SierraDescents | Category | Video
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)
March 7, 2017
Baden-Powell – East Face
Baden-Powell is one cool mountain. This is easily a premier SoCal backcountry skiing destination, but snow and road issues have kept me away for a while. I haven't been here (more)
