Lake Tahoe, CA, Backcountry Report: “Pinky & The Brain” Chutes | Slender, Uncouth, & Frighteningly Elegant Report from March 9, 2024 We got back out there again today. I was exhausted. We encountered many challenges just getting to spots we wanted to ski. Only one location was available to us and it was one we’d never skied. Well, at least Garrett & I hadn’t. We skinned up through trees being thrashed by the wind. We switched […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | March 10, 2024 0 Comments
Lake Tahoe, CA Backcountry Report: Getting Walled in Lake Tahoe, CA in a Frighteningly Long Couloir in Some Mid-Winter California Corn Report from February 25, 2024 Yesterday was day #4 in a row in the Lake Tahoe backcountry. Each day, we skied a different chute. This mid-winter mini-springtime delivered. Yesterday we went for a couloir we’d never skied before. We dropped in around 11am and the California corn was perfectly ripe. We got walled in the top section, then opened it […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | February 26, 2024 0 Comments
Lake Tahoe, CA Backcountry Report: Scorching Hot Mid-Winter Corn Chute Harvest Above Big Blue Report from February 24, 2024 Hot. Heat. Hot heat. Fox was racing uphill after our late 10am start. We’d purposely started late to let the corn grow tall, but we underestimated how hot it would be. I was wearing shorts and a T-Shirt and ski pants and I was dying. Sweat poured through my eyebrows and onto the lenses of […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | February 25, 2024 0 Comments
Patagonia Backcountry Report: Riding a Mini-Avalanche & a Mini-Car on the Last “Powder” Day of the Season Report from September 23, 2023 Yesterday, we went for a walk with low expectations. It has rained and snowed for 2 days then gone clear. When we get lucky here, a cold clear night can suck the moisture of the snow and make the skiing great. But the snow was so heavy and wet and foggy saturated here on Friday… […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | September 24, 2023 0 Comments
Patagonia Backcountry Report: Getting Beat Down By “The Crack” Report from August 27, 2023 On Sunday, we got beat down by “The Crack” here in Patagonia… This is a line we’d never skied before mostly because it’s in a dangerous zone – as we explain in the 3rd slide. The first 15 turns were splendiferous! Turns 16-61 we’re absolutely abysmal… Punchy, unpredictable, icy, and just downright scary snow. We […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | August 29, 2023 0 Comments
Patagonia Backcountry Report: Wild, Sharky, Powder Gambling Down Chutes & Spires Report from August 25, 2023 After two terrific and terrifically weird powder days this week, we decided to take a gamble on Friday. We gambled on timing, location, snow, and sharkiness… We decided to go for “High Tower Chute Alternate.” This is a south-facing zone that doesn’t get sun until about 3 p.m. So we slept in and lazed up […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | August 28, 2023 0 Comments
Patagonia Backcountry Report: Fear, Grunts, & No-Fall Zones in Anubis Rock Chute Report from August 24, 2023 After the previous day’s deep powder and healthy hucks, we went deeper into the backcountry and stepped into bigger terrain. Anubis Rock Chute. FYI: Anubis was the Egyptian god of the dead and embalming as well as the guide to the netherworld (I have a minor in Egyptology and there’s a rock that looks just […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | August 26, 2023 0 Comments
Trip Report: 11,000′ McGee Creek Peak, CA – “McGee Creek Chutes” Report from June 29, 2023 Brought to you by Mono County Tourism 11,000′ McGee Creek Peak, CA’s “McGee Creek Chutes” yesterday were surprisingly stupendous! We had low expectations, especially after how abhorrent the lower section looked… Regardless, we donned shorts and t-shirts and clambered on up there. The climb went quickly with Tall Carl kicking in the booter. 2,700-vertical-feet and […] Trip Report Miles Clark | June 30, 2023 0 Comments