Deeper: Powder in California! Late Jan, '09
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By ChrisEdmands | July 11th, 2009
POWDER! We finally got some. A great cycle came in and gave us chest deep pow in Tahoe. We'd been waiting a long time for it and Jones knew exactly where to go. We started with a day of low hanging fruit just off of highway 80 and then pushed deeper into the backcountry to find some new terrain. We camped just outside of Desolation Wilderness with rad terrain right out the front door and the sunsets alone were enough to make the trip worthwhile, lighting up the snow like no other place I'd been. Cliffs, rollers, windlips, natural jumps and spines littered the zones surrounding our bivouac and we rode everything we could in four days. We had to leave because a storm was headed our way and we needed to get some rest while the mountains reset. On the skin back someone mentioned checking out the southern Sierra after the new snow settled. My mind wandered thinking about the big, steep lines we would find and the places we would sleep.
Nothing excites me as much as adventuring into those mountains. There are so many spots to visit in the Sierra and I feel as though I may never have the time to see them all. All I can do is try.
**This is the low hanging fruit, and the first face we hit after the storm cleared.**
**Chris Gallardo, founder of www.splitboard.com, joined us on the first day and got some killer turns.**
**After we finished with the low hanging stuff we hustled to our bivy spot and ended up racing for a sunset shot.**
**This is the aftermath of a Ryland Bell sunset pow turn.**
**Jeremy opted to ski instead of taking the time to convert over to board mode. You knew he could ski right?**
**The next morning we headed to this spine face. It had been calling Jones for years.**
**He returned the call and was glad that he did. It's not very often that spines form in Tahoe.**
**Seth Lightcap joined us to shoot photos. He's a local, but his knowledge of the Sierra spans the whole range. What a great resource, and one hell of a good guy too.**
**Jeremy, Ryland, and Seth discuss where to go next while I catch the action.**
**While looking for other terrain Jones comes across a land mine-and detonates it!**
**Ryland climbs to the top of the mega-ramp to scope.**
**Looks like he found some explosives too.**
**Jibbin' with Jeremy Jones-except this one does it at 60mph!**
**Ryland takes the front door out of the white room.**
**Jones prefers to take the elevator.**
**Ryland uses a shovel to put the smack-down on a pat-down.**
**Frontside five off the pat down.**
**Jones pauses for a glamour shot.**
**Man I'm stoked! What an epic four days. We rode tons of awesome pow and had great fun. Snowboarding is rad.**
In this post: Jeremy Jones Chris Edmands Ryland Bell Location: California Film: Deeper Keywords: Big Mountain Jib Cliff Spines Backcountry Line Powder Big Air Freestyle Spin Trip Report scenic Premium Content Teton Gravity Research Featured Snowboard