High Sierra Topix

This week saw a welcome change from the dry weather that has dominated the winter so far. Although the Tuolumne Meadows area did not receive the soaking that much of the rest of California did, the 14 inches of snow that fell over the course of the week vastly improved moods and ski conditions. Snow coverage is now good above 8,500 feet on all but southerly aspects. The Tioga Road is 100% snow covered from Ellery Lake to Tuolumne Meadows. There is a ski track through this stretch which makes the going easier.

There is significantly more snow at the higher elevations, than here in Tuolumne Meadows. We dug another snow pit yesterday at 9,500 feet on a north aspect and the total depth was 75 inches. The wet new snow on top of the old faceted snow made for some arduous and challenging trail breaking the past few days. The forecast is for warm and dry through this weekend so the snow should settle a bit (as long as it is still freezing overnight), which will make for better ski conditions. The best opportunity for making turns is on north aspects above 9,500 feet.