[girafastyle]

Hey All, Looking for partner(s) for Shasta this weekend—maybe extend into early next week. Anyone interested?

Link to Carpool/Ski Partner post:
http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=961530#961530

[jimw]

A little late, but here are some pics from a trip to Saddlebag a couple weeks ago. I headed out there with my girlfriend Nicole, for her 2nd eastside backcountry trip. I had heard that the road to Saddlebag was clear but gated, so somehow I got it in my head that it would be a good idea to head up there with the bikes and boards. I was hoping that we might even be able to bike around the far side of the lake, but the path had several large snow drifts still on it (technically I'm now not even sure if biking that path is legal). So we got to do the usual traverse through the suncups from hell, which Nicole was really stoked to experience.

(Sounds like last weekend would have been the primo time to get out there, with the road and boat taxi opening... oh well.)

Some pics:

Plateau: done.



Powerhouse: done.



Ellery: pretty much done.



Dana couloir still looks filled in, but lots of dry hiking to get there.



False White still looking good. Nicole would like to point out that we should have just gone there. (Based on other more recent posts, I choose to believe it looked better than it was, and hence I was not completely stupid to head back to Conness...)



The ride up the road wasn't too bad.



Nice views too.



Backside route up to Conness still filled in at the top.



Still a decent amount of ice on the lake.



Time to start hiking.



Skinning was mostly continuous, with a few dry patches.



The rest was Suncups From Hell (tm).





We climbed up to the right of the waterfall.



Finally arriving at the promised land.



Unfortunately, Nicole was done at this point. Doh!



I climbed up to get in a quick run. Snow finally got better up here. Snow finger looking good.



S couloir:



Doesn't go from the top:



Backside of North peak looking good. B and friends had just made some nice turns up there.



I climbed up to the notch. Was thinking about dropping into S couloir from above, but didn't feel like dealing with a downclimb around the rock. I must be getting soft in my old age. View from above the S:



The snow was soft and super heavy by the time I headed down the snow finger. Still fun, but not exactly a great payoff to work ratio. Even worse for Nicole, who got to make about 5 turns on super suncupped snow on the way back to the super-fun traverse...



... where we got to play in more suncups!



I say, Got Suncups??



OK. The one good thing about the trip was that when we finally got back to the dam, it was SOOOO nice to just get on the bike and coast 10 minutes down the road, instead adding the insult of hiking another 2 miles down the damn thing.



After dinner and dessert at the Mo-mart, all Type 2 suffering was forgotten.



Nicole had never been to the hot springs by Mammoth, so we camped out there and had them to ourselves in the morning. Well, us and the cows. Nothing to get your morning started right like yoga and natural hot springs with killer eastside views, accompanied by cows humping!

[telemike]

Today I took a long walk in Leavitt Lake road for some fun turns and another long walk out - Ski Peak is done, so I went furthur up the drainage towards the crest - the skiing is still fun

Why cooler on Leavitt Peak still looks doable, as does some of the other stuff above Blue Lake Cyn.

No Name looks a bit grungy from the pass, but is likely worth a trip up and over to the east side and back for some quicky turns.

Monday...
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[Kara]

[SanFrantastico]

I think technically we should ask Nicole whether that was Type II fun or the Type III variety. Seems like the Bull has a whole afternoon of Type I fun lined up for sure though. Although it does make me wonder whether there should be a fourth type of fun classification for things that were fun at the time, but not so much in retrospect, perhaps because peeing hurts too much. Sorry I'm feeling punchy this morning.
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Storn

[telemike]

'nuthur nice day on Sonora Pass - NoName was a good choice for quick and easy fun turns - better than walking up LL road Sat and WAY better than False White - funcups down low - dirty but decent up high - skins not needed - walk, ski, walk - you can be making turns in an hour if you're quick



road view of the why?


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[telemike]

talking to myself again probably, but here goes...

headed up to Sonora Pass Sat for some turns, unless anyone else has any other bright (or dumb) ideas - sadly, not driving to Lassen or Shasta, where it's probably very good
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[loris]

if i was back in CA i'd join in!! post some late season pix for us?

[telemike]

I didn't have my camera for yesterday's season-ending Sierra bi-pass mission, so no more late-season pics, sorry.

Checked out Hiram Peak from Highland Lakes yesterday. Looks like a great spot - I'll be back next season with more snow. Not much out there, but I got in a few turns on a chute in the back bowl.

Drove over Moniter Pass for the first time in 25 years. BEAUTIFUL!

Hudge line at the Walker Burger. I met and ended up buying burgers for some USMC kids from the mtn warefare training center. Nice young kids - hard to believe they'll be living and dying in Afganistan soon... They had no cash, and Walker Burger doesn't take checks, so I set them up.

Couldn't pass up another lap on NoName as I went home over Sonora Pass.

3 passes driven
2 passes skied
1 body battered

Have a fun summer, y'all! Next up for me is a 6000 mile road trip to Louisiana w/ Owen starting Thursday. I'll try to post some pics along the way.
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[bergbryce]

Sierra peeps...

Looking for womens beginner tele setup...
5'4", proportedly a strong alpine skier, better snowboarder
Looking for something wide-ish (~90). Probably needs to be a decent hard pack ski.

Touring bindings obviously a big plus but not required (at this time )

pm w/ leads
thx
bryce

[steeleman]

pretty awesome photo of a funky rainbow-y looking thing above the Greenstone chutes on Conness here:

http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/645777.JPG

From Summitpost.com

[B]

Sure, it won't provide coverage like this shot from April 1, but some of these words are nice to hear again. Cooler Temperatures. Strong Cold Low Pressure. Gulf of Alaska. SW Winds. Winter Conditions. And most importantly, Snow.

Special Weather Statement
Greater Lake Tahoe Area
...BREEZY TODAY AND FRIDAY FOLLOWED BY MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES THIS WEEKEND...STRONG...COLD LOW PRESSURE IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE TOWARD THE AREA TODAY AND FRIDAY. THIS LOW WILL PUSH A STRONG COLD FRONT ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY. SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS WILL GUST UP TO 40 MPH STARTING TODAY AND CONTINUING FRIDAY AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO AFFECT THE AREA TODAY...MAINLY EAST AND SOUTH OF RENO. BEHIND THE FRONT...MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY WILL BE IN THE 50S AND 60S...WHICH WILL BE 30 TO 40 DEGREES COLDER. IN ADDITION...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AS THE LOW SETTLES OVERHEAD LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. WITH THE COLD TEMPERATURES...SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE SIERRA ABOVE 9000 FEET THIS WEEKEND. ANYONE PLANNING TRAVEL IN THE HIGH SIERRA THIS WEEKEND SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR WINTER-LIKE CONDITIONS.

[Bud]

What the heck is up with that forecast? I'm starting the JMT next week and sure wasn't thinking I'd be needing gear for a snowstorm....arg.

[Scoop]

Bud, relax...It's supposed to be back to summer weather by Tuesday.

Storm's a pain in the ass; I have a BBQ planned for 225 peeps Sunday!

[jimw]