Thanks again everyone.
Mark, I think many of your questions can be answered by my winter gear list which I posted over at backpacking.net and reproduce below.
Here is a link to my route specifically (
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~cope/photo/ ... kroute.jpg ).
To answer some of your other questions:
My skis were not the most efficient: Atomic TM:10 (170cm) with voile CRB 3-pin cable bindings. Boots were Karhu Sirius (which evidently, are horrible boots - I couldn't hold an edge with them and they tore up my feet, I should have brought my Scarpa T2 telemark boots) and I mainly had climbing skins on the whole way (even coming down, because of my boots and my feet/shins really hurt). I made some bad time on these skis.
It took about 6-7 hrs including breaks to get to Tenaya lake from my first camp (in reverse, it was about 9 hrs from Tenaya to my car) at the top of the Snow Creek switchbacks - that was a longer than anticipated and I had to melt snow midway up because all streams were frozen over. But at both camps I had a water source. The temps were warm for february: 50-60 (40-50 on Sunday) during the day and around 15-20 at night. The first night was VERY windy and a tent or bivy was essential. There was no snow on the switchbacks coming out of the valley and at the top the coverage went from about 0 to 100% almost instantly.
Gear List:
Big 3:
Shelter - Hilleberg akto (w/ 6 snow stakes/4 corner stakes) (56oz)
Sleeping bag - WM Antelope smf (5 degree rating, 39oz)
Backpack - Osprey Aether 90 (78oz)
Other hardware:
Groundsheet - 3mil paint cloth (4.4oz)
Stove - whispelite international with large canister (full) can for melting snow (11.1 stove, ~17oz fuel + canister (1/2full), 1.7oz windscreen)
mat - z-rest and ridgerest, cut down. (I actually misplaced my normal mat, these were cut down summer mats that I used in a pinch - one for my upper body and the other for my lower body - no cold was experienced - I have found that at least in my case, 2 mats really aren't necessary, I now try and carry 1 full length mat and a space blanket below it)(13oz)
Garcia Canister - nice seat, saw some fresh bear tracks a mile from camp.(44oz)
Thermos - cheap thermos from Target. (13.7oz)
Pot Cozy - homemade (1oz)
Crampons - Stubai, didn't need these at all.(~22oz)
Ice axe - didn't use this at all - except to pry my tent stakes out of the snow/ice in the morning.(18.5oz)
Shovel - used as a stove 'plate', dug out snow for camp, dig out some snow pits.(23.6oz)
Pot - Walmart greese pot + MSR pot holder (6oz)
Spoon (0.3oz)
Clothes:
Thermals (top and bottom) - smartwool (15oz)
Full length spandex bottoms.(5.2oz)
Shorts.(4.8oz)
Bandana (0.9oz)
Socks - Columbia ski socks, 4 pair (I wear 2 at a time to help prevent blisters) (8oz)
Beanie (3.1oz)
Synthetic T-shirt (4.8oz)
scarf - homemade (2.3oz)
Sunhat (3oz)
Gloves - some fleece from target (3.0oz)
Heavyweight gloves - homemade primaloft with epic shell and thermal liner (6oz)
Fleece top - homemade 100wt polartec (11oz)
Sweater - smartwool (10.6oz)
Shells - top and bottom, homemade, EPIC. (12 +8.5)
Down jacket - homemade, THICK and WARM. (17oz)
Down pillow (homemade)(4.5oz)
sunglasses - 0.6oz
Misc:
Slope angle meter. (0.9oz)
Compass (1.3oz)
Binoculars (7.5oz)
Maps. (1oz)
First aid kit. (2.5oz)
Cell phone.(3.3oz)
Nalgene water bottle (5.9oz)
Camelback (3.4oz)
2 bic mini lighters + spare matches (1.8oz)
mini pocket knife (swiss army hiker)(0.7oz)
Headlamp (Petzl tikka) (3.0oz)
Book (12oz)
Aqua Mira (2.7oz)
whistle (0.1oz)
spare duct tape (0.3oz)
Replacement parts for bindings (spings, etc...)(5oz)
Camera Gear:
Tripod (36oz)
Digital Rebel XT + 2 lenses, filters, accessories. (66oz)
total: 623oz (a whopping 38.9lbs! Thats 3X my summer packweight!)
I wore gloves, hat, fl spandex, shorts, 2 pairs of socks, fleece, sunglasses which cuts off about 2.5lbs worn (of course this changes based upon how cold it is). I carried about 5-6lbs of food total, close to gone on sunday. (Although, I think I carried more weight from the dew that formed Sat PM-Sun AM which collected on everything. )
Things I didn't use (and in hindsight, probably should have left at home based upon my route selection):
ice ax
crampons
Thinks I could have left at home but were a convenience:
Thermos
shovel (at least the handle)
cell phone
camelback
extra sweater
camera gear
book
bandana
