November Snow

3-5″ of fresh snow is the official word from Mt. Baldy, in the San Gabriel Mountains, but peering through the haze today from Kenneth Hahn State Park, I’d say coverage on Baldy’s west face might be a little deeper. Maybe. Then again, I am trying to go with optimism as our winter season draws near. Third time’s a charm, right? (more…)

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SoCal Rains; Mountain Snows

Well that was an unexpectedly potent mid-October surprise—a bonafide winter storm. Rain and cold temperatures punched into the Southland like a frozen fist, sending temperatures plunging some 15 degrees below normal. When it’s cold and rainy in the basin, you can expect snow in the mountains, and that’s exactly what we got: a healthy few inches accumulated in the San Jacintos, from the look of the Long Vally Cam (more…)

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The Well-Cooked Andy

First of all, I apologize. I knew writing about our record-cool first two weeks of August was just asking for trouble, and I did it anyway, and of course mere days later Los Angeles and indeed much of California started a nasty heat wave that has been going strong ever since. So: apologies for that. I’ve been tempted to delete the post, as the sight of it now seems to mock me, but I guess I’ll leave it as a cautionary reminder (more…)

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A Very Cool August

I do like to check in on the weather now and then for the archives, and 2103 has been an unusually cool August for us here in the Los Angeles basin. I can’t find any hard sources to link to, but I did overhear a weathercaster saying we had the coolest first half of August on record. For us, it’s been obviously cool, as this is the time of year when my apartment typically turns into an oven at 5p.m. (more…)

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Wahoo Gullies Are Burnt

Here’s a view that so struck me I had to jam on my brakes to pull over and take a picture of it: Mount Locke and the Wahoo Gullies, a favorite Bishop-area spring ski descent, almost totally devoid of snow as of today, May 25. Some of these Eastern Sierra classics are so bare right now it’s just hard to believe. Normally this would be prime time for the Wahoo (more…)

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White Mountain Is White

Passing Olancha and entering the outskirts of Lone Pine on Highway 395, what should my wondering eyes see but snow—and lots of it—dusting the high peaks. Apparently last week’s thunderstorms did a little more work than I gave them credit for. The Whitney Zone seemed to catch a good piece of it, but farther north, say Bishop area, there wasn’t nearly as much in the Sierra. But look at White Mountain! (more…)

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Mammoth: Electrifying!

It was such a beautiful sunny morning here at Mammoth Mountain California, I was beginning to hope the forecast T-storms would fail to show. Nope: right around 11 a.m. things began to cloud up, and by noon, there was an big black cloud hanging just west of the mountain, drifting steadily toward Chair 23. But the best skiing was off the top, and I just wasn’t ready to go home (more…)

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Mammoth

Thank goodness we have Mammoth! Your Southern Sierra looks an awful lot like summer right now, but atop Mammoth Mountain there’s got to be a solid 12 feet or so of snow. With the wind and sun in your favor, you’ll find upper mountain skiing in great shape, and lower mountain groomers offering sweet but ephemeral turns in that short windows of opportunity between the opening bell and the onset of mash potatoes (more…)

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Snow Valley: Done

Given what a rotten winter it’s been in the backcountry, it was sure a solid season for me and my kids at Snow Valley…at least until today. The kids and I skied Easter 2012 at Snow Valley (which was April 8), and a week later we skied it again, enjoying truly excellent coverage. No such luck this year. With only chair 6 running(!), we drove past today and headed somewhat guiltily to Snow Summit (more…)

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Birch Mountain Benchmark

I like Birch Mountain as a benchmark for Eastern Sierra snowpack conditions because it’s gigantic and because it’s readily viewable from Highway 395. Birch’s upper face tells us a lot about what the wind has been doing throughout the year, and its lower slopes tell us a lot about temperatures—as well as overall snowfall. So how are things looking here in March 2013 (more…)

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