March 26-29, 2017, Eastern Sierras
3/26/17
US elsewhere
2848
4
Becky and I have done a couple longish backpacking trips in the Sierras¦the John Muir Trail and the northern half of the Sierra High Route, but wed never seen the range in the winter. This seemed like it this was the year to get down to California and finally do some touring, but her nursing school schedule had us limited to only a handful of days in late March. Decided four days prior to spring break that a short time in the sun in the Sierras would still be worth it, so we scrounged what info we could and barreled down there.
I think we basically spent four days skinning around mouths agape staring at the lifetime of beautiful ski runs to be had in every direction. Figured Id post some details for those TAYers who are also thinking of a springtime pilgrimage to the east side of the Sierras.
The Dan Mingori & Nate Greenberg 'Backcountry Skiing Californias Eastern Sierra 2nd Edition is a fantastic guidebook. Id also recommend getting the supplemental app (you can buy it or rent it), being new to the area, it was cool to have the routes accessible on our phone while out touring.
Road access is pretty good right now, but itll get better. In late April a lot more roads are plowed out so anglers can start fishing at all the high lakes. Buttermilk Rd suffered some damage this winter, you may need a 4x4 for that one, but it seems like a lot of the other roads are paved the whole way. Rock Creek is the only snowpark in the Mammoth/Bishop vicinity, and supposedly you can buy a day pass at the snowpark, but we couldnt find the pay station¦maybe its there, maybe it would be better to get a pass at the ranger station.
Watch the overnight low temps- seems like corn o clock can be as early as 9am some days. Maybe wind is less of an issue later in the spring, but wow did we have a windy day and got totally shut down on finding soft snow in the alpine on one of our tours.
We didnt check out anything north of Mammoth- given our short amount of time, we only managed to do a tour around Convict Lake/Mini Morrison, then Bishop Bowl near North Lake, Mt.Alice out of Big Pine, and McGee, just south of Mammoth. The locals we met on McGee said some seasons it never gets enough snow to be skiable, but this year it was fat.
Wish we wouldve had a few weeks to spend down there- skiing wide open terrain into warm sagebrush valleys is a trip.
pictures here
I think we basically spent four days skinning around mouths agape staring at the lifetime of beautiful ski runs to be had in every direction. Figured Id post some details for those TAYers who are also thinking of a springtime pilgrimage to the east side of the Sierras.
The Dan Mingori & Nate Greenberg 'Backcountry Skiing Californias Eastern Sierra 2nd Edition is a fantastic guidebook. Id also recommend getting the supplemental app (you can buy it or rent it), being new to the area, it was cool to have the routes accessible on our phone while out touring.
Road access is pretty good right now, but itll get better. In late April a lot more roads are plowed out so anglers can start fishing at all the high lakes. Buttermilk Rd suffered some damage this winter, you may need a 4x4 for that one, but it seems like a lot of the other roads are paved the whole way. Rock Creek is the only snowpark in the Mammoth/Bishop vicinity, and supposedly you can buy a day pass at the snowpark, but we couldnt find the pay station¦maybe its there, maybe it would be better to get a pass at the ranger station.
Watch the overnight low temps- seems like corn o clock can be as early as 9am some days. Maybe wind is less of an issue later in the spring, but wow did we have a windy day and got totally shut down on finding soft snow in the alpine on one of our tours.
We didnt check out anything north of Mammoth- given our short amount of time, we only managed to do a tour around Convict Lake/Mini Morrison, then Bishop Bowl near North Lake, Mt.Alice out of Big Pine, and McGee, just south of Mammoth. The locals we met on McGee said some seasons it never gets enough snow to be skiable, but this year it was fat.
Wish we wouldve had a few weeks to spend down there- skiing wide open terrain into warm sagebrush valleys is a trip.
pictures here
Thanks for the really nice report and photos. Yes, it's fabulous terrain. I'd love to ski it for a week sometime. Given your short time there, your list of tours says you got after it!
Looks awesome! I'm excited to get down there
Definitely on my list. Thanks for the pics - yea, lots of elbow room in any of those runs. Good year to get there.
Wow, nice. Those are some blue skies. That place is amazing. I remember being impressed how something big like McGee just started right from the road.
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