Tuolumne meadows/CA 120 conditions

Has anyone recently skied Tuolumne meadows? Is Rt 120 plowed? Is there
a reliable resource for current snow depth in that area? My friends
and me are thinking to ski from Tioga pass to Twin lakes next weekend,
snow permitting.

On 02/04/10 10:30 PM, wrote:
Has anyone recently skied Tuolumne meadows? Is Rt 120 plowed? Is there
a reliable resource for current snow depth in that area? My friends
and me are thinking to ski from Tioga pass to Twin lakes next weekend,
snow permitting.

120 will have a late opening this year. I don't think it's ever opened
this early.

Is there a way to find where the skiable snow line is now? There is a
storm on the way, I hear.

On Apr 4, 4:12*pm, SMS wrote:
On 02/04/10 10:30 PM, wrote:

Has anyone recently skied Tuolumne meadows? Is Rt 120 plowed? Is there
a reliable resource for current snow depth in that area? My friends
and me are thinking to ski from Tioga pass to Twin lakes next weekend,
snow permitting.

120 will have a late opening this year. I don't think it's ever opened
this early.

There's pretty much snow down to the lower gate on the eastside out of
Lee Vining, so it would be long way up to T-Meadows right now, and
it's fresh cold powder. It would make for a quite long trip to get up
to Tuolumne, and then all the way up to Horse Creek from there in
current full-on winter conditions.

This will tell you a lot you'd need to know for snow depths:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/misc/SnowSensors.html

If it ever clears up in the Sierra, and we get a warm spring, there's
a small chance they would try to have it open by Memorial Day, but
right now, with the weather (and the 3 feet of new snow I have on the
back deck in the past week), that's a real longshot. We usually do our
skate trips in early May up there once they plow the road at least up
to Ellery Lake and allow day trips into the canyon.

Mark

On Apr 4, 6:23*pm, "
wrote:
Is there a way to find where the skiable snow line is now? There is a
storm on the way, I hear.

On Apr 4, 4:12*pm, SMS wrote:

On 02/04/10 10:30 PM, wrote:

Has anyone recently skied Tuolumne meadows? Is Rt 120 plowed? Is there
a reliable resource for current snow depth in that area? My friends
and me are thinking to ski from Tioga pass to Twin lakes next weekend,
snow permitting.

120 will have a late opening this year. I don't think it's ever opened
this early.

On Apr 6, 1:03*am, Captain Nordic wrote:
There's pretty much snow down to the lower gate on the eastside out of
Lee Vining, so it would be long way up to T-Meadows right now, and
it's fresh cold powder. It would make for a quite long trip to get up
to Tuolumne, and then all the way up to Horse Creek from there in
current full-on winter conditions.

This will tell you a lot you'd need to know for snow depths:http://cdec.water.ca.gov/misc/SnowSensors.html


Great web site, Mark, thank you. Looks like T-Meadows got 36 in of
new snow bringing the total to 84". We have decided to go up to
Ostrander lake from Badger pass. If it looks like it's going to rain,
will drive on the eastern side and try the Mammoth area, or Tom's
place area.

This will tell you a lot you'd need to know for snow depths:http://cdec.water.ca.gov/misc/SnowSensors.html

Does anyone have suggestions on glide waxing for the backcountry (to
avoid snow buildup at the kick zone) and a tent shape that sheds snow
efficiently?

These 2 issue were the most pressing ones during a High Sierra trip my
5 friends and I just got back from (Badger pass - Ostrander Hut and
back, decided not to do T meadows due to long of a walk on a road).
40% chance of 6 inches of snow has turned into 2 feet of sticky stuff
which fell essentially non-stop in 24 hrs. I only waxed the glide zone
of my E99s. Myself and everybody had ~5 lbs of snow on each ski. So
should we have waxed the kick zone with glide wax, too? I am looking
for something reliable - no need for super glide, but just to avoid
snow buildup. If I glide wax the kick zone, will I still get grip from
the fish scales? Will climbing skins still stick to glide wax? Any
suggestions for a glide wax that can be applied w/o an iron in the
wilderness? I only know how to iron race-wax for skating - does not
help in the backcountry.

As for the tent - we had 2 lightweight pyramid shaped tents, with a 45
degree slope, supported by skis or poles in the middle, and stretched
using skis and poles as stakes. The tents were collapsing at the edges
from the snow that was shedding. Would a dome shape work better? I
would think the edges of a dome would shed snow well, but the top of
the dome would accumulate snow - wouldn't it?

You should use a liquid or paste on the kick zone of waxless skis to
keep this from happening. Swix F4 or some such products work well.
As for the tent, I find dome tents work well. If you do get a really
wet snow accumulating on top, a couple shakes of the tent from inside
and it slides right off. There's always snow caves! Sounds like a
fun trip.

On Apr 14, 6:37*am, MT Nordic wrote:
You should use a liquid or paste on the kick zone of waxless skis to
keep this from happening. *Swix F4 or some such products work well.
As for the tent, I find dome tents work well. *If you do get a really
wet snow accumulating on top, a couple shakes of the tent from inside
and it slides right off. *There's always snow caves! *Sounds like a
fun trip.

see, shaking the tent requires waking up in the middle of the night.
We failed to wake up and by 7 am in the morning the ceiling tent
was 1 inch away from our noses.

see, shaking the tent requires waking up in the middle of the night.
We failed to wake up and by 7 am in the morning the ceiling tent
was 1 inch away from our noses.


Heavy sleepers! Wish I could sleep like that while camping!

On 13/04/10 3:45 PM, wrote:

This will tell you a lot you'd need to know for snow depths:http://cdec.water.ca.gov/misc/SnowSensors.html

Does anyone have suggestions on glide waxing for the backcountry (to
avoid snow buildup at the kick zone) and a tent shape that sheds snow
efficiently?

These 2 issue were the most pressing ones during a High Sierra trip my
5 friends and I just got back from (Badger pass - Ostrander Hut and
back, decided not to do T meadows due to long of a walk on a road).
40% chance of 6 inches of snow has turned into 2 feet of sticky stuff
which fell essentially non-stop in 24 hrs. I only waxed the glide zone
of my E99s. Myself and everybody had ~5 lbs of snow on each ski. So
should we have waxed the kick zone with glide wax, too? I am looking
for something reliable - no need for super glide, but just to avoid
snow buildup. If I glide wax the kick zone, will I still get grip from
the fish scales? Will climbing skins still stick to glide wax? Any
suggestions for a glide wax that can be applied w/o an iron in the
wilderness? I only know how to iron race-wax for skating - does not
help in the backcountry.

You can use Maxiglide or Armor All on the kick zone. It's also okay to
hot wax it, but it'll reduce the grip.

A thick waxing should last many days of skiing so there should be no
need to re-wax in the wilderness if you do the initial wax correctly.

Skins are rather a pain to get to stick to wax. There used to be some
skins that didn't use glue, but I doubt if they're still being sold.
Buying any skins narrow enough for the E99 is now a pain.