Eastside Conditions/ Trip Report Thread 2018

[CS]

i was way off, was looking too north, lining up for a sat/sunday. was thinking buttermilks but seeing the above and that there's snow in onion valley i'm tempted to go further south

This was onion Valley on Saturday. (Not my pics)

[whatsupdoc]

Beautiful line BGnight. Another one to add to the list...


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Jack Burton]

Thanks for the pics CS, that’s more dirt than I had lead myself to believe

[CS]

Thanks for the pics CS, that’s more dirt than I had lead myself to believe

Yeah. Me too. I was going to ski something out of there next weekend, but am rethinking my plans now. Might head further north and check out Matterhorn Peak.

[1000-oaks]

This was onion Valley on Saturday. (Not my pics)

Hmmm, was just planning an overnighter on University 5/4...looking pretty thinnish by then. Maybe further north.

[powdork]

Yeah. Me too. I was going to ski something out of there next weekend, but am rethinking my plans now. Might head further north and check out Matterhorn Peak.

My experience has been once you get to Rock Creek and south things aren't nearly as plastered up high and the snow levels get higher as you go south too.

(edit-that sounds weird and it was 12:45 so I musta been tired yeah that was it i was tired. i just meant last time i was down there it was like that, not my experience over time)

[mr. hankey]

pics from the drive down today:

[mr. hankey]

Not sure why the lundy pic was upside down. Lundy still skiable with short walk. i'm sure Vlakes would be good. lot less snow further you go (look at the pic of Tom). Was thinking of doing Grand central out of Mcgee, but looks pretty burned down low. Esha lookiing good, but didn't drive in.

checked out Bigpine for next weekend. snow line seemed like 9k or so. didn't seem like they got much if any new snow(?) .N side of kidd looked pretty bad, but the S fork bowl and it's chutes still look good. 30 min hike to where i took the pic, so prolly a 1hr hike to ski level. nice path. so use to hiking in big pine with full rack/ropes ice tools/, etc. so nice to take a quick hike without carrying anything. or baking in the sun. always hated that big pine approach in the summer.
Just packed my pack and realized i forgot my crampons so now gotta do something mellow or time it right ...

[TahoeBC]

From last week.

Attachment 231787

Dang that's a beauty BG

[powdork]

Not sure why the lundy pic was upside down. Lundy still skiable with short walk. i'm sure Vlakes would be good. lot less snow further you go (look at the pic of Tom). Was thinking of doing Grand central out of Mcgee, but looks pretty burned down low. Esha lookiing good, but didn't drive in.

checked out Bigpine for next weekend. snow line seemed like 9k or so. didn't seem like they got much if any new snow(?) .N side of kidd looked pretty bad, but the S fork bowl and it's chutes still look good. 30 min hike to where i took the pic, so prolly a 1hr hike to ski level. nice path. so use to hiking in big pine with full rack/ropes ice tools/, etc. so nice to take a quick hike without carrying anything. or baking in the sun. always hated that big pine approach in the summer.
Just packed my pack and realized i forgot my crampons so now gotta do something mellow or time it right ...

Isn't there a place in Lone Pine that rents them for the Whitney folk?

[rod9301]

Tried to ski parachute yesterday.

Walk on hour to snow, then you can skin. But, once you get in the Valentine canyon, hellish talus with huge boulders. Takes forever to go thru them, both on the way up and down. Full in climbing moves, awkward in boots.

Anyway, by 2 pm, got to the base of the couloir, snow looked good so I started to transition to climbing.
First, I punctured my water bottle with the crampons. Ok.

Then I realized that I can't put my left boot in ski mode.

Tried for ten minutes, walk mode only. I didn't feel like skiing a 50 degrees couloir with one boot on walk mode, so I started back.

10 hour day.

Not sure when is the best time to ski the Valentine Cirque or the couloir. The talus was truly horrendous.

Maybe in a big snow year, or late spring so you're in shoes?

Or maybe there is a better way I'm or out?

[gimpy]

Radness bg! Thanx for sharing and not pulling a pondella (post rad pics of east side couloirs without saying where the fuck it is other then saying the obvious "eastern Sierra"

I've approached parachute from punta bardini and hiked the ridge line. Biggest downside to this way is the downclimb from the top of pyramid to the line. I've also heard of a duck pass approach though that seems even longer. Personally I think of this line as a novelty/guidebook tick line and even though the snow was horrible when I skied it, it's not on the list of lines I need to go back to in better snow.
Stoked this thread is coming to life!

[chill winston]

Just skied up to bishop pass this morning. The south lake area probably offers best bang for buck right now. Road open to pack station. Easy one mile walk on dry road to the dam. High elevation start and the entire Thompson Gilbert Goode Johnson area looks $$$$$. I’m also sitting here in Big Pine staring at that couloir off Birch mtn right now. Looks amazing

[pajamas]

sum good shit here lately. thx ya'll for the posts

I know BG has vented on this before and I agree - posting stuff on IG or here, then being cryptic on where you skied is just silly. I get it if it is your local secret stash in Tahoe, but some deep line on the eastside. come on. I so want to create an alias named "where is this".

[BGnight]

Radness bg! Thanx for sharing and not pulling a pondella (post rad pics of east side couloirs without saying where the fuck it is other then saying the obvious "eastern Sierra"!

Lol I always make it a mission to figure out where it is and put it in the comments

[CaliKid]

Skied the SE face of Dunderberg today. Waited 2 hrs for it to soften. Top never really did. Pretty firm and variable for the top 1k. Lower portion skied well and right to the car.

[96avs01]

Lol I always make it a mission to figure out where it is and put it in the comments

Well played sir!

[Jack Burton]

wood, & gibs Friday evening en route a little further south . Wood snow line does look like an option

[mr. hankey]

yeah, like gimpy said - great to see so much going on in this thread at last!

BGnight - great line, you've put up quite a few over the years - props.
Thanks for the suggestion Powdork. unfortunately i was sticking north of bishop after my scouting trip. Was gonna checkout mammoth options for rental/buy, but after today i think i'll stick to options where i don't need them.

Went to rock creek today. Road open to packstation, and road to mosquito flat still good coverage w ~1ft of compacted powder. prolly melt out after next weekend though. still easy stream/lake crossings.
But the big story is that there was lots of bullet proof even up high (i'm guessing from the rain event?) where the wind scowered away the snow (or it slid off?), and this was interlaced where the rest was semi soft to windboardy breakable crust. This was especially bad on N, NE or E facing above 11k. was hoping there'd be powder, but even up to 12. 5 it was like that. around 11k on direct E it seemed like the bulletproof layer was ready to soften, but on the way down it was still hard. 2-4 hard boot kicks just to be able to make a standable boot tip indentation.
oh and beware of easy shears/slabs on E facing near the top - heavy winds from the W in the last storm stripped the W facing and some nice slabs on top of the ice layer. 8 inch crown but localized.
Anywho, for this weekend i'm giving up on objectives and just looking for good snow. It was really cold last night, so that might be part of the problem, but i think it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow/tomorrow night, so hopefully the higher ele stuff will be good by sunday.

was hoping to hear that more S facing would have softened, but Calikid's post seems to say all aspects above 10k ish need more time to marinade in the sun.
gonna stick to SE low elevation tomorrow (Gilcrest SE Face) and higher elevation S, SE sunday (dunderberg S chute or SE gully) - hopefully it'll have gone the cycle by then.
if anyone wants to meet up, you'll find me there. Grey Honda Element.

[mr. hankey]

oh and checked out other stuff on the drive up afterwards -
Convict - Mini Mo approach totally burned out at least up to the top of the final N face. So that one's done.
Esha - pretty low snow finger/Avy debris in the gully, so that's still in play with a very minimal walk. But again, the snow probably needs more time there as well up high...

[mr. hankey]

Skied lundy (Mt Warren) today. Icebowl from 12k down to 11, some porn between 10.5 and 9 and good corn below 9. Seems like higher elevations just need more time to corn. Going home now.

Warren, gilcrest:

Still skiable to ~20 min walk to the car. the direct north chutes might stay good through next week, maybe(?), but the E side and warren canyon stuff will go quickly.

E. Gully of gilcrest #1 - mandatory air over the moat. E gully #2 looked tight but better, but the large corn field above it looked burned from the bottom, so i switched to Warren instead, hoping the E face would be good if i wait it out.

looking down Warren's west ridge, the nice corn face on the SE side of Gilcrest looked pretty good. i should have skied E gully #2. Dunderberg S chute looks good from here, but i wonder if it goes to the bottom?


Warren bowl - bullet proof with bands of powder/windpack ontop. Horrendous. the apron had some ok snow below.


Things to come - False White, Conness, North peak, etc.

Looking south at Dana, and stuff off the plateau (Powerhouse, Ellery bowl, etc). Mt warren is one of the coolest summits around from a view perspective- so much to see in every direction. that made it worth it today, even if the skiing up high was marginal. Glad i did it before the lower face burned out.

[chill winston]

A few pics to assist your trip planning endeavors:

Tom/Basin/Buttermilks.


South Lake scene. Johnson/Gilbert/Thomson. The three trident couloirs coming off Thompson look plastered.


Hurd side view. such a nice looking peak


Long lake, up to Bishop pass. Blurry shot of Mt Goode to the right. Yes, I'm carrying a dog


Mt So Damn Goode


Thompson, Powell, "Ski Mountaineers Peak"


Hurd and Johnson/Gilbert ridge


Birch, Thumb, Sill from Death Valley Rd. BG that's a long hump up to snowline. kudos


Big Willy and Tyndall at Sunset


Whitney/Russell


Now sunrise from Papoose Flat


Williamson, Barnard, Tunnabora, Russell, Whitney


Split


Tinnemaha Creek - Bolton Brown/Prater/Birch


Cool angle of palisades group. Thumb, Mid Pal, Norman Clyde, Palisade Crest, North Pal/Starlight, Sill


Great views can be had from Papoose Flat up in the Inyos. A nice set of 4x4 roads to get up there. Didn't see a single person up there.

[BGnight]

great beta shots!

[powdork]

things that make you go hmmmm. also a bit of a hike to the snowline

[AKbruin]

(Part 1 of 1)

Many thanks Jack Burton, Mr. Hankey, and Chill Winston for the reports. Nice line, BG.

I'm metaphorically pouring one out for Tone Capone. More and more I think this forum is nonsense (although this thread is a nice refuge from that nonsense). Folks seem primarily interested in pummeling each with flame and tedium or watching others do so. I don't get it. But Tone was one of the good guys, whose photos and stories about skiing and mountain biking were literally inspiring. I didn't know him personally, but I'm still greatly saddened by his passing. Rest in peace, brother.

Anyhow, here are my photos from Basin and Williamson two weekends ago.









Williamson was humbling. I thought I had a fairly high tolerance for sufferfests. Williamson, however, left me a little broken.


Hours and hours and hours of this.


The summit was nice. (Check out Split's South Face in the upper right background.)




Whatsupdoc more than 10,000 feet above the valley floor.


Langley, Russell, and Whitney.






#gladididit #butneveragain