SierraDescents | Category | Current Conditions
July 11, 2008
Lone Pine Peak: Another Look
When I skied Lone Pine Peak's East Couloir this spring, I forgot to photograph LPP's northeast face in its entirety. Here's a recent shot of the line from Highway 395 near (more)
June 4, 2008
March, April, May: ‘Driest Ever’
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that March, April, and May 2008 were the driest winter months on record for California and the Sierra Nevada mountains. I suppose that (more)
May 29, 2008
Sierra Snow Update
SMS Leader Alvin Walter sent me a few photos from the Sierra's Rock Creek drainage over Memorial Weekend. Alvin encountered 'full winter conditions' with up to a foot and a half (more)
May 22, 2008
Rain, Hail, Lighting, Snow…Tornado?
I was walking today around 5 p.m. on the way to the grocery when the sudden rumble of thunder stopped me. Hmm...I guess those black clouds on the horizon weren't fog, after (more)
March 29, 2008
Whitney Portal Road: ‘Closed’ vs. Closed
Well, I drove up to Lone Pine yesterday with big plans for some climbing and skiing in the Whitney Portal region, only to discover the road, which is normally "closed" for winter (more)
March 20, 2008
Route 2 – Mt. Waterman Report
But is there snow? That was the question, so I packed up the skis and the boy and hit the road. Figuring I'd try to find snow a little closer to home, I drove up Route 2 from La (more)
February 10, 2008
San Gabriel Backcountry Warning
Travelers in the San Gabriel Mountains should be alert for unusually treacherous icy conditions on all north and shaded aspects (including NE and NW) between approximately 6000 (more)
January 22, 2008
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 (more)
January 20, 2008
West Baldy Report
Yesterday I climbed up West Baldy with a partner and then skied down to the hut. We started the day around 7:30 at Manker Flat, carrying skis on packs to the hut, for a nice 2000 (more)
January 14, 2008
Scouting Baldy’s North Face
Here's a look at Mount Baldy's north face (Mt. San Antonio) as seen from the summit of Baden-Powell on Saturday. Compared to last year's bare rock, the sight of all this snow in (more)
January 4, 2008
Storm of the Half-Century
Did I really just hear the TV News say they're expecting snowfall rates of 7+ inches per hour in the Sierra? Some forecasters are also saying this may be the biggest snowfall (more)
January 2, 2008
Observations
Two days ago, I drove home across the desert from Flagstaff, Arizona. Incidentally, they have snow in Flagstaff—lots of it. I was able to ski at the Snowbowl, my hometown (more)
March 29, 2007
El Nino or El Nada?
Some of you may recall this was supposed to be an El Nino Winter, with above-average precipitation for the western United States. What happened? This winter can be charitably (more)
March 8, 2007
Mount Baldy Report: Bleak
I've been suspecting (or maybe hoping is the better word) there's more snow in the local mountains than reported. The only way to get good intel, I know, is to put boots on the (more)
March 2, 2007
Monument Avalanche
I would assume this avalanche on Mammoth Mountain's Monument ski run was the result of control work and not naturally-triggered, but it is nevertheless impressive to (more)
