SierraDescents | Page 5
January 4, 2022
Freidlein Prairie
Freidlein Prairie is where it all started—sidecountry access from the top of the Arizona Snowbowl's chairlift to the southside of the San Francisco Peaks and beyond. As (more)
January 1, 2022
Happy New Year
After a very snowy December, we're clear and cold to start 2022. From a top-secret location somewhere in Northern Arizona's Dry Lakes Hills, Happy New Year (more)
December 25, 2021
A Mammoth Storm
Well! It was a VERY stormy Christmas 2021 for us at Mammoth Mountain this past week. When we got there Tuesday NOAA was calling for 70+ inches of snow. The weather, as you (more)
December 19, 2021
Waterman & Highway 2
I would like to wholeheartedly endorse the Waterman-Buckhorn-Highway 2 area as Southern California's best go-to and introductory backcountry skiing zone—but I can't. The (more)
December 15, 2021
December Snow
As increasingly seems to be the case, snow levels stayed relatively high over the past 48 hours. Mount Baldy says 2-3 inches of snow at the parking lot (elevation 6400'); 14" at (more)
December 13, 2021
It’s Coming
Our mostly bare mountains are about to get the insta-winter treatment. Big Pacific Storm coming—forecast calls for up to four feet of snow at the highest SoCal (more)
December 2, 2021
Fog & Magic
Thick coastal fog in December takes an already-dark time of year and makes it a whole lot darker. Last November I started hiking the Leacock Trail at sunset, and I discovered the (more)
November 30, 2021
The Sierra Wave
I've been going through my file archives and finding a lot of photos that never quite made it online but surely deserved to. Here's the Sierra wave over Owens Valley—the (more)
November 17, 2021
Nuclear: Did We Make a (Huge) Mistake?
It takes me a while to realize I'm all alone. It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the beach, bright blue sky, puffy white clouds. I'm barefoot on wet sand, flip-flops in hand, (more)
November 9, 2021
Avalanche Gulch Ethereal
I'd been climbing since midnight. A group of guided climbers were heading up Mount Shasta's Avalanche Gulch, same as me, and we'd been leapfrogging each other all night. Just (more)
November 6, 2021
Mount Whitney Crest
Thor Peak's summit offers this expansive view of the Mount Whitney Crest. On display are Trail Crest and Mount Muir's east buttress (left), followed by Keeler and Day Needles and (more)
October 22, 2021
In All Things: Extremes
The first major winter storm is upon us, and it looks to be a doozy. While expected to come in warm at first, some forecast models are predicting as much as 100 inches of snow in (more)
October 8, 2021
October
We are a touch early for the fall colors here in Northern Arizona, but it's still magical when you get just that right combination of blue sky, golden leaves, and snowy (more)
October 1, 2021
Old Caves Crater
It's a short hike to the top of Arizona's Old Caves Crater, a 400-foot cinder cone whose network of lava caves at the summit served as the last known dwellings for the area's (more)
August 21, 2021
The Smoke Season
In summer we used to worry about thunderstorms and permits. Now we worry about smoke. Climate change is transforming the Sierra hiking and climbing season into a dystopia of (more)
