Powder Week (+) Recap!
Some of this has been covered, some with annoying enthusiasm on Facebook. But if a blog is to be one's journal, one can't help but gather excellent memories together. Here are the sweetest photos and best videos!
Day 1, first snow in weeks. Thursday the 17th. June Mountain and backcountry. Alex P-F.
Day 2. Friday the 18th. June Mountain and backcountry. Guiding. Tony R.
Days 3 and 4 I worked Ice Climbing. It was still awesome, being out in the fresh snow and weather and dealing with snowy roads and excited visitors. Folks got out and skied, all over the range. Awesome. Here's the ice report I made on the 19th.
I skied at June Mountain for work on the 21st. Inbounds was groomed and/or tracked out, but just past the boundary the fresh snow had settled enough to allow a couple sneaky laps while on the clock. No pictures, to protect the innocent.
The 22nd, Tuesday, I skied on my day off with Josh-the-Avalanche-forecaster. This has it's own post back a few days. We collected valuable data and a plethora of fast, soft-snow turns!
The 23rd I went back to work, again at June Mountain and vicinity. Again, unreal snow! Guiding, Kevin S. No photos, no video.
February 24 and 25 I had booked an overnight trip, ideally to go to Mt. Emerson. Karen came all the way from Switzerland hoping for California sun. The forecast didn't agree. We considered heading out anyway, to camp and ski low angled powder above the Buttermilk Country. I think we did a good job of considering the options and making the most of what we were given. Karen was flexible and motivated and fit, and chose a couple of day trips over the cold, windy camping experience. Thursday the 24th was probably the poorest ski day of these two weeks. Winds, firmer snow, and cooling temperatures, plus the piles of fresh snow on top of old weak stuff significantly limited our options. In order to get Karen deep into the High Sierra, while accommodating the conditions, we headed out on the "Wonder Lakes Loop". The best picture from the day is in another post, but here's another from later in the day.
The winds of Thursday brought the snow of Friday. And man, that was some snow.
Saturday I had the day off. A weekend day, powder snow, available weekend warrior friends. And then clear skies, what more could one ask for!
Sunday the 27th, more ski guiding in the best winter-powder zone around. A mixed group, sunny skies, way cold air temps. Mid-winter at it's best in the "JMOP" (June Mountain Off-Piste)
And finally, to close out an amazing round of wintry adventure, I worked a single day of ice instruction at Lee Vining Canyon. I love that place!
Day 1, first snow in weeks. Thursday the 17th. June Mountain and backcountry. Alex P-F.
Day 2. Friday the 18th. June Mountain and backcountry. Guiding. Tony R.
Days 3 and 4 I worked Ice Climbing. It was still awesome, being out in the fresh snow and weather and dealing with snowy roads and excited visitors. Folks got out and skied, all over the range. Awesome. Here's the ice report I made on the 19th.
I skied at June Mountain for work on the 21st. Inbounds was groomed and/or tracked out, but just past the boundary the fresh snow had settled enough to allow a couple sneaky laps while on the clock. No pictures, to protect the innocent.
The 22nd, Tuesday, I skied on my day off with Josh-the-Avalanche-forecaster. This has it's own post back a few days. We collected valuable data and a plethora of fast, soft-snow turns!
The 23rd I went back to work, again at June Mountain and vicinity. Again, unreal snow! Guiding, Kevin S. No photos, no video.
February 24 and 25 I had booked an overnight trip, ideally to go to Mt. Emerson. Karen came all the way from Switzerland hoping for California sun. The forecast didn't agree. We considered heading out anyway, to camp and ski low angled powder above the Buttermilk Country. I think we did a good job of considering the options and making the most of what we were given. Karen was flexible and motivated and fit, and chose a couple of day trips over the cold, windy camping experience. Thursday the 24th was probably the poorest ski day of these two weeks. Winds, firmer snow, and cooling temperatures, plus the piles of fresh snow on top of old weak stuff significantly limited our options. In order to get Karen deep into the High Sierra, while accommodating the conditions, we headed out on the "Wonder Lakes Loop". The best picture from the day is in another post, but here's another from later in the day.
The winds of Thursday brought the snow of Friday. And man, that was some snow.
Saturday I had the day off. A weekend day, powder snow, available weekend warrior friends. And then clear skies, what more could one ask for!
Sunday the 27th, more ski guiding in the best winter-powder zone around. A mixed group, sunny skies, way cold air temps. Mid-winter at it's best in the "JMOP" (June Mountain Off-Piste)
And finally, to close out an amazing round of wintry adventure, I worked a single day of ice instruction at Lee Vining Canyon. I love that place!