SierraDescents.com

THR Podcast: Fire & Ice

Andy Lewicky contemplates the SoCal backcountry

About a week after the Palisades Fire, Jason Albert, managing editor at The High Route, reached out via email. That led to a short interview, which was a nice distraction in what (more)

More Throop

Matt Dixon skiing Throop Peak's North Face, Oct 2025

Here's Matt D working his way down Throop's north gullies today. We ascended from Dawson saddle, summited, skied probably a thousand vertical feet, and then exited back up to the (more)

Baden-Powell’s Northwest Ridge

Baden-Powell's North-Northwest ridge, from Dawson Saddle

The glades along the sunny side of BP's northwest ridge looked irresistible from Dawson Saddle on Monday, so I went back yesterday to give it a try. Alas those gleaming fields (more)

Throoping in October

October snowpack on the north side of Throop Peak, California

The one and only Al Preston talked me into leaving my sofa for Throop Peak today, and unlike last week's Pinos foray, there's real skiing to be had in the San Gabriels. First, (more)

Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

Ascending Mount Pinos on skis, Oct 15, 2025

If I were making a list of things I never expect to do, skiing the SoCal backcountry in October would be close to the top. Well, scratch that one off the list! Here's Mount (more)

Paseo Miramar

Paseo Miramar Trail, overlooking the Palisades Fire Burn Scar & Pacific Palisades, California

"I will wash my bike tomorrow," I said to myself. And then when I got home and I saw my legs, I realized, "Actually, I will be washing everything tonight." Everything: bike, (more)

It Was a Thumpin’

Mt. Dana & the Dana Glacier, September 15, 2025

Impatient with fall and wanting to validate the steep-skiing theories I devised while experimenting on my 45° ramp this past summer, I drove up the 395 yesterday in search of (more)

Tunisia

Roman mosaic in Carthage, Tunisia

Tunisia is probably not a country you give a great deal of thought, which is interesting, if you think about it. The country sits at the apex of the African continent, at the (more)

What I Learned on The Ramp

Andy Lewicky attempting pedal turns on home-made ramp

Year after year, my obsession with deconstructing the classic pedal turn (as executed by its original inventors, Patrick Vallencant and Anselme Baud) has ended in (more)

Waterline to Abineau

Abineau Canyon from Waterline Road

Wherever you start from, it's a long haul to the end of Flagstaff's Waterline Road—but wow what a view. The road tops out at 10,320', dropping you right at the base of (more)

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About SierraDescents

When there is snow, SierraDescents is Andy Lewicky's California backcountry skiing and mountaineering website. Without snow, sierradescents becomes an ill-tempered hiking and climbing blog.

Pray for snow.