Gear review: Gorillapod

This post is a little belated, but I was given a Gorillapod for Christmas and just recently used it in action for the first time. It really is amazing how it latches onto anything and everything. No more looking for that flat rock or trying to balance the camera on random objects. Since I often venture out alone I imagine I will be using it more in the future.

Shhh…it’s snowing in tahoe

I should probably keep this quiet so I don’t jinx it, but it is indeed snowing again. Maybe the snow dances worked, maybe. A small storm came through Sunday night dropping 4-6 inches in town and now this winter weather advisory has been issued:

Statement as of 2:09 PM PST on February 10, 2009

The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a Winter Weather
Advisory for snow and blowing snow… which is in effect from 10 PM
this evening to 4 am PST Thursday.

* Snow will develop later this evening and continue through the
early morning hours. The snow will diminish for several hours
Wednesday morning… but by Wednesday afternoon bands of snow
showers will redevelop and continue through early Thursday
morning… bringing locally heavy snow at times.

* Snow accumulations for tonight: 3 to 6 inches at lake
level… with locally up to 10 inches in the Sierra above 7000
feet.

Additional snow accumulations for Wednesday afternoon through
Wednesday night: 3 to 6 inches at lake level… with locally up
to 12 inches in the Sierra above 7000 feet.

* Winds: southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph
tonight… then diminishing to 10 to 15 mph on Wednesday. Ridge
gusts up to 80 mph with local gusts up to 100 mph tonight.

Tomorrow should be good, but I think Thursday will be the day. I think I might be getting sick…should probably make an appointment with Dr. Powder.

Pray for Snow

I can honestly say that I’ve never before said that until now. Living in Tahoe, it’s just something you don’t really think about. Whether or not you pray it has always snowed and snowed lots, but since we haven’t had any really good sierra dumps in at least a month and the snowpack is 60% of normal I think it’s about time to try something new. So get out there and pray, wash your car, burn your old skis, buy a new lawn mower or in this guys case shave your beard.

Thats what I'm talking about!

Jan 17, 2009, Silver Peak Lake Tahoe

Went up to Silver Peak just north of Squaw today in the hopes of finding good snow with just as good coverage. Started at the Pole Creek trailhead on hwy 89 and we were pleasently suprised to find only a few cars parked. This tends to be a popular place on weekends due to the Bradley hut being just a couple miles up Pole Creek. The temps varied all day, from cold at the trailhead to really warm on the way up and a bit chilly in the upper bowl near the peak. The snow really only seemed to be affected by the sun though. The southeasterly aspect of the upper bowl was soft slushy corn while there were pockets on northern slopes that were soft without any crust. Skied almost continously all the way back to the car for a total of about 2400′ of skiing. A fun day all considering, but we really need some snow bad.

Weekend at Castle Peak

Castle Peak

Well the amazing snow we had right before Christmas has now started to retreat due to warming temps, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any skiing to be had. With the past week being warm and sunny during the day and cold at night we decided to take a chance on there being some corn snow. I know, corn?? in January?? Castle Peak is near Donner Summit and has a south/southeast facing slope below the summit. Although the hike is not vary hard, we did have to use some rock scrambling skills to get to the drop in point. When we got there about 11:30 the snow was looking good and ready. A nice firm layer under a couple inches of soft corn made for fun turns.

About to drop in on 1600' of corn

I made one run about half way down and decided that it was too good to leave so soon. I jumped back on the bootpack and made it back to the top in a little over half an hour. The second turned out to be even better and I skied without stopping all the way to the car. Since I had to wait for my friends to get down I made the quick walk over to Boreal for a nice cold beer. It was well worth every penny.

Corn snow on Castle Peak

That night I talked to my friend Adam and we made the call to head back up to Castle on Sunday. This was a timing issue as Adam is from San Diego and the Chargers game was on at 1:30. That didn’t allow a whole lot of time to mess around so we cruised as fast as we could up and down. The turns were just as good on Sunday as they were on Saturday. We made the round trip in 2 and 1/2 hours and got back to the house just in time for kickoff.

Good day on Donner Summit

Since my pass is blacked out this week, Ryan and I decided to check the coverage up on Donner Summit. Although it has been snowing a lot up here the last couple weeks, and believe me my shovel can tell you, it’s still not quite enough to be fully confident on the slopes. The snow turned out to be a little heavy, no doubt due to the sun and temp. inversion from the day before. Although heavy, we had no problems with stability which made  for worry free turns. So far so good for the ’08-’09 season!

This is actually a lot steeper than the camera shows

Merry Christmas from Lake Tahoe

It’s Snowing in Tahoe!!

Ok, so this is a little delayed, but it’s been snowing on and off for about a week now. Made it up to Sugar Bowl on Fri. and Sat. and couldn’t have been happier, 12- 18″ of soft wind blown snow with bluebird skies all day Saturday. It started to snow again tonight about 4 o’clock and the weather forecast looks good for the next week. I geuss Santa has brought us a white Crhistmas this year!! Check it out thanks to Weather.com

 

7-Day Forecast

High / Low (°F) Precip. % Tonight Dec 22 Snow 15° 70 % Tue Dec 23 AM Snow Showers 30°/18° 40 % Wed Dec 24 Snow 33°/21° 80 % Thurs       Dec 25 Snow Shower 27°/8° 40 % Fri Dec 26 Partly Cloudy 30°/18° 10 % Sat Dec 27 Few Snow Showers 37°/22° 30 % Sun Dec 28 Snow Shower 40°/20° 40 % Mon Dec 29 Few Snow Showers 41°/20° 30 %

Oil+Water movie review

I saw this movie at the environmental film festival in Squaw about a year ago and just recently bought the DVD. This is a great movie and a definite recomendation. With a rig like this the possibilities are endless!! You can buy the DVD from www.helipress.com

Beacon Rock

I made the trip up to Oregon for the Thanksgiving holiday to spend time with my family and hopefully get some northwest turns in. The snow however decided to skip the NW this year and my mom, brother and myself had to come up with other ideas. Hiking has always been a favorite pastime and one of the best hikes near Portland is Beacon Rock. An 800 foot tall basalt spire 30 min. east with an unimaginable trail carved out of it to the top, Beacon Rock provides a great easy day trip with amazing views. Although the fog thwarted our viewing pleasures, the slippery conditions made it a little more interesting. If you make it to the Gorge, I recommend this hike, but until then I hope you enjoy the pictures.