SierraDescents | Category | Video
June 16, 2021
Hiking Throop Peak to Baden-Powell
Of course I was dimly aware you could hike the San Gabriel Crest from Windy Gap as an alternate way to get to Baden-Powell's summit, but the route never particularly interested (more)
June 9, 2021
Ski Hut-Devil’s Backbone Loop
Connecting the Ski Hut Trail and the Devil's Backbone Ridge is one of my favorite SoCal hikes—in either direction. This time my son and I ascended from Manker Flat and (more)
June 3, 2021
Mammoth Memorial Day Weekend
It's no secret 2020-2021 wasn't exactly California's finest winter, but that didn't stop Mammoth from offering excellent top-to-bottom skiing this past Memorial Day/closing (more)
May 25, 2021
Ontario Peak
8694' Ontario Peak is easily among the most spectacular of the San Gabriels' front-range peaks. The summit offers a crazy juxtaposition of city and mountain views, making this (more)
April 23, 2020
A Good Day at Baldy
From the archives, here is Mount Baldy one year ago, March 23, 2019. I videoed the kids and I enjoying a classic day of Southern California Spring skiing at the resort, but I (more)
April 4, 2020
Anvil Camp via Shepherd Pass Trail
This is a 2010 backtrip trip I did from Symmes Creek to Anvil Camp via the Shepherd Pass trail. We had intended to climb Mount Williamson via the west face, but got shut down by (more)
March 20, 2020
North Palisade: The U-Notch
This is a May 31, 2010 climb and ski of North Palisade's U-Notch couloir. Originally I had intended to do an extended video of the whole trip, but a few things got in the way of (more)
January 17, 2020
Backcountry Photography Rule #1
Oh this was a tough day, and I came within a whisker of just burying the footage and trying to forget about it entirely. Here is how bad this day was: when, a few days later, I (more)
May 8, 2019
San Gorgonio Reprise
After a nine year hiatus, Al and I returned last Sunday to the San Bernardino Mountains' South Fork drainage, where we found snow, avalanche debris, and ash—lots and lots of (more)
April 30, 2019
The Gullies of Baden-Powell
The snow was not quite was I was hoping for, but Al and I nonetheless kept alive his annual tradition of skiing Baden-Powell this past weekend—and things in any case were (more)
April 14, 2019
Mount Islip
Oh, Caltrans! I am always a bit skeptical as to whether or not the road reports are accurate, but in this case, Caltrans had specifically changed the report to indicate Highway 2 (more)
April 7, 2019
Our Magnificent Mountain
Los Angeles skiers can be forgiven for feeling like exiles—we are surrounded by an endless sea of concrete and steel. Yet how truly fortunate we are to live and climb and (more)
May 19, 2017
Birch Mountain—Still Big
This past weekend Bill, not one but two Prestons, and I headed to Birch Mountain for a climb and ski, and in the early morning hours, somewhere in the first two thousand vertical (more)
March 13, 2017
Go West, Young Man
You have seen it, have you not? Of course you have—it is the great White Whale of Southern California Skiing. Indeed, people across the world have seen it, via iconic (more)
March 11, 2017
Sugarloaf aka The Bump
I am pleased at long last to announce success in my longtime quest to climb and ski Big Bear's Sugarloaf Mountain. Sadly and contrary to expectation, this one turns out to be a (more)
