False White

Chances of Memorial Day snow notwithstanding, this is probably going to be the last hurrah this year for my Sierra backcountry season—a ski descent of False White Mountain via the southeast face. With Tioga Pass open, False White is certainly within the day trip realm, though it did take a little longer than expected to get back there. Coverage on the face is getting a little thin, but if you don’t mind a few sun cups (more…)

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Leavitt Peak Groove

I had so much fun a week ago Skiing Conness’ Y-Couloir I decided Y not do another? And so Trevor Benedict and I headed all the way north to Sonora Pass to ski Leavitt Peak’s Y-Couloir. I have to say, the Sonora Pass area completely exceeded my expectations. The skiable terrain in the area is diverse, abundant, and outstanding—and ridiculously easy to access now that Highway 108 is open (more…)

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Merry Fishmass!

Merry Fishmass everyone! That’s right, fishing season is officially underway in the Eastern Sierra. Hope you took advantage of the open roads this past weekend and got out there to have some fun. Tahoe Mountain Sports owner Dave Polivy and I went up Tioga Pass Road to the Conness area to try our luck, and look at what we caught: The Y-Couloir!

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Skiing San Diego

It is a strange, strange thing to get in your car in L.A. and head south to go skiing. Stuck in traffic on the 405, I began to wonder what sort of fool’s quest I was embarking upon, but the trip to San Diego ended up being one of my most memorable Southern California mountaineering adventures, offering incredibly beautiful views and unexpectedly good skiing. Yes: skiing (more…)

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The Deep Report

I am standing in my kitchen watching raw footage from yesterday when I spontaneously break out into a wild, crazy jig. What am I doing, my son asks? The Powder Dance, I say. One of the great miracles of our proximity to the Pacific is the way one single storm can transform bare mountains into white winter wonderlands. Throughout the Southland, our season has gone from non-existent to well (more…)

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Charlton Peak Panorama

Okay, so maybe 10,806′ Charlton Peak isn’t the most intimidating summit I’ve visited, or the most scenic. But it is a summit, damn it, and therefore I’m including it in my ongoing summit panorama video series, in which I give you a 360° view from the top of a nice big California mountain, just as if you were standing there yourself (more…)

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Chasing My Brother

Really there’s no better motivator than having a little brother who’s faster than you in the gates. I spent damn near my entire young adulthood chasing him, and, well…it looks like I’m still trying to catch him. Hard to say who’d be faster if we jumped into a course today, though I do like my chances on my Speed Course Ti’s. Once again this is Telluride, CO, test footage from the HD Hero2 (more…)

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The Muir Disconnect

Seen from nearly any angle, Mount Muir’s East Buttress would seem to be self-evidently unskiable.

And then, from atop Thor Peak last April, Dave Braun and I saw what appeared to be a continuous thread of snow connecting the mountain’s south shoulder to the base of the buttress (more…)

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Mount Muir Panorama

A very chilly December day atop 14,012′ Mount Muir, enjoying the hair-raising exposure off the summit block.

I wanted to get some photos of Muir and Trevor wanted to check Muir off his list, so we teamed up for an unexpectedly long day via the Mount Whitney trail and the West Face (more…)

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West Baldy Timelapse

Wow, was this a trip down the rabbit hole! That Landscapes video inspired me to create my own timelapse. Naturally, I thought shooting from the top of West Baldy at sunset would be perfect.

Turns out day-to-night timelapse is shockingly difficult. Within the quirky realm of timelapse photography it is known as ‘the Holy Grail’ (more…)

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