Elusive

 Went for a longer tour today with my pal Patrick. 

 I had checked topos and found a promising goal, then looked for photos in my archive. Found this one from 2010. It's the peak front left with huge reverse "S" snowfield. A skier's peak for sure!

  

Early morning start. Mining relic.

Beautiful zone. The bottom of the "reverse S" in the center, with the peak back right out of view behind the subpeak.

Wild patterns in the snow.

Patrick on the summit block. What a spot!

Diggin' it.

We descended from just right of the snowy hump. Soft but not too soft. Great fun.

 Found an old summit register. Original party dubbed it "Mount Elusive." Less than a dozen entries since 1975. It didn't elude us!

Aspendell Area

The road crews have finished repairs on the road up to Aspendell, so I figured I go check out the scene here close to home.

 Yesterday I took my buddy Reed out for another thrashing.

We found generally good skiing on south facing slopes. Had to watch the mank near bushes, rocks, and random spots in the snow fields.

Despite a few tumbles he was no worse for the wear and certainly happy to get out.

Today I went for a quick tour up Table Mountain.

Spied a nice line here descending from the little tree upper left.

Always enjoy the views from the mini summit at the north end of Table.

A bit of frozen "coral reef" brought me to the top of the run. Dropped at about 10am.

Fine corn, cooked to perfection all the way to the road.

Hope this coming heat wave doesn't wreck things too badly!

Backyard

 Well, not literally backyard like back in early March, but close to home. Parked the truck less than four miles from our door as the crow flies.

I've had my eyes on this one for years, decades even. Friends had skied it recently with glowing reports, so I figured it was time.

Photo from back in February. Line right of center.

 Almost an hour and a half of hiking and 1500' got me to the snow.

Instant excellent coverage thanks to a huge avalanche debris pile.

Base of the chute. Looked close, but still had 3000' to go.

Warm temps and sunshine had smoothed the avy debris nicely.

At the top looking over to Round Mountain.

Swell views back to the Palisades

Dropping!

I enjoyed good to great corn the entire run.

 An unforgettable classic!

Transitioned!

 The hard freeze did indeed improve conditions. Delightful corn skiing can be found on most aspects at low and mid elevations and solar aspects higher up.

 Took a solo tour out to a somewhat remote and incredibly beautiful zone.

Alas my goal, the distant peak, came to view.

Sweeping views

Enormous moderate angled slopes

From the summit to here was 2000'+ of bliss

Victim of the winter.

I took a day off from skiing for a birthday hike with my wife.

Flowers are popping. Still a good ways from peak, but in sunny, warm spots they're looking pretty sweet.

Took my old buddy Reed out for his weekly thrashing.

Found a nice spot with a view while waiting for the snow to soften.

Me. Relaxed.

 The corn was al dente for the first run.

A little firmer and a bit less smooth than last week's tour with Reed. He got the hang of it pretty quick though.

Time for a big tour day.

Rick heads towards our goal, the peak in the back. I fell a touch short. Rick made it.

 Too busy chasing to take many pics! The first few hundred feet had not softened much, but we enjoyed a ton of great skiing after that.

Good times!

Transition

 Temperatures have rapidly climbed with highs in the low 80s here in Bishop. Early corn has developed on south and southeast slopes, but warm nights with little or no refreeze have created a lot of isothermal mush on many aspects.

 Thursday I took my longtime friend Reed out for a short tour. Hadn't been on skis in at least a dozen years. He was my main cohort back in 1996 when I discovered the joy of skiing big mountains.

Took him a few turns to get in the groove. The corn was close to perfect though, so he was cruising in no time.

Perfect weather, great snow, and fine scenery. We were stoked.

Friday I looked for more south facing on slopes I'd never skied before.

Incredible views up here.

Real nice corn with only a patch or two of mush on E facing.

Yesterday I tried my hand on similar aspects and elevations. Early start.

High clouds and winds picked up mid morning. I was hoping they would delay softening. They did not!

Still managed to find good skiing here and there, but definitely found more unconsolidated.

This blown out road meant I had an extra 25 minutes of hiking to get to the snowline - which is rising quickly here.

 Cold front moves in later today bringing cold overnight temps. Should improve conditions.