Eastside Conditions Thread

[mr. hankey]

cool vid Brian. Fantastic pics AK!
thx for the Beta Hutash. sounds like a great trip. did you guys ski the S chutes off of olsen down to Lundy and then to 395, or stay high and ski to 395?

[Skeeze]

I went to the Mammoth Crest yesterday and skied the little chute entrance on skier’s left side of Red Cone. Snow was perfect supportable pow. Was so encouraged by snow quality there that I traverse over and bootpacked up Hollywood Chute.

Evidence of a very small wind slab avalanche at the bottom of the chute, but it was pretty solid while I booted up. Very deep snow most of the way made for slow going—knee to waist deep. A little wind slab on top of soft snow at the top of the chute that broke when I stepped on it but did not propagate at all. After the short wind slab section at the top, skiing conditions were deep powder in the rest of the chute, with good quality powder all the way down to Horseshoe Lake.

All in all, a surprisingly awesome day, followed up by skiing perfect wind buff at the resort in the afternoon.

[rod9301]

Skied the incredible hulk couloir today. Steep, good snow.


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[JAREDS]

Skied the incredible hulk couloir today. Steep, good snow.

Awesome! Snow from the car or was the valley mucky?



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[rod9301]

Snow from the car. At the beginning of the little slide canyon, in the trees, i had some skin glopping, going from sun to shade, fixed by waxing.

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[rod9301]

Anyone knows how the snow coverage is towards feather peak?

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[AKbruin]

Sage to summit with whatsupdoc via East Gully, let's go.


A higher-clearance vehicle would have gotten us a couple of dry-hiking miles closer. Snowline was about 7,000'.


We made quick progress to the headwall, but booting up knee-deep powder for 2k slowed us down a bit.




One of the best summits in the Eastern Sierra.


I expected variable snow with pockets of decent wintery snow and corn lower. Instead, we got cold, deep powder on the headwall. I follow Eastern Sierra weather and conditions closely, perhaps even obsessively, and I have no idea how this happened.


Anyhow, it was good.


So damned good.


Like one of my best days ever good.


With over 3,000-ish feet descended, we still had more than half our ski descent to go. It was also good.


With a ski descent of about 7k', I'd say only about 500' was marginal, somewhat sticky transitional snow. Eventually, the wintery powder gave way to ripping corn all the way down to the road. (And then a 2-3 mile dirt hike back to my overmatched CR-V.)



These are my crappy iPhone photos, which don't do justice to the conditions, the headwall, or the scale. I'm avidly looking forward to whatsupdoc's vastly superior photos.

Top Five handsome mountains in the Sierra, in no particular order:
(1) Tom
(2) Lone Pine
(3) Morrison
(4) Ritter/Banner
(5) Williamson

[zion zig zag]

^^^Nice!


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[mcski]

Whoa!

[gimpy]

score!!!!!+++++

[rod9301]

When were you there?

And it seems to be all east facing, right?

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[phattypowpow]

I'm a Sierra spring skiing noob from WY but I've hiked and backpacked there the last several years in the autumn, vowing to come back where there's snow. I need to be in LA on May 16 (Th) and it seems silly to make the drive without bringing the skis for some E Sierra adventure. All these TRs look great and there's a ton of snow up high. Snow level also looks higher than I would have expected from such an epic winter. Am I going to be hiking for many miles of dirt to access the goods in mid May? Not that I'm adverse to that (or big vert) but I just want to know what I'm signing up for.

Of course, a lot can happen in 6 weeks but general thoughts and advice are appreciated. Any zones that are more desirable or to be avoided that time of year? Between my adventures on foot and reading the shit of the backcountry skiing the Eastern Sierras book and lots of maps, I have a decent lay of the land but theory and reality don't always intersect. Thanks in advance and I promise to take whatever local knowledge you're willing share to my grave.

Oh yeah, my main ride is a 2001 Chevy Astro which can handle a little gnar but not too much. If it's worth my while to take a burlier rig, I can probably sweet talk/bribe my GF into letting me take her Xterra. There's no beating the 'Stro for camping out, though.

[BFD]

Sage to summit with whatsupdoc via East Gully, let's go.


A higher-clearance vehicle would have gotten us a couple of dry-hiking miles closer. Snowline was about 7,000'.


We made quick progress to the headwall, but booting up knee-deep powder for 2k slowed us down a bit.




One of the best summits in the Eastern Sierra.


I expected variable snow with pockets of decent wintery snow and corn lower. Instead, we got cold, deep powder on the headwall. I follow Eastern Sierra weather and conditions closely, perhaps even obsessively, and I have no idea how this happened.


Anyhow, it was good.


So damned good.


Like one of my best days ever good.


With over 3,000-ish feet descended, we still had more than half our ski descent to go. It was also good.


With a ski descent of about 7k', I'd say only about 500' was marginal, somewhat sticky transitional snow. Eventually, the wintery powder gave way to ripping corn all the way down to the road. (And then a 2-3 mile dirt hike back to my overmatched CR-V.)



These are my crappy iPhone photos, which don't do justice to the conditions, the headwall, or the scale. I'm avidly looking forward to whatsupdoc's vastly superior photos.

Top Five handsome mountains in the Sierra, in no particular order:
(1) Tom
(2) Lone Pine
(3) Morrison
(4) Ritter/Banner
(5) Williamson

Nice that looks a lot better than the couloir on the n side we hit. Plus bonus getting the summit. Nice work

[meter-man]

[whatsupdoc]

Rod, it was mostly E although the top of the headwall (at least the line we skied) faces NE and that's where we found the very best snow (although it was all damn good). We skied it Sunday.

First, a few photos from Pinner on Saturday:

[whatsupdoc]

Tom was epic. Amazing summit and fantastic snow pretty much top to bottom. A day dreams are made of.

Sunrise:


Skinning at sunrise:


Morning light:


Mid-mountain skinning:


Nearing the headwall:


AKbruin putting in the skin track below the line we skied:


Booting:

[whatsupdoc]

Final scramble to the summit:




AKbruin on top:



Skiing:

[whatsupdoc]

More skiing:




The car seemed a long ways from here, but it didn't matter, we were both too stoked to care:


Walking back:


Back at the car:

[rod9301]

What's up, what is the helmet holder you have on your pack?
Did you make it?
Or if not can it be bought separately from the pack?

I have a McHale custom pack that i really like, but it would be nice to put the helmet outside when i overnight.

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[rod9301]

Also, is the today towards scheelite clear of snow?

Thinking of feather peak next week.

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[whatsupdoc]

What's up, what is the helmet holder you have on your pack?
Did you make it?
Or if not can it be bought separately from the pack?

I have a McHale custom pack that i really like, but it would be nice to put the helmet outside when i overnight.

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Rod it’s built into my pack. BD Cirque pack.


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[whatsupdoc]

Also, is the today towards scheelite clear of snow?

Thinking of feather peak next week.

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Pine creek road should be plowed to the standard summer trail parking.


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[BFD]

Pine creek road should be plowed to the standard summer trail parking.


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Yes plowed to some gate. Whitney portal closed at hogback rd but you can drive a couple of miles further past the switchback.
Big pine is plowed to glacier lodge but road was closed a few miles before that.

[jorion]

Sheesh that’s fantastic.

What was the snow in the pinner like?

[Skeeze]

It’s no Tom, but jdadour and I skied Pika Peak North Couloir on Saturday in awesome conditions. Boot deep pow with zero wind affect. Here’s a couple photos jdadour took on the descent.