After a fun day skiing at Mammoth yesterday Ben and I drove up to the Upper Buttermilk zone to look for some corn - or at least spring type snow.
The views from the truck to start the day weren't too hard on the eyes. 
To start the coverage wasn't great, but the travel was fast.
Ben skins up through some wind sculpted snow.
We were hoping to find cooked up snow in this area. The giant SE face of Mt Humphreys hovers above.
Once this gem of a couloir came into view our goal was set.
Ben boots up low in the chute.
Ben took this shot of me nearing the top of the run.
Ben enters.
The skiing in the couloir was not exactly what we hoped for. Up high was a couple of inches of thick grabby snow over a firm base and lower was soft, but unconsolidated snow. I'd call it poor to fair skiing. The apron below provided nice skiing though. Quick travel out.
Don't have to have great skiing to have a great ski tour though!
3 comments:
Wow! Amazing blog! This is my second season of BC splitboarding and I'm looking forward to touring the Sierras! Any recommendations you can share for little tours for the upcoming week (2/23-27/2020), meetup groups? Partnering up would be great too! I've taken an avi course and have done little tours like Shasta, Tallac and short trips around Lassen (Pyramid Peak, Brokeoff Mountain)! It would be amazing to do multi-day tours too! Thanks in advance!
Hi Jonny! Thanks for the praise. I am on a road trip to Nevada and Utah currently. Right now your best bets are probably solar aspects. Virginia Lakes area, the south side of Mammoth, etc are ok. Sounds like it's been better up at Carson Pass. You'll want warm days for the snow to soften. Midweek? The little system coming through today and tonight looks pretty weak, but if Mammoth reports three or more inches the Mammoth Lakes basin might be worth a shot. In that case try Red Cone Bowl or TJ Bowl areas. Have fun out there! Check the ESAC website for avy conditions. Great resource for sussing out conditions.
Awesome! Thanks for those suggestions! I'll scope them out! Have a great time in NV/UT!
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