April 25, 2010, Dunderberg Peak, Eastern Sierra

We left our campsite near Grover Hot Springs and were pleased to find Monitor Pass open.  The 24th was the Eastern Sierra trout opener and the fishing crowd was out.  The real value of the trout opener for backcountry skiers is that Caltrans plows many high elevation roads to provide access for the fishing crowd.  It€™s pretty simple because the fishing crowd spends lots of tourist dollars whereas most of us backcountry folks are rather frugal.  One of our favorite areas for touring is along Virginia Lakes Road which is between Bridgeport and Lee Vining at the top of Conway Summit at 8140€™.  We drove about 6 miles west up to road end at 9700€™ €“ this is like driving to an elevation close to that of Camp Muir. When we get there we have peaks on 3 different aspects with bowls, chutes, cliffs, trees, gullies ranging in elevation from 11,000 to almost 13,000€™.  It€™s sunny with a slight breeze; the north aspects have 3 day old powder and the south aspects are starting to corn up.  If my heart stops, this is the place for it to happen. 

Dunderberg has numerous peaks and gullies, and we ascended our favorite, the SE Gully.  There were handfuls of groups on the other mountains €“ Black, Olsen, and South, but no one was in our gulley.  Jill, Hillary, Dale and I started around noon and climbed about 1700vf at a slow pace.  This was our first day of touring at elevation, and the slow pace was easy on the system.  From our summit location, we could look north to Bridgeport and Sawtooth Ridge and the Matterhorn, south to Mono Lake, and southwest towards Yosemite and Mt. Dana and Dana Couloir.  The wonderful thing about skiing a gulley is that the sun softens the various aspects of the gulley providing a pleasant descent line (if you leave before things firm up!).  There are soooooo many ski options available off the Virginia Lakes Road that you won€™t be disappointed touring here, no matter what your ability level or desire for a €œspicy descent line€.  We wound down the day with dinner at the Mo Mart, aka Whoa Nellie Deli, in Lee Vining.  This is the mecca/gathering place for great food for all outdoor enthusiasts, and it had just opened on Friday after their usual winter closing.  We setup camp overlooking Mono Lake to the east the chutes and couloirs of Dana Plateau.  This area has the highest concentration of steep terrain in the Sierra.  As we stared at the brilliant moon a young man with a beer and his BIG Newfoundland dog came walking by from his camp further along the way.  It was Keith O€™Meara, the owner of Praxis Skis.  Keith was touring up the canyon and had skied Cocaine Couloir to test some new ski designs.  It was great to learn about new designs and the how different designs effect a ski€™s performance.  Scotty got me enthused about fatter skis at the end of last season, and I made the switch earlier this year.  It is so much fun €“ I love my fat skis.  We have to get up early tomorrow to tour in another one of our favorite areas before the next storm cycle arrives Monday evening.

The snow pack in the Virginia Lakes area is one of the best we€™ve seen in years.  We hope to find similar conditions as we travel south. 

Photo 1- Dale, Hillary, Jill and I
Photo 2-Soth Peak and Mt. Dana
Photo 3- View from our campsite of Dana Plateau with East Peak Chutes(L),Cocaine Chute(40 degreesM)Third Pillar Chute(55 degreesR)