Video
Back home in California now and watching these upcoming storms to see what develops. Here’s video of my day skiing the Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff—the mountain, for all practical purposes, where I grew up and learned to ski. I still love skiing the Snowbowl, and conditions were excellent, if a bit chilly. The day started (more...)...
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News
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! We’re wrapping up an eventful trip to Northern Arizona which had us briefly facing sleeping in our car in a blizzard (I-40 was closed) but gave us a short window (the freeway reopened for an hour) to make it here safely and spend the holiday with family. Add in (more...)...
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Video
It’s boot review season here at Sierra Descents—I’m currently trying out pairs of Garmont’s Radium and Helium boots, Scarpa’s Spirit 4, and the much-anticipated Black Diamond Factor. Along for comparison were my trusty Lange L10’s and Garmont Mega Rides. I should have reviews up on all of them after the holidays. In the meantime, I (more...)...
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Video
As Forest Gump might say, Mount Baldy Ski Area is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. Made it up today for some early-season turns—or so I hoped. Turns out yesterday’s storm rained ruthlessly on the mountain, coating everything with ice, ice, ice, including the chairlifts. Snowpack other than (more...)...
Posted in Video | 16 Comments
Current Conditions
A cold storm is working its way in, with snow levels currently down around 4000 feet in the local mountains. Looks like my $49.00 pseudo-season pass for Mt. Baldy is going to pay off after all! Speaking of passes, Mountain High is offering a $349.00 no-restriction season pass, but that deal may be ending today. (more...)...
Posted in Current Conditions | 3 Comments
Gear
Do you check to see what kind of avalanche beacon your partner is carrying? I ask because there are a wide range of beacons on the market, and some of them are a lot easier to use than others. Case in point: the new Pieps Freeride. The Freeride is a tiny-tiny device about the size (more...)...
Posted in Gear | 8 Comments
Climbing
It has been known for some time that Everest climbers often show symptoms such as memory loss and poor coordination when they get home. And studies have found irregularities in the brain scans of 8000-meter climbers. The presumption has always been, however, that these effects lie exclusively within the domain of high altitude climbing. A (more...)...
Posted in Climbing | 9 Comments
Video
How about a little time traveling today? We’re setting the WayBack Machine for some skinny-ski fun in Northern Arizona’s beautiful San Francisco Peaks. You might think I’m crazy, but the Peaks have some of my all-time favorite backcountry skiing terrain. Plus—as is so evident here—fantastically light and dry powder snow (more...)...
Posted in Video | 5 Comments
Hiking
Okay, I kid you not, as I was driving to Mt. Baldy this morning for an early-season training hike, I was bemoaning the dearth of scantily clad women in the backcountry. I mean, I’ve been hiking a long, long time, and while initially in my hiking career I was convinced I’d one day hit the (more...)...
Posted in Hiking | 3 Comments
Video
Oh no it’s a slide show! While waiting for the new ski season to start up, I’ve put together a recap of last winter’s highlights. Last year wasn’t the big winter I was hoping for in terms of snowfall, but it did offer an unexpected bounty of unforgettable moments, including that trip up Mount Harwood’s (more...)...
Posted in Video | 3 CommentsWhen 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.
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