Discussion about winter adventure sports in the Sierra Nevada mountains including but not limited to; winter backpacking and camping, mountaineering, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, etc.
Hiked up the eastern face of Dunderberg Peak to the false east summit today, with a group of fine folks I met on the book of faces. Perfect conditions, we got a decent freeze overnight and nice corn snow on the way down. We passed on making the extra hike to the true summit, since fun snow trumps ticking off a peak on the SPS list.
We never put skis on going up, the snow was totally hikable in the morning from 5:45 AM until 8:54 when we topped out. There's still tons of snow up on Sonora Pass, lots of skiers out there getting after it. And we took a dip in Travertine Hot Springs, met some bug scientists and had a pretty cool discussion about bees.
The view southwest from the east summit, Mt Dana obscured by clouds. Tim Chi took this photo.
View of Mono Lake on the way up.
And then back at camp, saw a guy walk out on Big Valley Lake. Because, obviously it's June, so you can walk out on a lake.
Balls of Steel
Last edited by c9h13no3 on Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Adventure is just bad planning." - Roald Amundsen
Also, I have a blog no one reads. Please do not click here.
Cheers for getting out there. That first photo is really nice. Is the route you skied the bowl above the guy with the death wish-- I mean "the balls of steel?" You mention:
heading to Ebbetts and Sonora passes this wed/thurs to do some skiing
The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before. Albert Einstein
Harlen wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:25 am
Cheers for getting out there. That first photo is really nice. Is the route you skied the bowl above the guy with the death wish-- I mean "the balls of steel?"
Nah, that's the NE gully of Black Mountain. The NW face of Black was also an objective we were thinking about, really holds snow well on Google Earth.
Harlen wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:25 amYou mention:
nice corn... fun snow
I suppose that means you locked yer heels down?
Is there another way to ski?
"Adventure is just bad planning." - Roald Amundsen
Also, I have a blog no one reads. Please do not click here.
Was up at V lakes last May but just looked. Have never skied that face but have looked at it a few times. Optimal consistent pitch for what I like best with corn and nice southeast exposure if one hits it on the right date. That's over 2.2k so a lot to enjoy. You topped out at 9am. How long did you wait till you expected snow surfaces corned up optimally after assessing how it felt on the way up?
SSSdave wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:55 pmYou topped out at 9am. How long did you wait till you expected snow surfaces corned up optimally after assessing how it felt on the way up?
We just hit it almost immediately, maybe a 15 minute break on the summit. On the last few steps of the bootpack, it was already getting good. East facing slopes don't take long. Course, it's June, and even though it got below freezing overnight the refreeze still isn't great, so YMMV.
I'm a huge believer in climbing what you ski. It's always tempting to start hiking from the highest point on the road, and ski down to the lowest point you can get a car & snow. But the intel hiking up what you're going to ski down is super valuable. Course, I only have like 4 tours under my belt, so maybe if this is the local lap hill, that doesn't apply.
"Adventure is just bad planning." - Roald Amundsen
Also, I have a blog no one reads. Please do not click here.
