SierraDescents | Category | Current Conditions
February 9, 2015
Reluctant Post-Storm Discussion
I guess we have to say something about the storm, though for the past few hours I've been wondering if maybe it would be better if we all just pretended it never happened. (more)
February 2, 2015
San G Siren Song of the Day
Yes, there it is, the continuing siren of San Gorgonio Mountain's north face, as seen yesterday from the View Haus at Snow Summit. Sorry the photo quality is so poor: one of our (more)
January 20, 2015
The January Report
This is not Year Four: I refuse to call it that. Yes, there are indications Mammoth Pass will see its lowest February water survey reading in history, and yes, Mt. Baldy has (more)
January 1, 2015
Happy New Year!
It was cold! We darted up to the Big Bear Lake area just in time to catch a surprisingly potent overnight storm, plus a very un-SoCalish 10° F day at Snow Summit. The Bear (more)
December 22, 2014
Mammoth Wind
If the north wind is the scourge of the Sierra (as Mingori and Greenberg write) it is doubly so for isolated, treeless Mammoth Mountain. High winds and holiday crowds made for (more)
December 11, 2014
It’s Coming In Warm
Good news, bad news again from the west coast: indications are we're on the cusp of seeing a major winter storm hit California, perhaps the most significant storm of the past (more)
December 7, 2014
Snow, Rain, & Mesh Canopies
The good news is it's early December and there is skiing in Southern California. The bad news is last week's heavy rain did exactly what you'd expect to the local resorts' (more)
November 27, 2014
Summit Opens
Skis touch snow once again and I say AAHHH it feels good. Opening day 2014: once again I am in awe of Snow Summit's snowmaking capability. We drove past an utterly bare Snow (more)
November 3, 2014
Pumpkins, Snow, & Rainbows
Are we not overdue? Depending on how you see the glass, we have now gone three years in a row without a true Sierra winter. Three years! It seems like a lifetime. Throughout (more)
May 16, 2014
Not Another Heat Wave…
Yes, it's another Southern California heat wave, which means it's time to check in with my living room thermometer: a lovely 93.2°F as of 5:50pm yesterday. Heat waves are not (more)
April 20, 2014
Hangman’s June 2011
Going through old photos here, and this shot of Hangman's Hollow at Mammoth Mountain just floors me. This photo was taken June 12, 2011, and that entire cliff band along the (more)
April 7, 2014
The Wildcard Winter
The long lens came out repeatedly as I drove up and down Highway 395 this past weekend. Some snow fell up there last week—you may not have heard. Sue calls it "The most (more)
March 24, 2014
Bare Mountain
Perhaps I go too far in comparing yesterday at Bear Mountain's "Access Express" chair to a Hieronymus Bosch nightmare, but if you're worried about what the endgame for Southern (more)
March 10, 2014
Gorgonio Is In
Where did all the snow go from last weekend's massive wet system? San Gorgonio, apparently. If I'd seen this look at the north face a few days ago, I'd have tried to ski it. (more)
March 3, 2014
San Jacinto Sunday
As I wrote awhile back, you can use the SoCal ski resort webpages to get a pretty good idea as to what's happening in the higher backcountry elevations. Two of those key (more)
