Eastern Sierra BC 2014-15

[liv2ski]

This weekend may be the nail? Hope I'm wrong but its one of those years.

Shit, that is depressing to contemplate. Never had a year where I didn't ski in April and usually May too. I thought last season sucked

[meter-man]

I got reports from between bridgeport and lee vining that reported good snow up high last weekend. He recommended starting high.

[hutash]

. He recommended starting high.

Yeah, the more stoned the better, it has been that bad a year

[TEXASS]

Just got back. Drove from San Diego to Bridgeport.
Onion Valley/Independence Peak- Nothing to ride. Burnt
Buttermilks- Basin Mountains upper snowfield is rideable but its burnt below the bench . Anything below 10K is burnt
mammoth Crest- didnt take a look at
Virginia Lakes- Rode the North Chute off the top of Black- Windbuff to firm up top, nice corn down below. Skin Back to the car. It may last another week ,maybe two.
It looks like late May/early june . So bad I bailed on Sunday and came home early Saddlebag /North Peak may have enough snow if they open the road soon Ill post up pics later

[AlpineZone]

Hi Nevadafornians! May I suggest that instead of wasting your winter in the overrated, overhyped and snowless Sierra Nevada, that you hop a bird the northeast, home of the gnarliest snowriding in the USA? The conditions are actually more dependable and consistent to anything you will find in the northwest due to the superior snowmaking. Also the terrain is truly fabulous, the partying is unmatched anywhere(can you say "hot New Jersey Italian babes?") and the setting is Norman Rockwell-esque! Pursuing the plethora of hot NYC/NJ and Boston "chicas" in their stretch pants can be even better than the great skiing, but I must warn you they are quite feisty and outspoken, unlike the laid-back western gals. Try Killington, Vermont, and when you score your first powder day in the glades of "Anarchy", "The Throne", "Chop Chop" or "Patsy" , you will be grinning from ear to ear, I promise you! Both Smugglers Notch, Vermont or Waterville Valley, New Hampshire would be a good choices as well.
I would also like to take this opportunity to formally invite you (as well as all of the lurkers and non-lurkers alike) to come join our fun-loving but responsible bunch of snowriding aficionados who know the benefits of what good moderation brings to an on-line community. I think most all of you will find that our seasoned moderators "keep the bar high" by maintaining a sense of order and decorum, while encouraging quality discussion about our favorite pastime. We also have superior bandwidth and response times on our 502g superfibre network as well as a state-of-the-art virtual blade server farm with 5000 terabytes of virtual disk space for your photos, blogs etc. It may take a small amount of getting used to, as we do have reasonable standards as far as language and image posting that are strictly enforced. The registration is easy and painless, and the rules will be explained in detail during the process. I will warn you however up front that registering an ALIAS is strictly "VERBOTEN", and something we have zero-tolerance with. If you are tired of the juvenile guttersniping at TGR and yearn for a snowriding forum that matches your maturity level, all I can say is:"Come join the fun"!

[TEXASS]

Hi Nevadafornians! May I suggest that instead of wasting your winter in the overrated, overhyped and snowless Sierra Nevada, that you hop a bird the northeast, home of the gnarliest snowriding in the USA? The conditions are actually more dependable and consistent to anything you will find in the northwest due to the superior snowmaking. Also the terrain is truly fabulous, the partying is unmatched anywhere(can you say "hot New Jersey Italian babes?") and the setting is Norman Rockwell-esque! Pursuing the plethora of hot NYC/NJ and Boston "chicas" in their stretch pants can be even better than the great skiing, but I must warn you they are quite feisty and outspoken, unlike the laid-back western gals. Try Killington, Vermont, and when you score your first powder day in the glades of "Anarchy", "The Throne", "Chop Chop" or "Patsy" , you will be grinning from ear to ear, I promise you! Both Smugglers Notch, Vermont or Waterville Valley, New Hampshire would be a good choices as well.
I would also like to take this opportunity to formally invite you (as well as all of the lurkers and non-lurkers alike) to come join our fun-loving but responsible bunch of snowriding aficionados who know the benefits of what good moderation brings to an on-line community. I think most all of you will find that our seasoned moderators "keep the bar high" by maintaining a sense of order and decorum, while encouraging quality discussion about our favorite pastime. We also have superior bandwidth and response times on our 502g superfibre network as well as a state-of-the-art virtual blade server farm with 5000 terabytes of virtual disk space for your photos, blogs etc. It may take a small amount of getting used to, as we do have reasonable standards as far as language and image posting that are strictly enforced. The registration is easy and painless, and the rules will be explained in detail during the process. I will warn you however up front that registering an ALIAS is strictly "VERBOTEN", and something we have zero-tolerance with. If you are tired of the juvenile guttersniping at TGR and yearn for a snowriding forum that matches your maturity level, all I can say is:"Come join the fun"!

ahhhhh No Thanks

you have no mountains there. Only Hills. Call me when you grow up, above 10K in elevation

and dont Cunt up the thread anymore

[AKbruin]

Yeah, the more stoned the better, it has been that bad a year

So, I'm not a smoker, but I thought I'd try this last Saturday. Unmotivated to make the two-hour drive south, I decided to smoke a little and do some local meadow skipping while listening to tunes and This American Life podcasts (one of the latter was a documentary on William Burroughs narrated by Iggy Pop, so it wasn't totally out of place). Anyhow, the snow quality and coverage sucked and I ended up eating my lunch early and taking a high alpine nap. It wasn't an unpleasant experience, but I'm not sure pot and touring are a good match for me.

As for the Eastern Sierra, shit, unless we get another storm or two, I'm not going care that much when 120 and 108 open. The recent pictures I've seen of Ellery Bowl are revolting.

[hutash]

Probably not worth it even stoned...I can do that at the beach.

I have zero motivation to ski right now, probably the first time ever. It just doesn't seem worth the effort. It was close to 100F yesterday and today looks the same. This has to be the warmest winter in Ventura ever. Webcams of Mammoth look dismal...looks like they are moving snow just to keep Canyon open. I can't imagine how bad Eagle must be.

[Rodneyyee]

eagle is done-one little sliver-no big loss even in a big season.
Cornice and pick a groomer to lower gondi.
Face of 3, china bowl ( kinda ) waterfall to 5. bleh-

Not much else to fun-daves/WO/DO/Noids have hardly any traffic-rotting mashed potatoes....and yea 96 on the sand and flat as a board. wha wha--I'm more concerned about water at this point.

[meter-man]

Hi Nevadafornians! May I suggest that instead of wasting your winter in the overrated, overhyped and snowless Sierra Nevada, that you hop a bird the northeast . . . where you will find that our seasoned moderators "keep the bar high"

Sounds like Greg and AZ are already are on the rasta-touring tip. Glad somebody is dedicated to keeping the internet "safe"!

[PB]

Hi Nevadafornians! May I suggest that instead of wasting your winter in the overrated, overhyped and snowless Sierra Nevada, that you hop a bird the northeast, home of the gnarliest snowriding in the USA? The conditions are actually more dependable and consistent to anything you will find in the northwest due to the superior snowmaking. Also the terrain is truly fabulous, the partying is unmatched anywhere(can you say "hot New Jersey Italian babes?") ...
I would also like to take this opportunity to formally invite you (as well as all of the lurkers and non-lurkers alike) to come join our fun-loving but responsible bunch of snowriding aficionados who know the benefits of what good moderation brings to an on-line community. I think most all of you will find that our seasoned moderators "keep the bar high" by maintaining a sense of order and decorum, while encouraging quality discussion about our favorite pastime. ...... we do have reasonable standards as far as language and image posting that are strictly enforced. The registration is easy and painless, and the rules will be explained in detail during the process. I will warn you however up front that registering an ALIAS is strictly "VERBOTEN", and something we have zero-tolerance with. If you are tired of the juvenile guttersniping at TGR and yearn for a snowriding forum that matches your maturity level, all I can say is:"Come join the fun"!

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

FWIW - we found good wintery snow holding up well in Bridgeport. The warm temps have actually made the approaches quicker given you can just fly up the trails in shoes until you hit continuous snow around 9K. I think the key is to avoid tallus hopping by going to areas that have good trail systems heading up drainages until you hit snow lines. Posted a TR if you are interested in Bridgeport beta:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...astern-Sierra)

I would note it was WARM when we got back to the car - so if the temps stay like this that snow line is going to keep rising....

[AlpineZone]

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

Profanity is not allowed at our 'casa', some of you will be happy to know.

[NW_SKIER]

Profanity is not allowed at our 'casa', some of you will be happy to know.

You're like a telemarketer. Stop already.

[1000-oaks]

Hi Nevadafornians! May I suggest that instead of wasting your winter in the overrated, overhyped and snowless Sierra Nevada, that you hop a bird the northeast, home of the gnarliest snowriding in the USA? The conditions are actually more dependable and consistent to anything you will find in the northwest due to the superior snowmaking. Also the terrain is truly fabulous,

Oh I spent a few years out there in college and got in some 85+ day seasons in Maine, but if I ever went back to visit I wouldn't bother bringing skis. Not worth the hassle, even if the lift tickets were free.

[Rip'nStick]

Profanity is not allowed at our 'casa', some of you will be happy to know.

I can vouch for the high ratio of stoke to profanity and douchebaggery at AlpineZone. Greg is good people and keeps the high standards that many of us who have been in the best resorts in the world would appreciate. Member since 2006. Thanks Greg.

California needs water... Another few years of this and I may consider moving to Vermont

[BGnight]

Why don't all three of you fuck off out of here and go have your circle jerk.

[emcee]

I just got back from driving the whole eastern sierra.

NOTHING is freezing solid the past week. At 12k feet there was an inch of crush on top of slush. If you do find snow your options are either break through the crust and suck, or wait for the crust to melt out and suck in slush.

Best turns were at carson pass.

Virginia lakes was skinnable from the end of the road but the lake ice is melting out at the edges and pretty slushy.

Tioga pass closed 3 miles up from lee vining, totally burnt out anywhere close to the gate (maybe wrong term, I don't think snow ever fell there) and nothing is accessible

Up 168 near bishop, gate closed 2mi to sabrina lake. Hiked up to 10.5k feet where the snow started but still patchy and slushy and not worth it. South lake road is closed but you can go around the sign. Didn't check up there but if it's anything like sabrina lake, not so good.

Whitney portal closed 5mi from end of road but you can go around gate. Gets you to 8k feet which helps...nothing.

Ended up driving to death valley. The drought isn't as noticeable in the desert. Best turns are probably down some of the sand dunes there.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry after this trip.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

I just got back from driving the whole eastern sierra.

NOTHING is freezing solid the past week. At 12k feet there was an inch of crush on top of slush. If you do find snow your options are either break through the crust and suck, or wait for the crust to melt out and suck in slush.

Best turns were at carson pass.

Virginia lakes was skinnable from the end of the road but the lake ice is melting out at the edges and pretty slushy.

Tioga pass closed 3 miles up from lee vining, totally burnt out anywhere close to the gate (maybe wrong term, I don't think snow ever fell there) and nothing is accessible

Up 168 near bishop, gate closed 2mi to sabrina lake. Hiked up to 10.5k feet where the snow started but still patchy and slushy and not worth it. South lake road is closed but you can go around the sign. Didn't check up there but if it's anything like sabrina lake, not so good.

Whitney portal closed 5mi from end of road but you can go around gate. Gets you to 8k feet which helps...nothing.

Ended up driving to death valley. The drought isn't as noticeable in the desert. Best turns are probably down some of the sand dunes there.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry after this trip.

FWIW - we found great conditions in Bridgeport on Saturday and I heard of great skiing near June as well. I just think one needs to explore (1) high elevation, (2) North and (3) Shade to find good snow. Like you nailed, though, getting there is the challenge as everything low is burnt out and you need easy trail access. Having said that, it was so warm this weekend the little coverage from 9-10K is going fast.

For instance by Sabrina, I would think you have to head way back to like Huxley to find cold/shaded snow (which would be quite the hike).

By South Lake, I would think Gilbert or Thompson might have cold snow in them, but you would have to get up there to tell.

By North Lake, maybe all the way up the trail to the N Couloir on Lamarck - would be a lot of hiking in shoes but that thing stays cold.

[TEXASS]

Conness and North Peak taken from the top of Black Peak on Saturday 3/14/15



LiketoRide skinning up Black Peak with Red Lake Bowl in the background



Looking down Virginia Lakes road from Black peak. Dunderburg is ummmm dry



Looking South from Black Peak into Lundy canyon 3/14/15

[meter-man]

Excellent beta - thanks people. Sounds like UCL and TEXASS hit it right, and it warmed up a ton on Sat-Sun-Mon-Tues. I'm thinking we get some early April snow -- not enough for big Eastern Sierra descents, but enough to refresh and consolidate the higher elevation stuff, and make access a shitshow of skinning patches between rocks.

Sounds like Greg and AZ are already are on the rasta-touring tip. Glad somebody is dedicated to keeping the internet "safe"!

Why don't all three of you fuck off out of here and go have your circle jerk.

I hope you're not including me in the "three" -- I was attempting the difficult (at least for me) internet trick of sarcasm. I was going to reply something that more clearly told AZgreg he's moron, like "even on the Sierra's worst year ever, I would take it over the East Coast's best year ever because WE HAVE REAL FUCKING MOUNTAINS... " Next time, I will use emojis and all caps to clarify.

[AlpineZone]

I hope you're not including me in the "three" -- I was attempting the difficult (at least for me) internet trick of sarcasm. I was going to reply something that more clearly told AZgreg he's moron, like "even on the Sierra's worst year ever, I would take it over the East Coast's best year ever because WE HAVE REAL FUCKING MOUNTAINS... " Next time, I will use emojis and all caps to clarify.

Hi meter-man! We have actually real snow(unlike your sierra cement) , far more consistent conditions, more vertical, a longer season,better terrain,skiers that actually know how to ski and snow at all elevations, not at just at the top 1000' like you have. Eat your heart out!

[skier666]

^^^^^

Meter-man PWND!

[w j b]

Hi Nevadafornians! May I suggest that instead of wasting your winter in the overrated, overhyped and snowless Sierra Nevada, that you hop a bird the northeast, home of the gnarliest snowriding in the USA? The conditions are actually more dependable and consistent to anything you will find in the northwest due to the superior snowmaking. Also the terrain is truly fabulous, the partying is unmatched anywhere(can you say "hot New Jersey Italian babes?") and the setting is Norman Rockwell-esque! Pursuing the plethora of hot NYC/NJ and Boston "chicas" in their stretch pants can be even better than the great skiing, but I must warn you they are quite feisty and outspoken, unlike the laid-back western gals. Try Killington, Vermont, and when you score your first powder day in the glades of "Anarchy", "The Throne", "Chop Chop" or "Patsy" , you will be grinning from ear to ear, I promise you! Both Smugglers Notch, Vermont or Waterville Valley, New Hampshire would be a good choices as well.
I would also like to take this opportunity to formally invite you (as well as all of the lurkers and non-lurkers alike) to come join our fun-loving but responsible bunch of snowriding aficionados who know the benefits of what good moderation brings to an on-line community. I think most all of you will find that our seasoned moderators "keep the bar high" by maintaining a sense of order and decorum, while encouraging quality discussion about our favorite pastime. We also have superior bandwidth and response times on our 502g superfibre network as well as a state-of-the-art virtual blade server farm with 5000 terabytes of virtual disk space for your photos, blogs etc. It may take a small amount of getting used to, as we do have reasonable standards as far as language and image posting that are strictly enforced. The registration is easy and painless, and the rules will be explained in detail during the process. I will warn you however up front that registering an ALIAS is strictly "VERBOTEN", and something we have zero-tolerance with. If you are tired of the juvenile guttersniping at TGR and yearn for a snowriding forum that matches your maturity level, all I can say is:"Come join the fun"!

Is it really that great there if half of your sales pitch is dedicated to skanky guido bitches? No swearing? WTF is up with that?? Ten feet of snow on a gopher mound is still a gopher mound

[NW_SKIER]

Is it really that great there if half of your sales pitch is dedicated to skanky guido bitches? No swearing? WTF is up with that?? Ten feet of snow on a gopher mound is still a gopher mound

Hahahahaha. I don't think he realizes who he's trying to pick up. he would have much better luck on TGR if he approached us with the promises of weed hookers and blow.