Eastside Conditions Thread

**splitter** · 06-21-2017, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by noflyzone_allstars

We went up Ellery Bowl Tuesday morning. Bottom line: worth it. And damn good for first day of summer. Sun cups top to bottom (4" dia. at the top, 4' at the bottom. We timed it right dropping in at around 10:00 and it was soft enough to just smear though them.

Despite the heat (overnight low just under 60 at 11,0000), the snowpack is quite consolidated and was firm if not frozen in the early shade, only rotten spots we found were right next to or on top of rocks. It does warm up FAST though and every aspect is a solar aspect when the sun is directly overhead.

The steepish head wall of Ellery Bowl was very nice at 10:00 but we did kick loose plenty of corny sluff and much more could have been a problem. Anything farther from the car will require a wicked early start or a big change in the weather. One guy went at least part way up one of the chute out chutes but looked like a lot of spooky doglegs above rocks and runnelled, peppery snow to me.

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Thanks for the post and photos.

**TEXASS** · 06-22-2017, 06:33 AM

Great Proposal Boissal !! You got a keeper if She will slog all the way up Laurel Lakes road. Yeah, this heat wave really has fucked us over. You guys gotta come back in March next season. Suncups sucks

**gnarbro365** · 06-23-2017, 02:36 PM

Heard from a little birdy Tioga is opening in the next few days...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**bobz** · 06-25-2017, 10:16 AM

Tioga is fully plowed, but remains closed due to excessive water on the road.

**munkyman** · 06-25-2017, 12:22 PM

Skied Dana Tues, Ellery Thurs. this week.
The whole Eastside seems to be brutally suncupped. Like it's late July or something.
But Dana Couloir is in great shape and Ellery Bowl is surprisingly good.
Suncups up to 18" deep are all over the place on the Dana exit. Plus scree scramble. I highly recommend exiting it via Ellery Bowl, or even by climbing back out of it and skiing the west side of Dana back to the road. Also the descents before Solstice are very good and lead back to road with less cup exposure. You could yoyo those all day.
Lots of rock fall in Ellery by noon, the looker's left side skied great mid morning though.
Maybe temp drops will preserve what's there to ski for a while longer. Heat was ruthless...

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**406** · 06-26-2017, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by bobz

Tioga is fully plowed, but remains closed due to excessive water on the road.

Charge up the e-bike!

**~mikey b** · 06-26-2017, 08:53 AM

NPS is saying no bikes

**dookeyXXX** · 06-26-2017, 09:16 AM

i keep reading about the halacious sun-cups on the Eastside and Sonora.
I'd be interested to know the aspects of the hills that are getting affected the most. also, are these sun-cupped slopes littered with avy/rock debris?
I just skied a SE facing slope on Castle Peak yesterday (6.25.17) and it had absolutely no (zero) sun-cups.

**bodywhomper** · 06-26-2017, 09:59 AM

The mount Dana suncups mentioned up thread are in the flats/very low angle. One of the exit routes off after descending the Dana couloir is to ski the flats back to your car. That ski can take much longer than expected if the suncups are bad.

Any new beta on saddlebag lake rd?

**telelebowski** · 06-27-2017, 11:43 AM

Was at Sonora 6/21. Low angle flats are suncup city. Big suncups north and north east aspects on No Name and the bowl. Upper reaches of No Name decent. More large suncups in basin under Leavitt. Y-Couloir still decent, so upper elevations N facing are staying relatively smooth. That said, the couloir next to Y was not suncup effected, but chocolate chip skiing from all of the rockfall that pockmarked it anyway. This is all north aspect stuff, everything else is burned out, the PCT along the ridge to Leavitt is dry summer trail with maybe two patches of snow. Probably due to the total lack of clouds down south and the crazy heat wave-at noon it was 86 degrees at 8000 feet driving down from the Pass. A good day, but not really interested in heading that way again this summer. Looking at Lassen and Shasta now, supposedly the snow is holding up better. Good to hear about Tahoe.

**munkyman** · 06-27-2017, 12:14 PM

wow, amazing castle still goes good- i should head up there...
wonder if carson pass is good too?

the good Dana lines were well worth it but best to navigate a smart way out to avoid enormous suncups mostly on the flats.

saddlebag was still closed as of last Thursday. but the dirt road looked ok as far as we could see. in the afternoon the flood warning situation became clear, as the little bridge at the turnoff was under about 10" of strong running river water by afternoon. by the mornings it had dropped down to reveal the road surface again. i assume these afternoon flood cycles are waning as the heat wave dissipates.

park ranger claimed one waterfall in Yosemite somewhere had swelled from 20 to 1000 feet in width...

**~mikey b** · 06-27-2017, 08:13 PM

SR-120/TIOGA PASS IN YOSEMITE OPENS THURSDAY

State Route 120/Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park opens to vehicular traffic at 8 am Thursday, June 29, 2017. The road opens to bicycles and pedestrians at 8 am Wednesday, June 28.

Visitors should use caution, as there may be dirt, debris, and water flowing over the road. Visitors are encouraged to keep an eye out for maintenance vehicles working on the road.

There will be minimal services available along the Tioga Pass for several weeks, including no drinking water and no access to gas, food or lodging. There will be no cellphone service, either.
Visitors can purchase gasoline in Lee Vining and at Crane Flat.

Tamarack Flat Campground is the only campground that is currently open along Tioga Pass. This campground is first-come, first-served and fills early in the day.

When driving in the park, motorists are urged to drive slowly as bears and other animals are active and may be present on the roadway. For updated 24-hour road and weather conditions for Yosemite National Park, please call 209-372-0200 and press 1.

**bobz** · 06-27-2017, 09:32 PM

I did Y-couloir yesterday; weelll... I punched up it and then decided that the lower half was rocky enough, and the (looker's) right-side bowl was tasty looking enough, that the bowl would be preferred. And the bowl was good. But the Y was good, too, as I watched at least one of the 4 guys I saw on top drop in.

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I went in and out via the 8600' hairpin on 108's west side, and, really, didn't have an issue with cups, low-angle or higher-angle. More bowl-y than cuppy, and you know, once it softens up a bit "it'll buff right out" as you ski it. And it was all skis-on-snow except about 50' of walking, between Leavitt and the hairpin, with ample snow-bridges covering the ample streamflows (for now). I was quite pleased. So if you're thinking you missed the window, and Sonora's going to suck cupz from now on, well, the ideal is past, but it's still decent.

**~mikey b** · 06-28-2017, 08:49 PM

Those were some friends of mine.

**FKA WS** · 06-28-2017, 10:11 PM

On Sunday Saddlebag Lake Road was 99% dry, bikes would have been nice. I'd assume the county will open it this weekend. They had snow removal equipment blocking the road so maybe they just need to get that gear out of the way. Suncups were deep around the lake but better up high and the Y Couloir on Conness was smooth and probably perfect at 11 (we descended around 1). Below that was suncupped but soft enough that it skied well. Saw tracks in the S Couloir too, and 4 people tracked up the S face of North Peak.

Somebody buy Saddlebag Lake Resort and negotiate year round ops with the Forest Service. Seriously! If I had a million dollars...

CS · 06-30-2017, 09:29 AM

I'm headed up early tomorrow morning to ski somewhere off the pass. I'm hoping Saddlebag is open, but if not I'll venture somewhere. Anybody going to be around up there, want to meet up? I'm leaving here around 3am so should put me at the pass around 6.

**~mikey b** · 06-30-2017, 12:15 PM

I think we are going to SP.

Ebbetts Pass opening today at 1.

**jorion** · 06-30-2017, 03:40 PM

Thanks to all who posted beta on Dana Couloir. It skied great at 4PM yesterday. I foolishly entered via the basin and booted up the chute instead of climbing the NW ridge, but I wasn't sure the east face would still go...it does. It was still prime that late in the day. Much later and it would have been back in shadows.

I didn't want to risk Ellery that late in the afternoon so I went back out the way I came in. (The day before I was stopped on 120 because a SAR helicopter was landing on the road, coming out to rescue a skier who apparently fell and hit his head in the bowl). Traversing the drainage involves a *lot* of walking on talus and large suncups.

I thought this was going to be my last Eastside ski trip for the season but I have a feeling I'll be back again. I just need to find more sun-protected lines like the Dana Couloir.

**~mikey b** · 07-03-2017, 01:54 PM

Facebook post from Tioga Pass Resort...

Well, we can now call it official: TPR will not operate for the 2017 season. It's simply not feasible, even if you set the lodge issues aside.

We have begun to cancel and refund reservations. Please be a patient, as this may take several days to complete.

Now that the snowpack has finally melted out we are poised to begin professional assessment of the clearly complex damage, which will ultimately determine our path forward.

The ultimate fate of lodge is the big concern. We're eager to hear the first structural engineer's opinion, and will update again once that has been digested and a plan begins to form.

Our apologies for the disappointment. Thanks to all for your kind words of support.

**hutash** · 07-04-2017, 09:16 AM

Just did Dana, Dana couloir and Ellery yesterday, 7/3. Nearly dry hike to the top of Dana. You can ski from nearly the top of Dana on the east face. The couloir skis well, but beware of bomb holes (rocks that have melt into the snow.) The hike out is mostly talus and some snow patches. Ellery skied okay on the far skiers right side, but sun cups and bomb holes are making it more challenging.

**~mikey b** · 07-06-2017, 04:13 PM

From SLR FB

The road to Saddlebag Lake opens at 5pm today! This is how Saddlebag lake Resort was looking as of July 2nd, 2017 - the resort hopes to be open around mid August.

CS · 07-06-2017, 06:12 PM

Went up crack o' dawn to Tioga Pass on Saturday, 7/1. Had loose intentions of going out Conness way, hoping the Saddlebag Rd was open. It was not. And given the fact I only had flip flops and ski boots, a jaunt up the road was not considered. Instead I opted to meander up to False White. Having never been there I lucked into joining a group of 3 from Mammoth area who had. That said, we still went up a drainage too soon, which was fine, because everything out there has been suncupped to hell.

To whit....

Figuring that is was only that bad on the flats we motored on. Upon cresting a ridge just E of False White, it was discovered that it all pretty much sucked.

Runneled and sun cupped. So not worth the extra slog. Instead I headed up to a sub peak between False White and Gaylor to see the views into Tuolomne. Anyone ever venture out and check out these guys:

So from the peak I headed down, angling skiers right to a little shot I noticed on the way out. The skiing up top was fairly meh, what with the suncups, but the farther right I went and the steeper it got, the smoother it got. I ended up skiing this fun shot down to the brutal sun cups in the flats.

Since I had finished early I figured I'd go check out Ellery bowl and if it looked ok I'd head up there.
It looked decent.

Skinned up to the boot pack and then met up with a couple people from SLC and a group from Russia/France. On the way up the booter a snowboarder was coming down lookers left and just above a steep choke slipped up and started sliding. He went right over one rock that was luckily buried just enough, then got pointed head first as he picked up steam. His ice axe went flying as he tried to get his feet below him, which he finally managed to do after a cartwheel or two and as the angle relented. He seemed shaken, but ok. His buddy followed, nailed the crux, then tried to open it up but he too slid out and ended up sliding the last 200 feet or so on his ass, almost taking out his first buddy. Good fun. Finally a skier came down, butt ass naked, sporting a slow sign as a cape and just crushed the thing.

With the fun over I just put my head down and motored on up (in reality, slogged my slow ass up the boot pack). Once up top I was late to be headed home so had a quick snack then took the skiers left line down as it had been nicely groomed by a few previous skiers. Skiing was decent most the way down as I had to angle here and there to get the smoothest lines. All in all, a fun day in the mountains.