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
Tioga Pass, CA Report: May 11th = Not Good | Surf Conditions = A+ Last night, Mammoth got a bit of late season snow. It was a nice day until about 3pm when clouds rolled in, the wind picked up (it was already blowing), and it started to snow. It didn’t accumulate much, but the wind howled like a banshee and the low in Mammoth Lakes was 23F last night. We weren’t quite sure what that weird May weather would equate on Tioga Pass, but we hoped […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | May 11, 2014 2 Comments
Tioga Pass, CA Report: Chuting Ellery Bowl in Pow on May 7th It’s May 6, 2014 and it’s dumping big fat wet flakes in June Lake, Ca. Is it accumulating? No. But at only 7,800 ft, that’s not surprising in spring. It has to be sticking above 10,000 ft. Right? Right?! After a meager — but fun — winter every little scrap garners excitement, at least in me. Most sane people around these parts are climbing in the Gorge or Yosemite or the Happy’s. But there are definitely a few of us diehards out there. You know who you are, all 20 of you. I’m sure you were out there, somewhere, on this same day. If we ever meet, I’ll buy you a drink. […] Conditions Report Guest Author | May 8, 2014 1 Comment
Sonora Pass, CA Report: May 3rd & 4th Corn Harvest Drove up from the Bay last Saturday, got a late start….clicked into our skis and started skinning @10am from 9,924-Foot Sonora Pass, CA (hwy 108). Original plan was to head up to No-Name and ski the bowl then head back to the saddle to the east to do more recon than anything as I’ve usually skied the couloirs off Leavitt and then either down Deadmans creek to the hairpin or back up to No-Name and down the main bowl. Quickly audibled as we saw a group of 10-15 heading up No-Name and went straight for the saddle to the east. First run was an extremely short/mellow tree lined pitch back down to the bench to get a better idea […] Conditions Report Guest Author | May 8, 2014 0 Comments
Tioga Pass Report: Ellery Chute & General Scouting | May 2nd We got a late start yesterday with a large crew and headed up to 9,945′ Tioga Pass from Mammoth, CA. We went straight to Ellery Bowl above Ellery Lake near the top of Tioga Pass. We spotted a chute that went through and had a very tight choke near the top. It looked doable and fun so we went for it. We skinned straight up Ellery Bowl to the Dana Plateau, scouted Mt. Dana’s Solistice Couloir and Dana Couloir for future use, then skinned […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | May 3, 2014 9 Comments
Tioga Pass Reports | May 1st: False White Peak | May 2nd: Kidney Lake Chute & Mt. Gibbs Yesterday we skied False White from the Saddlebag Lake road. It was a manageable 2 and 1/2 hours from car to summit. For optimum corn I wish we would’ve dropped in around 10:30 but that aspect was still skiing great when we arrived atnoon – good enough to ski multiple laps! This is a great tour for a large group who want to do some party skiing, or skiing naked… […] Conditions Report Guest Author | May 3, 2014 3 Comments
Tioga Pass Backcountry Report: North Peak & Mt. Conness Today we decided to go for a long slog of a tour and explore the area around North Peak and Mount Conness off Tioga Pass, CA. Since Saddlebag road is closed there was a short boot walk and a very long skin past Saddlebag Lake and Greenstone Lake following the Conness Glacier approach. We boot packed the southeast face of North Peak and dropped in around 11:00. […] Conditions Report Guest Author | April 30, 2014 2 Comments
Tioga Pass, CA Backcountry Report: Chalky Snow on April 29th Since we got back to camp I’ve been preoccupied getting tequila drunk and cooking dinner, and then I found out about Timy passing away, and I’ve been fucking bummed. In any case, feel free to edit down anything you see here any way you see fit. Here are a few scattered thoughts: Allegedly Tioga opened yesterday around noon, based on one conversation with a random local. […] Conditions Report Guest Author | April 30, 2014 1 Comment
Conditions Report
