 2013 4 Comments
Powder Day in Lake Tahoe | 6-12” Above 7,500-Feet & Currently Snowing | Photos It’s a powder day in Lake Tahoe. 6-12” of snow has fallen above 7,500 feet and it’s snowing right this second. No ski resorts are open in Tahoe, but the backcountry is gonna be good today and maybe even better once this storm moves out. MT. ROSE, NEVADA FORECAST: It looks like it’ gonna get warm again as soon as […] Weather SnowBrains | May 7, 2013 4 Comments
A Damn Good Week In The Sierra | Photos from Tioga Pass, Virginia Lakes & Carson Pass Most Cali shredders have already called the coroner on Ol’ Man Winter, pissed on the smoldering embers of the ski season and put away the boards for the bikes. If that’s you, might not want to see these photos from last week in the Sierra. Like a phoenix rising from the thin, dry ashes of a dismal season, winter roared […] Backcountry Guest Author | April 26, 2013 5 Comments
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