SierraDescents | Page 8
February 9, 2020
Dave McCoy
Dave McCoy, who walked into a Bishop bank in the 1930's and offered his motorcycle as collateral for a loan to build a rope tow in the eastern Sierra, has died at the age of (more)
January 27, 2020
Snow Valley Sunday
Sunday at Snow Valley was a handsome day, starting out mostly cloudy and then finishing off with a nice burst of sunshine in the afternoon. Coverage on the hill is thinning but (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)
January 16, 2020
Vail, All These Years Later
Originally an unnamed Colorado sheep hill near the training grounds for the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, Vail was born in winter 1957 when hunter, prospector, and skier Earl (more)
January 11, 2020
The San Francisco Peaks
Truly, Northern Arizona's San Francisco Peaks are a little slice of backcountry heaven. It's a small mountain, relatively, but the peaks are blessed with good skiing on all (more)
December 29, 2019
San Jacinto Grind
A truism of Southern California is you don't get good SoCal skiing unless you risk getting bad SoCal skiing. We got the bad version yesterday, which began with stunning lines at (more)
December 25, 2019
Christmas Snow
We were just about to head to the car yesterday when they suddenly opened Chair 23. A mad every-man-for-themselves dash later, Al and I flashed through an empty maze and boarded (more)
November 30, 2019
November Snow
I tried I tried I tried to get some classic L.A. skyline-and-snow shots, but the clouds have just not been cooperating. There is snow out there, obviously, and a lot of (more)
November 26, 2019
November
These high-resolution GOES-17 images are stunning. Here's your surprise Thanksgiving bomb cyclone, currently sitting off the coast of Oregon today, November 26, 2019. Given (more)
November 15, 2019
My Dreams of Vail
I have a number of recurring skiing dreams, all of which start happening around this time of year. The best involves me skiing down and disconnecting from the snow and pulling (more)
October 31, 2019
Happy Halloween
For Southern California, winds are expected to resolve by Sunday, as a blocking high sets up which should keep us calm into mid-November—though unfortunately that will keep us (more)
October 31, 2019
Ducks
This was taken at the Whitney Fish Hatchery. I don't have anything else to go with it. I found this picture soothing. I hope you do (more)
June 24, 2019
Return to Dana
With Tioga Pass Road now open to the east Yosemite gate (and intermittently all the way through to the Central Valley), this past weekend seemed like the perfect time to revisit (more)
May 28, 2019
Winter Up High, Summer Down Low
This was by far the snowiest Memorial Day weekend I've ever skied at Mammoth Mountain. It looked and felt like winter up there, and for good reason: Mammoth set an all-time (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)
