Who is still skiing?

Captain Nordic wrote
As far as still nordic skiing, all the resorts in the Sierra have
now closed down XC operations, but that still leaves
LOTS of backcountry skiing to do.

Yesterday I skied the Glass Flow trails at Deadman Summit on Rt 395 north
from Mammoth Lakes, California. Still plenty of snow -- didn't notice the
slightest bare spot on (or off) the trails. Trails hadn't been groomed
lately, and no sign of recent skate tracks other than mine.

Since Mark is including some more adventurous touring in his report, here's
some other ski tours I've done during the last week:
Mt Whitney (4421m), Mt Langley (4281m), Mt Irvine (4201m), the Thumb
(4072m). During those tours I met one skier/snowboarder from Palo Alto (not
Andrey), five from Montana, one from Switzerland, seven from Seattle.

I'm coming to think that the problem with the state of California is that
it's too big and diverse for anybody to grasp. Perhaps if they declared the
"Eastside Sierra" to be another state (another country?), then more skiers
could appreciate it as an exotic and wonderful it is in the springtime.

Ken
______________________________
Captain Nordic wrote
As far as still nordic skiing, all the resorts in the Sierra have now
closed down XC operations, but that still leaves LOTS of backcountry
skiing to do. The conditions in the backcountry are as good as I've
seen in years, with very silky smooth corn and tons of coverage. The
only problem right now is that the weather is pretty inconsistent (we
keep getting these dang weather fronts that put down an inch or two of
snow every few days), and we're often not getting the cold nights
necessary for great corn snow. But when it DOES freeze hard, the skiing
has been awesome.
Skated the classic Sugar Bowl to Squaw Valley tour today and
experienced some of the best snow I've ever seen on it. Last year, we
tried it on April 12th and it was all burned off on the ridges, and the
bowls had wicked suncups. Today, it was smooth sailing all the way. I
posted a few pics on the farwestnordic.org website if anyone's
interested.

Mark

Skated over 30 miles in the Tahoe backcountry today, on a Saturday, and
saw ZERO skiers. Of course, we left at 6 am, so most normal people
aren't out there, and by the time most wake up we're far into the
backcountry.

Since a lot of folks seemed to like the last set of photos, I put up a
few from today on the farwestnordic.org website as well. As you can
see, there's TONS of snow back there, but the frustration is that we
keep getting these April storms that won't let the corn cycle complete.
Now it's RAINING outside. Yech.

Mark

During those tours I met one skier/snowboarder from Palo Alto (not
Andrey), five from Montana, one from Switzerland, seven from Seattle.

Sounds like fun Mark,

We have just had 4 days of snow in Boulder. It is freaky. I had 12
inches of snow at my house in town a few days ago, and it has been snowing
off and on since then.

Unfortunately, the nordic club here mothballed their grooming equipment
until next winter and so now we're in the same boat as you. Too much new
snow to ski on the crust, but nobody is grooming, so we can't ski tracks. I
take that back, I heard a rumor that Snow Mountain Ranch was still grooming
a bit...

Eric Meyer and I went out into the foothills and skied in a loop with
the waxless gear. It was pretty wet, but a ton of fun.

Enjoy the crust skiing adventures.

-Nathan
www.nsavage.com
"Captain Nordic" wrote in message
oups.com...
Skated over 30 miles in the Tahoe backcountry today, on a Saturday, and
saw ZERO skiers. Of course, we left at 6 am, so most normal people
aren't out there, and by the time most wake up we're far into the
backcountry.

Since a lot of folks seemed to like the last set of photos, I put up a
few from today on the farwestnordic.org website as well. As you can
see, there's TONS of snow back there, but the frustration is that we
keep getting these April storms that won't let the corn cycle complete.
Now it's RAINING outside. Yech.

Mark

During those tours I met one skier/snowboarder from Palo Alto (not
Andrey), five from Montana, one from Switzerland, seven from Seattle.

TODAY, May skiing is Southern California, we have a 100 year record, we
had skiing in the local mountains in October, now we are tour/skate and
telemark skiing bowls with 3 feet of corn snow at 8500 ft. only an 2
hour drive from downtown LA, whadda country.

there will be skiing in the eastern sierra into mid summer.

May 1st status as plannes in Ken's post on March 21st in this thread...

Ken Roberst in still skiing in Mammoth Lakes
Mark in skiing in Tahoe area
Nathan Schultz is skiing in Boulder, CO.
Sk8 is skiing 2h outside LA, CA.
SkinnySki (MN/WI area) is not

And yes, I'm still skiing in southwest Norway at only 1900ft above
sealevel.
http://www.turrennklubben.no/images/degvei1mai_x3.jpg
But grooming has ended :-(

-Lars

Next updates? May 15? Then June 1? Then June 15? Or do we switch to
weekly reports because we're all so bored talking about rollerskiing?

I want to hear some gory details about spring skiing adventures with
pictures.

I'll be on snow for our camp July 16th in New Zealand, so I'm hoping
that the snow lasts until June 15th. A month off of snow is not so bad.

-Nathan
www.nsavage.com

wrote in message
oups.com...
May 1st status as plannes in Ken's post on March 21st in this thread...

Ken Roberst in still skiing in Mammoth Lakes
Mark in skiing in Tahoe area
Nathan Schultz is skiing in Boulder, CO.
Sk8 is skiing 2h outside LA, CA.
SkinnySki (MN/WI area) is not

And yes, I'm still skiing in southwest Norway at only 1900ft above
sealevel.
http://www.turrennklubben.no/images/degvei1mai_x3.jpg
But grooming has ended :-(

-Lars

Next update? weekly for sure :-)

With the help of Nathan here going "down under" I think we can produce
an image story with skiing pictures all year around!
That would be a nice story. All of 2005 on snow. yeah yea, I hear
someone say "it can be too much". yes but it's not one man skiing all
year.

So if Nathan or Mark fill out with images until June,
we need someone on glaciers until mid July when NZ takes on until
September.
Then in October we're back to glaciers in the Italian/Austria Alps.
Before you know it we're skiing back home in November.

I've done my share for December till May 1st. more help is needed from
others now on

Nathan Schultz wrote:
Next updates? May 15? Then June 1? Then June 15? Or do we switch
to
weekly reports because we're all so bored talking about rollerskiing?

I want to hear some gory details about spring skiing adventures
with
pictures.



Another amazing day of skiing in Southern California, in running
shorts. The temperatures have reached the 90's in the valleys, the
melt is in full force (luke I am your father)

This is the last weekend for the local mountains, next ski trip to keep
the endless winter going is a trip to Tolumne Meadows-Yosemite in a few
weeks/month or so.

Pictures and gory details coming soon.

sk8

We have been having too much snow recently (grumble). Without anyone
grooming, we have had no chance for crust skiing, just breaking track on our
own. No sign of crust cruising, and it looks like the sun is going to heat
us up this week and overnight freezes may be unlikely.

At least we're getting out of our drought...

Nathan
www.nsavage.com

wrote in message
ups.com...

Nathan Schultz wrote:
Next updates? May 15? Then June 1? Then June 15? Or do we switch
to
weekly reports because we're all so bored talking about rollerskiing?

I want to hear some gory details about spring skiing adventures
with
pictures.



Another amazing day of skiing in Southern California, in running
shorts. The temperatures have reached the 90's in the valleys, the
melt is in full force (luke I am your father)

This is the last weekend for the local mountains, next ski trip to keep
the endless winter going is a trip to Tolumne Meadows-Yosemite in a few
weeks/month or so.

Pictures and gory details coming soon.

sk8