Crust skiing in the Sierras?

Is there any good crust skiing to be had in the Sierras next week? Where?
I'll be driving out (from Colorado) next week to the Monterey area and
thought I might throw a pair of skate skis in. Thanks
Bill

Bill,
Unfortunately, California has been mired in a very un-spring-like
April. Our warmest temps were during the first week of March, and since
then it's been series after series of minor and major storm systems.
So, the short answer is: maybe. But after this weekend's storm, it's
going to need to warm up during the day and cool off during the night,
and it's gotta do it quickly. I wouldn't count on anything being corn
early in the week, but by mid-week it's possible, and you'll want to go
pretty high in elevation.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but predicting the weather more than a
few days out is not one of my strong points.

Mark

In article .com,
"Captain Nordic" wrote:

Bill,
Unfortunately, California has been mired in a very un-spring-like
April. Our warmest temps were during the first week of March, and since
then it's been series after series of minor and major storm systems.
So, the short answer is: maybe. But after this weekend's storm, it's
going to need to warm up during the day and cool off during the night,
and it's gotta do it quickly. I wouldn't count on anything being corn
early in the week, but by mid-week it's possible, and you'll want to go
pretty high in elevation.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but predicting the weather more than a
few days out is not one of my strong points.

Mark

Mark,

Thanks for your response. It's been just like that here in Colorado. I've
had some decent classic skiing, and I know there's some good crust skiing
to come with all the snow we have.

Bill

In article
,
"Captain Nordic"
wrote:
Bill,
Unfortunately, California has been mired in a very un-spring-like
April. Our warmest temps were during the first week of March, and since
then it's been series after series of minor and major storm systems.
So, the short answer is: maybe. But after this weekend's storm, it's
going to need to warm up during the day and cool off during the night,
and it's gotta do it quickly. I wouldn't count on anything being corn
early in the week, but by mid-week it's possible, and you'll want to go
pretty high in elevation.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but predicting the weather more than a
few days out is not one of my strong points.

Mark
Mark,
Thanks for your response. It's been just like that here in Colorado. I've
had some decent classic skiing, and I know there's some good crust skiing
to come with all the snow we have.
Bill

In article
,
"Captain Nordic"
wrote:
Bill,
Unfortunately, California has been mired in a very un-spring-like
April. Our warmest temps were during the first week of March, and since
then it's been series after series of minor and major storm systems.
So, the short answer is: maybe. But after this weekend's storm, it's
going to need to warm up during the day and cool off during the night,
and it's gotta do it quickly. I wouldn't count on anything being corn
early in the week, but by mid-week it's possible, and you'll want to go
pretty high in elevation.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but predicting the weather more than a
few days out is not one of my strong points.

Mark
Mark,
Thanks for your response. It's been just like that here in Colorado. I've
had some decent classic skiing, and I know there's some good crust skiing
to come with all the snow we have.
Bill

Captain Nordic wrote
California has been mired in a very un-spring-like April.

How right Mark is. (though as I contemplate skiing downhill in deep powder
on Monday, I'm not using the word "unfortunately".) I'm rather doubtful
about the possibility of decent corn by mid-week -- at
least down south around Mammoth. One respected forecaster said looks like a
bigger wetter storm coming thru starting Sunday night with perhaps 15-22 cm
of snow down around 2300m, like in the town of Mammoth Lakes.

My partner Gi and I were camped at 3000m for two nights in the North
Palisades, under most of the biggest toughest climbing peaks in the Sierras.
We skied out yesterday because it was snowing too much higher up for us to
be able to see enough for it to be fun.

Even before that storm, some of the snow up high was still soft enough so
that Gi and I were able to ski _up_ the notoriously steep U-Notch couloir on
North Pal -- up to within 20 meters of the top of the couloir, where I was
finally able to talk Gi into taking his skis off, and we booted up the last
little bit. (This was with "climbing skins" on high-mountain-touring
skis -- I'm leaving it to our California backcountry guru Captain Nordic to
ski the U-Notch on his track skating skis !?)

Skating: Gi and I did some ski-skating yesterday on Fifth Lake and Second
Lake, on fresh snow over ice -- and it was a pleasant Classic tour between
those two lakes along the creek. (Not that I'm recommending North Pal for
backcountry skaters -- we were on our mountain-touring skis -- how anyone
except a super-expert like Mark would first _get_ up to those lakes with
light skating or classic skis is a separate question). I got some photos of
Gi skating both lakes -- but it looks just like what you'd expect -- a guy
skating on a lake under a gray sky in a snowstorm.

Ken
____________________________________
"Captain Nordic"
Bill,
Unfortunately, California has been mired in a very un-spring-like
April. Our warmest temps were during the first week of March, and since
then it's been series after series of minor and major storm systems.
So, the short answer is: maybe. But after this weekend's storm, it's
going to need to warm up during the day and cool off during the night,
and it's gotta do it quickly. I wouldn't count on anything being corn
early in the week, but by mid-week it's possible, and you'll want to go
pretty high in elevation.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but predicting the weather more than a
few days out is not one of my strong points.

Mark
___________________________________

(This was with "climbing skins" on high-mountain-touring
skis -- I'm leaving it to our California backcountry guru Captain
Nordic to
ski the U-Notch on his track skating skis !?)

Ken,

I think Captain Nordic will leave that one on the table for quite a
while. I've skied the U-Notch, and I can tell you that I won't be
repeating it on anything less than super-fat tele-boards anytime soon.

Getting up to 3rd/5th Lake area on Revolutions is no problem. But that
area doesn't really lend itself that well to backcountry skating,
except on the lakes themselves. Not enough flat for long distance
cruising. I've thought about skating a loop from South Lake over Bishop
Pass and then down to Southfork Pass near the Thumb and back out to
Glacier Lodge, but haven't quite gotten there yet. It's on the _list_.

Hope you're not getting too snowed out with all this weather. It's been
raining and snowing here all day, and they're calling for a foot of
snow by tomorrow afternoon here in Tahoe Donner. That'll delay the corn
again for awhile. All I can say is that it better damn well still
FREEZE at night in late May so we can enjoy all of this snow.

Mark

Captain Nordic wrote
Hope you're not getting too snowed out with all this weather.

No, definitely not. Skiing in the southern Sierras lately has been rather
different from Tahoe.

Like California skiing out to be: sun + fun. Here's some photos from Sunday
and Saturday:
http://www.roberts-1.com/t/s05/s/k

Ken
___________________________________________
Captain Nordic wrote
(This was with "climbing skins" on high-mountain-touring
skis -- I'm leaving it to our California backcountry guru Captain
Nordic to
ski the U-Notch on his track skating skis !?)

Ken,

I think Captain Nordic will leave that one on the table for quite a
while. I've skied the U-Notch, and I can tell you that I won't be
repeating it on anything less than super-fat tele-boards anytime soon.

Getting up to 3rd/5th Lake area on Revolutions is no problem. But that
area doesn't really lend itself that well to backcountry skating,
except on the lakes themselves. Not enough flat for long distance
cruising. I've thought about skating a loop from South Lake over Bishop
Pass and then down to Southfork Pass near the Thumb and back out to
Glacier Lodge, but haven't quite gotten there yet. It's on the _list_.

Hope you're not getting too snowed out with all this weather. It's been
raining and snowing here all day, and they're calling for a foot of
snow by tomorrow afternoon here in Tahoe Donner. That'll delay the corn
again for awhile. All I can say is that it better damn well still
FREEZE at night in late May so we can enjoy all of this snow.

Mark

Ken,

Definitely jealous of your pics. Woke up today to about a foot of new
snow -- in the driveway! No corn for us, gotta go powder skiing now.

Mark

Captain Nordic wrote
I've skied the U-Notch, and I can tell you that I
won't be repeating it on anything less than super-fat
tele-boards anytime soon.

The U-Notch was long regarded as one of the classic "extreme" descents of
the Sierras. I'm not surprised to learn that Mark had skied it. And I
definitely respect his judgment not to put it on his "skating" list.

I've thought about skating a loop from South Lake over Bishop
Pass and then to Southfork Pass and back out to Glacier Lodge

Surprisingly I've done that exact tour twice with different partners. Each
time out for about four days with tents. I'd gladly to do it again sometime.
Maybe as a single-day trip if I could find someone to share the car-shuttle.

But it never crossed my mind to do that ski tour on some kind of light
skating skis. And it again confirms my non-guru status that I still can't
visualize that for myself. I'll wait for the photos from Mark's trip.

Leather and 3-pin:
Though both times I did it on Asolo Snowfield leather boots (non-heavy
no-buckles) with a 3-pin binding (no cables) -- but mounted on 90-70-80mm
sidecut-width mountaineering ski with full-length full-weight steel edges. I
think it's the serious skis that I cannot (yet?) visualize giving up for
that tour.

Yet now it occurs to me that after so many wonderful tours and peaks and fun
downhill runs on my leather boots and 3-pin bindings -- that it's likely
that I will never ski on them again.

Because now I have my Scarpa F1 hybrid alpine/telemark boots with a Dynafit
binding for all-around mountain ski touring. And my Salomon Combi boots and
SNS binding for backcountry skating days. My old faithful favorites have
been squeezed out.

Ken