Back to White Wing

Today I went back to White Wing. Maybe because I was feeling unimaginative. Maybe because my visit last Sunday was so incredible.  

I didn't expect conditions to be as good as Sunday's, but I figured if they were half as good the trip would still be worth it!

The eastern end of White Wing, which really is a long east/west trending ridge, with my old tracks from Sunday.

It was quite apparent the recent high winds had reeked havoc on the snow. Here, up high near the ridge top, the snow had all sorts of different textures. Lots of breakable crust. Lousy skiing!

Looking over towards the summit.

And off to the south to Mammoth Mountain (right).

I found good skiing along the western edge of the bowl, among the trees. Took two short runs in there.

Out in the meadow the wind had transformed these animal tracks into an interesting pattern.

My ski track from Sunday. My passing had compressed the snow making it more resistant to wind erosion. The rest of the snow simply blew away!

Not as good as Sunday, but still a lot of fun.

More snow is in the forecast, but how much will fall?

Skiing White Wing

Yesterday I headed out bright and early from Deadman Pass to Glass Creek Meadow and on up to the summit of White Wing. The temps were unexpectedly cold, 8F at the trailhead!

Soon I came across this beautiful dried snow plant lit by the soft morning sunlight.

After an hour or so of touring I arrived at the east end of the meadow. Still quite cold!

Once I emerged from the shadows I found amazing hoar frost twinkling in the sun.

Soon I navigated my way to the bottom of a large bowl directly below the summit and found these peculiar tracks that seemed to dead end, or perhaps turn around? Pretty sure they are snowshoe hare tracks.

The bowl, my skin track and The Negatives.

The views from the summit were splendid. It was calm and comfortable so I lingered for a good bit.

The skiing started very near the summit and proved to be terrific. Despite the appearance of wind texture, there was no crust. Just a few inches of soft light snow over a reliable base. Ego snow!

The lower slopes were even better with 6" to 8" of light dry snow. So much fun!

The day warmed nicely as I left the meadow.

 An incredibly rewarding day. There was no one else in the meadow. No tracks even, and with nearby June Mountain closed for now, it was quiet and serene.

It was the first day out new skis, Voile Objective BCs, which have a pattern base. This tour is at least ten miles round trip with a lot of flat and rolling terrain which was perfect for the speedy kick and glide these skis offer.  I've toured back here with skins which was slower and way less efficient and the skis performed well on the descent too. I'm looking forward to more adventure on them sticks!

Skiing Chicken Wing

Yesterday's storm over produced giving us much more than forecast. I had to get out and ski!

I took a chance and headed up to Deadman Pass and was pretty pleased I did.

Right off the bat there was at least 10" of new snow and the temperatures were in the teens. The big concern was coverage. 

Chicken Wing is the smallish peak here.

Lots of brush showing on the way in.

The forest was magnificent and the coverage was promising.

 

I took two short, but terrific runs down from the north ridge. Bumped a stump or two, but no rocks.

After the second run a figure appeared behind me. It turned out to be my friend George. He was grateful to have the track broken up to the ridge and offered to break the rest of the way to the summit. Heck yeah!

 

Soon we were at the top.

 

These glades skied very well.

As George will attest.

In fact the whole run was great. Did scrape a couple of rocks and a little wood, but ski damage was minimal. Well worth it.

Just an incredible day. Thanks George!
 

Mammoth Pass Tour

 I went for another little tour up towards Mammoth Pass today.

Old bear prints. Probably enlarged after a little melting out, but still pretty big.

Skied along the shores of McCloud Lake again.

The north facing trees are still holding good snow with a tolerable base. The skiing is tight and fast though. A little scary!

Back to the shoreline with Mammoth Mountain behind.

Fun tour. Sunny slopes are melting out and the roads are generally packed out from walkers and quite firm, even icy. Travel is easy though and it's pretty out.

To assuage those with a case of FOMO..... It ain't that great, but it IS sliding on snow.
 

Skiing!

Ski season is here at last! Thursday Mary and I rode lifts at Mammoth and found surprisingly good snow and coverage. The employees are hyper-vigilantly enforcing mask wearing, thankfully, and most folks were pretty good about keeping a six foot separation.

Beautiful day too. Neither too warm nor too cold. Calm at the base, breezy mid mountain and above.

Guests only ride lifts with their own group, so most chairs only have two or three people on them - which results in less crowded slopes. Nice! The downside is the wait is longer. Ten minutes was the norm with an occasional fifteen minute line. Not bad.

Today I trucked on up to the Mammoth Lakes Basin to check on conditions there.

Twin Lakes with about a million Coots on the open patches.

The skiing in the low angle glades was terrific. Had to be careful of the lurking sun crust on sunnier aspects though.

I found myself on an interesting ridge with good views.

 

 

A little billy goating on the ridge led to a nice glade run down to Horseshoe Lake.

Lil' squiggles just above the lake.

Terrific first tour of the year! I didn't get up near treeline, but my general impression is that it's pretty boney up there with the best snow and coverage in the deeper glades.

Hope more snow comes soon!
 

Early November in the Owens Valley

The heat is long gone. The smoke a distant, bitter memory. The Owens Valley is once again hospitable. 

Last week, I took a nice hike with my friends Ben and Ann on the lower slopes of the Inyo Mountains.

Brilliant fall colors were still on display at this spring.

A quick hitting storm rolled through prompting me to head for high country and a taste of winter.

Followed by another hike. This time at the base of the White Mountains.

Great outings. I am looking forward to winter, snow, and skiing but at the same time savoring these fine fall days.