SierraDescents | 2009
June 30, 2009
It’s a Girl!!!
Our little girl is here! Roxanne and I are so happy to announce the birth of our daughter, who arrived a little early last night but safe and sound and very healthy. Mom and (more)
June 5, 2009
June comes with Snow
Well, I think I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't point out that heavy rain is falling here in the basin, and snow has fallen, is falling, and will fall all over the (more)
May 29, 2009
Born To Run
Christopher McDougall's Born to Run arrived on my desk with impeccable timing. I'd just finished a mammoth 19-hour climb and ski of California's Mount Tyndall, and while nursing (more)
May 22, 2009
Phil Leacock Memorial Trail & Loop
Los Angeles has a wealth of good metro-area hikes, though finding them can be challenging. One of my favorites is the Phil Leacock Memorial Trail, which connects Pacific (more)
May 19, 2009
San Antonio Ski Hut Work Party
I've got to hand it to the folks who manage the San Antonio Ski Hut: not only have they rebranded work as fun, but they actually get you to pay them while you do it. Tom Sawyer (more)
May 9, 2009
Baldy Freak Show (aka: Skiing the North Face)
Coming off my Tyndall adventure, I thought it would be nice to do an easy tour this weekend...so I decided to ski Mount Baldy's north face. Okay, maybe my difficulty scale got (more)
May 2, 2009
Tyndall in a Day
The plan was simple: climb and ski Mount Tyndall in a single day. There were good reasons to try—and good reasons not. But it is the lot of the occasionally ambitious ski (more)
April 19, 2009
Shepherd Pass
The plan was simple: Tyndall in a day. But as I made the pitch to my climbing partners, one by one they found various reasons to be elsewhere. And who could blame them? To get (more)
April 6, 2009
Baldy Aerial View
Back home now in sunny Southern California. Here's a look at Mt. San Antonio's north face as seen yesterday through the plane window. I was hoping to catch a peek at San (more)
April 3, 2009
Previewing the Apocalypse
Well, instead of snow, so far we're just getting more dust. As the afternoon progressed, the sky grew more and more pink, and the snow started to look as if God had sprinkled (more)
April 3, 2009
Chair 9, Dust, Winter Storm Watch
What a funny trip this has been. I really agonized over whether or not to go, and finally decided at the last minute, thinking I'd enjoy some late-spring skiing. And then this (more)
March 31, 2009
Black Iron Bowl
Checking in here from Telluride, Colorado. This was a last-minute trip, but opportunity came knocking, so I thought I'd shirk my Sierra responsibilities and head east to the (more)
March 24, 2009
Hasty Search
"Hasty Search" was originally the title given to the first location effort in a search and rescue operation. This phase, obviously, takes place after a qualified individual has (more)
March 23, 2009
On the Chairlift
Went up Sunday to ski in-bounds at Mount Baldy. It was one of those kinds of days that only a mother could love: high wind, no visibility, and cold, damp air that coated (more)
March 19, 2009
The Importance of Self Rescue
One of the most jolting things I learned this past weekend at the Southern California National Ski Patrol's one-day avalanche rescue course was, paradoxically, the importance of (more)
