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Storm Update: Add Another ‘Wow’

I figured the storms were about finished yesterday, with widely scattered showers here at home that seemed to be petering out as the day went by. Then last night I was awoken by the sound of heavy rain that didn’t seem to quit untill morning.

In case you’re wondering what happened in the local mountains, Mountain High reports 12-20″ of snow overnight, and Mount Baldy reports 18″ of new snow on top of yesterday’s 6-12″ wet dump. Again, lots of warnings about weather, road restrictions, lift delays, closures, etc. And please — stay out of the backcountry today!

But still…Wow.

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LA Times: “A Deadly Quest”

Today’s Los Angeles Times has more coverage on the Mountain High/Wrightwood Avalanches, with some commentary from avalanche professionals:

“There have been avalanche fatalities since people have been in the Alps, but what has changed is the equipment has gotten better and there’s a lot of hype associated with the outdoor retail industry,” said Sue Burak, an avalanche forecaster for the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center. “They’re encouraging people to go out, and the level of backcountry skills haven’t caught up with the technology.”

And:

“In Southern California, having these big dumps of powder are not real common,” said Northwest Avalanche Institute expert Paul Baugher. “And so there’s two things going on here. One is, people are sort of unfamiliar with how dangerous this can be. Even if you’re a professional, you don’t have that experience of actually seeing these [avalanches] released. On top of that, it’s so rare. It’s wonderful skiing, and you’re drawn to that.”

Here’s the full article.

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Mt. Baldy Ski Area — With Snow

Judging by the massive crowds heading up Mount Baldy Road yesterday, I suppose it’s no secret when it snows that Southern California’s best skiing happens at a quirky little ‘resort’ called the Mount Baldy Ski Area.

With little to no snowmaking, vintage lifts (translation: ancient and unreliable), and at best variable conditions, Mount Baldy is not for the faint of heart.

Put four feet of snow on the mountain, however, and things improve markedly.

Covered in snow, Mount Baldy’s terrain is steep and varied enough to satisfy most anyone. Add in the excellent sidecountry options, and Baldy Ski rises to an inarguable gem, made all the sweeter by its preposterous proximity (60 miles?) to downtown Los Angeles. I was up and skiing yesterday. As usual, the hoped-for light powder had already congealed into a chunky windpack, but there were still sweet turns to be had—especially once Baldy’s south bowl opened up.

I did take a peek at several sidecountry spots, including the Butch Wash chutes. Conditions appear to be rapidly stabilizing, but many of these locations are either wind-scoured and bare, or bulletproof.

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3 Avalanche Fatalaties in San Gabriel Mts.

Three people died yesterday in at least two separate avalanches near Mountain High ski resort, in the San Gabriel Mountains. According to the Los Angeles Times, the incidents occurred in Government and Sawmill Canyons, both of which border Mountain High East. These Canyons, which are out-of-bounds, are treed but relatively open. Both canyons run north-south. At this time, I’ve seen no reports on which aspects slid, though it would be reasonable to suspect something northeasterly.

The last time I asked, Mountain High did not permit backcountry access from its lifts. However, the bordering canyons are well known for their glades and powder. Site Admin Mitch at Telemark Tips writes, “The dirty little secret among a handful of veteran patrollers and a few of their friends is that we would go in there when we judged it relatively safe. It was just too good. And with a high speed lift at the bottom, it was kind of a personal, untracked powder paradise.”

I’ll try to get more information about the avalanche specifics. For now, I’ll speculate it’s possible the slide went off a rain crust—Mountain High’s 7000-8000′ elevation is in the prime range for rain at the front wave of each storm, and I observed naturally-triggered slabs on icy northeast aspects near Mount Baldy a week ago (more…)

Posted in Avy News | 2 Comments

SoCal Storm Update: Wow, Wow, & Wow

Well, they say cut-off lows are the forecaster’s nightmare, and it’s easy to see why, as last night’s forecast of occasional showers turned instead into a gutter-busting sustained heavy downpour. Rainfall totals and forecasts have jumped overnight. They’re now calling for 2-3 inches of coastal-area rain and 4-6 inches of foothill-area rain today before the big storm hits.

The tragic part of the forecast calls for the cutoff low to delay the arrival of the main storm, allowing it to pick up subtropical moisture (the dreaded pineapple express). This will push the rainfall totals up even higher, but it will also push up the snow level, from a current 5000′ to 8000′ or higher, destroying all that precious white stuff that’s been laid down at the lower elevations. That won’t impact the higher backcountry elevations, but it will nuke most of the local ski areas’ snowpacks.

If you can get there, Mt. Baldy Ski Area looks like the way to go today (though expect delays/a late start as they work to dig themselves out).

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Snow!

Somewhere around 7 p.m. yesterday, after four hours of steady rain, this storm began to turn me into a believer—right before the skies cleared.

Still, this was a nice punch of moisture, with (much?) more on the way. Mt. Baldy reports 12-14″ of new snow, Mountain High 10-18″, and Mammoth 5″ new with a 15″ storm total. Not too shabby for the SoCal resorts! Elsewhere, heavy rain caused the usual problems in the basin, Santa Barbara set a 24-hour rain record, and for motorists on I-5, the Grapevine became a snowy hell.

Thanks to very cool temps, backcountry lines could be skiable much lower than we’ve seen in the San Gabriels so far this year, but don’t go racing out to try them. You could hit only the most conservative lines in the b.c. and watch every turn like a hawk, but why bother? Continued new snow and stormy weather should make in-bounds skiing your mode of choice through the weekend. Be patient—and safe!

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See Kili Before the Snow Is Gone

My brother and I talked about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro years ago; for us, it was one of those exotic, chance-of-a-lifetime dreams. Sadly, the trip fell through, and we never went.

While not a technical climb, 19,340′ Kilimanjaro has long been a coveted summit. The view atop the summit at dawn is legendary. And the climb up, starting in African rain forest, and ultimately reaching the continent’s highest (and glaciated) point, is surely one of the most diverse imaginable.

Kili’s popularity has been growing in recent years, fueled by a “see the snow before it’s gone” pitch. Most scientists believe Kilimanjaro’s glaciers will vanish sometime this century. That has translated into something of a tourist boom. I don’t know if my brother and I will ever make it to Kilimanjaro, but if we do, I doubt we’ll be carrying skis.

Posted in Climbing, Weather | 0 Comments

Storm Watch

Looking out the window here at fairly menacing clouds that haven’t managed to do much in the way of rain or snow in the local mountains thus far.

Mt. Baldy reported a trace of snow overnight. Ie: nothing.

This storm is notable for its cold temps—very cold. I’m brewing up another cup of tea down here in not-so-sunny SoCal to chase away the shivers. Just doesn’t seem fair to see a snow level around 3600′ without any snow. Lots of different reports on weather possibilities, with some models suggesting a major Sierra Storm event later this week or early next. Appears to be agreement that we’re in a strengthening La Nina event, thanks to cool Pacific temps. Take this news as you will. Historically, La Nina translates to drought in California, but I suspect we’ve tinkered with the climate enough to introduce a lot of confusion into historical data-based models.

Clearly, this hasn’t been a banner Sierra winter so far, but if we can eek out a few big storms, at least that will keep things covered enough to keep skiing. I’m hoping for a big winter: there are a few big lines I’m eying that will only open up with heavy snows.

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K2 Expedition Video in HD

NBC has an unusually good online video of a K2 expedition—the ‘Shared Summits’ attempt, which was captured in Hi-Def.

Hi-Definition footage is really changing how I think of television. Previous to the technology, you’d need a virtual army to take a 35mm Panavision camera on a trip like this. Now, with tiny HD cameras, even a small expedition can return with theater-quality video that gives the viewer a vastly more real experience.

That makes it possible for us to see video like this: a fast-and-light team trying for a new route up one of the world’s most dangerous and deadly peaks.

Posted in 8000m Peaks, Climbing | 0 Comments

I Lost My Spot!! (sort of)

Truly tragic news here: on Saturday I lost my Spot tracker while testing the device in the San Gabriel mountains.

I’ve been continuing to try out the unit’s ‘track’ function, which automatically sends a satellite ping every 10 minutes with your current location & time.

Unfortunately, to get the track function to work, you have to keep the unit in a position where it has a continuous good view of the sky. To do this, you can clip it to your belt—though the clip doesn’t look very secure (there is no loop for a more secure attachment). I was worried the thing would fall off my belt if I tried clipping it on, and that’s exactly what happened.

Funny thing is, since the Spot was in Tracking Mode, it continued sending out pings giving out its location—and did so for 24 hours, until the Tracking function timed out. I wasn’t able to go back and find it because I don’t have a GPS, but I figure I know its location to within a 30-60 foot radius or so, probably giving me decent odds of finding the thing. Unfortunately, this week’s storms are all but certain to bury my Spot. So, I guess I’ll go looking for it once summer rolls around.

Interestingly, if you look at the spread of the tracking pings (more…)

Posted in Gear | 1 Comment

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