Three Days Above Indy

 I spent the last three days skiing above Independence. It's quiet down there. The terrain is interesting, and it's kinda rare to ski the low/mid elevation terrain in that zone.

 Thursday I went back to the slopes directly above Gray's Meadow. It was immediately apparent that the wind had blown quite hard here and had definitely reduced the snow quality.

 The idea for the day was to skin back up this ridge and ski the bowl back center.

Up high near the bowl most of the snow in the trees was still good while many of the open areas showed signs of a wind crust.

Burned, dead, but still proud.

The view from the top of the bowl. Had a splendid run from here.

Next day I took my buddy Chris in to ski the slopes in Lime Canyon. Wind damage here was even worse than I expected, but we still enjoyed fair to good skiing.

The exit out the canyon bottom is getting pretty thin and brushy. Chris dealt with it with good humor.

Yesterday I headed back to Lime Canyon hoping to ski one of the several north facing, sheltered chutes further back in the drainage.

Pleasing granite outcrops in the main canyon.

My hopes of finding good snow in the chutes were greatly misplaced! Great terrain. Poor snow.

South facing slopes were warm and inviting. I started to wonder if maybe they'd ski well.

Trees were no help in mitigating the wind damage.

Soon a good looking south facing chute appeared. Previous skiers had skinned up a short ways and turned around. I followed their track, finding the snow still frozen and crunchy.

I traversed out of the chute onto this southeast facing slope which had been baking in the sun longer. I lucked out and found good skiing here.

 An hour earlier it would have been crunchy, an hour later it would have been mashed potatoes. Sometimes timing is everything.

I avoided the brushy canyon bottom by taking a high, downward traverse to the slopes above the road, which provided fun skiing on soft, faceted snow over bush moguls.

Memorable!

 

Big Trees

 Today I decided to drive up Bishop Creek and check on the reported wind effects on the snowpack. I got to the end of the plowed section of the South Lake Road and indeed most aspects, though not all, looked quite wind hammered.

I knew of a few sheltered spots that might be holding good snow, but require a good bit of work to get to. The 20mph winds weren't all that inviting either, so I headed back down canyon to ski some glades above Big Trees Campground.

For the most part the glades held soft, wind eroded snow although there were patches of wind crust behind and around some of the trees.

Huge chunks of tree fall littered the slopes.

Several tumbled down the slope carving trenches that created wind crust. Best avoided on the descent!

At the top of the glades I popped out onto a gentle ridge with nice views.

A bit higher I got into a zone with these amazing little pinnacles. Magic land!

I reached the summit of a small knob at about 8700'. Summit block with burned bush. No wind and plenty of sun made for a quite comfortable snack break and transition.

Excellent panoramic views.

The crux of the day, both coming and going, was the stream crossing.

The view of the glades and the knob from the highway. Skiable thanks to our ++ winter. I skied the far right side where wind effects were minimal.

 The skiing was good. Had to watch the little patches of wind crust, but they were easy to avoid.

 This little tour brought a big smile!

Lime Canyon

 After Friday's tour it was evident strong winds had created poor skiing conditions in most zones. Reports from around the Sierra confirmed that view, so I visited an area I hoped had been spared the worst of it.

 The view up canyon from the road. Independence Peak in the background.

I was quite grateful for a skin track . Got too steep in spots, but definitely made the travel a lot easier.

Another view of the canyon from higher up.

Skin track stoke.

Looking down from the top of my first run. Skiing was quite good here.

Went back up for another. First run tracks.

My second run was "exploratory."  Good one though. Run #3 started from here. Really nice skiing too.

 Bluebird day with no wind. No one around. Excellent day!

Windy

 Yesterday I drove up Highway 168 right out of Bishop to have a look. The South Lake Road is still closed although passable. I skipped that and drove to Aspendell. Incredibly windy there with large drifts across the road, so I skipped that too.

Driving back down the hill I noticed a nice little run up the moraine to the west, so I gave it a try.

Trees were a little thick at the bottom, but the drainage opened up nicely higher.

Topping out on the moraine brought some nice views. Looking down canyon towards town.

Peaklet poking out among the clouds and blowing snow.

Table Mountain getting raked by the gusts.

Bishop Bowl and Mt Locke made a brief appearance.

I skied the open glade in the back here. Good fun. Glad I rallied for a short tour. It felt good!

Today I decided to check out the "dream line" I noted in my last post. I was able to drive a good ways up the 4x4 approach road, then skinned up towards my goal, the big bowl center.

After meandering up through the Pinon forest I found the entry to the gully surprisingly straightforward.

I was able to get up through the throat with the aid of ski crampons. Loved the rugged terrain here.

Above the throat the drainage opens up into this incredible valley. It looked like a powder paradise.

However it was not a powder paradise. A couple of inches of new snow covered a quite variable surface with plenty of breakable crust. I kept hoping I'd find better snow higher, but it was not to be.

The view down from just below my turnaround point.

Valley views from below the throat.

The variable snow and the jumbled, avalanche wracked terrain made for tedious skiing, so I exited the gully ASAP.

I found fun, low angle skiing right away.

Skiing through the forest was a little lumpy, but good. Delightful squiggles on the road were cool too.

 Amazing place. Can't wait to come back when the upper slopes are in better shape!

Grays Meadow 2

 Had ideas of touring up near the Shepard's Pass trailhead today. I had spied a good looking line Saturday and thought I'd give it a go.

It was somewhat of an adventure drive in there with up to a foot of new snow over an icy dirt road. Once I got close, the line didn't look so good. The narrow gully was too narrow and steep sided and the nearby trees looked too dense.

 I was looking at the drainage on the left through the trees.

Spied this dream line though. Access doesn't look too bad. Someday hopefully!

I ended up back at the Grays Meadow area. A lot of new snow had fallen since Saturday, so I could skip the funky gully and head right up the hills above the road.

Got a good look at the Lime Canyon Glades. Looking nice!

Looking down at my first run.

 

Tracks. Good skiing. Very slightly wind affected in spots lower down, but solid fun.

Went higher for run two. Real pretty slopes.

Looking down the run. This skied exceptionally well.

 The slopes above the road were more wind affected, but still fun. Nice to ski right to the car. No one around either. It stayed cold and north breezes added a wind chill. Keeping the snow nice!