13 posts tagged “backcountry”
Because my life isn't full enough with work, teaching, playing and my feeble attempt at finding balance, I've started writing about telemark and backcountry skiing in the Lake Tahoe region for Examiner.com.
Check it out - and don't worry, I'll still be ranting about stupidity and posting photos of my latest culinary disaster here.
And don't come back some other day.
This latest storm system has come in wet and warm, a real pineapple express. While a few resorts are crowing about their 'top to bottom snow' (I'm talking to you, Kirkwood), even that's borderline snain/sleet at the bottom of the mountain. Yesterday's foray to Kirkwood was quite the test of our ski clothes waterproofness. My bitchen new Holden jacket held up well, but my beloved Patagonia drop seat pants failed miserably. And with N still fighting this 'malaise' and with me feeling on the cusp of catching it, we didn't stay long. Instead we spent the afternoon re-waterproofing and drying out ski gear. Fun!!
So it's with a bit of nostalgia that I'm looking at my photos from Saturday, when I skied Jake's Peak again with friends (minus N, who was not well enough to slog up 2,000 feet on skis). We hit things early before the clouds arrived, and it was the perfect Tahoe winter day - blue sky, powder snow and sunshine. Even bumped into a friend on the descent (it's kind of a popular backcountry location what with its awesome views and easy roadside access). <sigh>
I know winter will return at least once more. I'd just like to see it stick around longer than a week.
It's been a hectic week, coming back from traveling and trying to regain some semblance of control at work and at life. A couple of surprises, with such key things like employment and health insurance, added uninvited excitement. Because of this I wasn't all that focused on the snow, but I was surprised at the oddly warm temps we encountered when we got back home. While N kept telling me snow conditions at Heavenly were still wintery in north facing aspects, I found that hard to believe when I was sweating at lake level just walking from my car (though maybe the down jacket, gloves, hat & scarf were overkill).
Since conditions are at that in between stage at anything not north facing (not quite corn and most definitely not winter snow), we had agreed that ski touring was the call for Saturday, if only to get a bit of exercise. N had been trying to ski tour with a friend of his, and he and his girlfriend were free. We don't usually ski tour with others, primarily because of most of our friends either don't live near us or are parents of small children. So it was sort of a novelty to meet and ski with another couple.
We ended up going up towards Emerald Bay to ski Jake's Peak, a mountain at the north end of the bay. We'd skied it once before, but had never done it from the south side. It ended up being a rather athletic climb, as it was steep in places, and firm enough to require either ski crampons (which I had) or experience skinning (which I did not have). Due to the boniness of the originally planned descent, we ended up skiing across the ridge of Jake's to another slope that had more snow, garnering some cool views along the way.
The payoff for the uphill work was on the descent, which was on a slope that appeared to lead directly into Lake Tahoe. That snow conditions were optimal (an inch or two of soft snow on a consolidated base) only made the descent better.
Given my overall ski fitness thus far this season I think I did pretty well. That I was able to go home afterwards and make an awesome chocolate raspberry cake (thanks to Clotilde's book) and a tasty chicken lima bean mushroom stew for friends was the surprising thing. We'll see how early I wake up tomorrow though...
Today is the last day of my holiday ski break, and my legs know it. I've not skied 5 days in a row in a long time, and definitely not 5 full days of powder snow and/or backcountry. Today was the first day that we knew we were not going to have guaranteed fresh tracks, and we had to decide which resort to ski at based upon other factors (distance, crowds and snow conditions). We ended up hitting Kirkwood because today's warmer forecast would have less of an impact at a higher elevation ski resort, and the holiday crowds don't materialize with the same tidal wave force that they do at some other Tahoe resorts.
We did ski Kirkwood on Boxing Day, which was a glorious bluebird day with 2+ feet of light dry powder. N surprised me on Christmas day with new phat skis - Atomic Helis. They're wider than my ski boot in the middle, and are the skis that Alaska heli operators provide clients, so they're perfect for powder.
Today's snow was less powder, more packed powder (with some bumps). Coverage is pretty good on the north facing slopes, and by now many of the hidden rocks are now visible. I enjoyed it, but by midday I was ready to go home and take the much neglected dog for a cross country ski on our nearby meadow. The snow by our house has definitely changed with today's 40 degree temps, and was heavy and wet in most places, making trail breaking a challenge.
And while forecasts are showing a high pressure system moving in this week, we'll be heading north to Bend where snow is falling. After all, I have new phat skis to break in.
Despite a sloow start to the Tahoe ski season, things are off with a bang thanks to a series of snowstorms that just keep giving. And while I've not had good timing this week with my ski breaks, I'm looking forward to better timing tomorrow. It's looking like we'll receive feet-fuls of snow here at lake level, which will translate into feet+ at higher elevations. The current storm is a bit wetter than the previous ones, which should help cover the rocks and other obstacles that are still lurking out there.
Today's brief backcountry sojourn was a bit of a rude awakening for me. I did ok on the actual trip, but right now I am so tired that the notion of baking a brie and slicing a baguette (part of our oh-so-gourmet Christmas Eve dinner) is daunting. Luckily I had the foresight to make the kabocha squash salad beforehand, otherwise we'd just be eating cheese sandwiches tonight.
May your Christmas' be merry and your energy levels higher than mine right now!
Spring at Lake Tahoe means longer days, loads of sun and the freeze-thaw cycle that creates perfect corn snow. It's a big reason why the BF and I go backcountry, that plus we can avoid the craziness of the resorts *and* the dog gets a workout. This season's corn snow has been ripe for harvest for some time, but due to travel schedules and whatnot, we've not done much touring. Today's jaunt could be considered a front country tour, as we literally park the car on Highway 88 (south of Lake Tahoe) and start skinning up the snow. Despite the easy access we didn't see another soul the whole day.
All in all a relaxed tour. The combination of sun and exercise has wiped the three of out however. Think tomorrow will be more along the lines of the chairlift riding variety. The dog's probably not going to need any exercise tomorrow, seeing how she's currently passed out by the fire.
With the forecast for today to be wet snow (r**n) and high winds, we decided to give our favorite tree skiing frontcountry tour a go, since it was higher elevation and sheltered (I didn't have much hope in Kirkwood's ability to run lifts in this weather, considering they weren't able to run lifts during a recent sunny holiday weekend!). I'm not sure what happened with today's storm that was supposed to blow in wet and heavy, but the only thing we saw on our two lap jaunt was wind and the start of snow on the second lap.
We did a bit of this.
So the dog could enjoy the powder, as she's as much of a snow addict as we are.
Conditions were surprisingly good. While the snow was surprisingly light - and knee to thigh deep, there was a solid enough base underneath to make the skin up efficient. And we were one of the few people out there. Overall a fantastic day. And it's dumping outside right now, supposed to continue all day tomorrow. Hmm...is that the flu I feel coming on?
Since the snow started falling, we've been talking about getting out into the backcountry, but the back to back storms and time off didn't synchronize until this weekend. Never mind that we're now seeing a high pressure system that's more akin to spring (50 degrees during the day, teens at night), we were on a hunt for winter snow, also known as powder.
So we headed up to a tried and true north facing slope we know well. My expectations were low, but I was out there primarily to get exercise and test my new birthday gift.
It's 1,700 feet uphill, give or take, mostly in the trees. Treeline ends just before the summit, where we were rewarded with 360 degree views.
The dog, who we brought along for the first lap, was unimpressed.
We decided to fete new years day with a mellow backcountry tour, testing legs, gear and snow conditions with low expectations. Since the day dawned chilly - a mere 14 degrees F - we took our time, and hit the snow mid-morning at the Big Meadow trailhead. While we encountered a few groups on snowshoe, there were no other skiers, and we had the place essentially to ourselves.
Despite being butt-cold in the morning (14 degrees is cold enough to warrant extra clothing), it quickly warmed up to the upper 30s, and I felt a tad overdressed in my 4 top layers (tanktop, long sleeved shirt, wind-proof fleece and puffer jacket). By the time we topped out just across from Powderhouse, it was warm and windless enough that N didn't need to put on a long-sleeved shirt, and I felt fine in what I had minus the puffer jacket. But the mild temps weren't so nice to the snow, and our descent was, to put it mildly, ugly. Wet snow hampered our ability to turn, and to actually move on the snow, and it quickly built up underneath the skis. It made for a bit of swearing (N) and a permanent ski wedge (me) most of the way down.
That said, it was a gorgeous day, and it definitely sparked my desire to go touring again soon. After the upcoming storm, however.
Hot, cold, hot, cold. That's how the weather's been of late. Spring pops in for a bit, teasing us with warm sunny days and the possibilities of corn snow, then, BAM, the sub-artic Ice Queen arrives, spreading single-digit chill throughout the land. It's not that I hate the cold, but I have a hard time switching between seasons so rapidly.
The Ice Queen has left us (with joyfully 'balmy' 20 degree nighttime temps), and Spring appears to be returning briefly again. The bank thermometer read 66 degrees at noon today. Yet we were able to find powder on our morning lap up Luther Pass. Admittedly somewhat consolidated, but the untouched areas still sparkled in the early morning sunlight. Since it was a weekday, we were able to relax and enjoy the view of Lake Tahoe at the top. Views like this make the climb a whole lot more palatable.
Of course, rumors have it that Winter will return (sans the Ice Queen), with up to 4 feet of snow possible by next week.
Heh. I feel a cold coming on.
