Last Year Was Really, Really Good in the Sierra: A Memorial

[AKbruin]

So far, the 2017–2018 season is butt. Sure, I’ve skied a lot and had fun, but I can pretty much count the number of snowflakes that have fallen in the Sierra on one hand. So, like Al Bundy, I’m going to live in the past. Specifically, I’m going eulogize last season, starting with November 2016 and ending in June 2017. Updates to follow.

November

November was good as far as Novembers usually go. Pow was skied.

Skier: whatsupdoc

Bases were harmed.


But things were good for a normally ho-hum month.

Photo: whatsupdoc


December

December was also excellent. Tours were done.

Skier: whatsupdoc

whatupdoc and I did a 6,000’ Tahoe descent in which the middle 4,000’ was breakable crust.


There was even a not-quite-ripe-yet tour in the Eastern Sierra.



Rider: BGnight

[AKbruin]

January

Around the new year, it started snowing and continued snowing for two-and-a-half months or so.


Which was fun.


I shoveled this fucking deck so many times.


10-year-old girls hucked things.


By mid-January, things were getting deep.


The snowflakes were the size of silver dollars.

Skier: sierraskier

Once, I got tired of shoveling the roof and jumped off it.


January involved skiing copious amounts of powder.

Skier: sierraskier

Which was fun.

Skier: sierraskier

Things were good, and they’d get better.


The season really kicked off when whatsupdoc and I won Eastern Sierra lottery, scoring over 9,000 vertical feet of near-perfect powder on this very large and beautiful mountain.



Skier: whatsupdoc


Skier: whatsupdoc


Skier: whatsupdoc


Skier: whatsupdoc


Photo: whatsupdoc

[AKbruin]

February


The great amount of snow in January seemed novel; in February it became ridiculous. The dense snow slab on my roof, which is 20 to 25’ above the ground, broke off, bounced off the snow already piled up below, and crashed through my garage window.




And I became rather concerned about the roof itself, which we shoveled multiple times.


Mind you, this is what it looks like in the summer.


franzklammer paid a visit, and we began an Eastern Sierra weekend with mellow pow on Saturday.

Skier: franzklammer

But we finished it with an 8,000’ descent on Mt. Birch on Sunday.

Skier: franzklammer


Skier: franzklammer

We got 3,000’ of powder from the summit followed by every other possible form of snow below.

Skier: franzklammer

Back in Tahoe, it kept snowing, and I kept shoveling.


And it kept snowing. That deck rail is about 15 feet above the ground.


The houses and driveways on my street disappeared.


Again, here’s a similar view in summer.


Whatever. More touring in the Eastern Sierra.





Skier: whatsupdoc

[AKbruin]

March

In March, there was more snow.


But, mainly, it was time to ski corn in couloirs. And, man, March was great. We started with this 3,500’ Eastern Sierra classic, which had corned up perfectly for us.



Photo: whatsupdoc


Skier: whatsupdoc


Skier: whatsupdoc

We also skied this 5,500’ beauty, which we had spotted in January.





Skier: whatsupdoc


Photo: whatsupdoc



There was yet more snow back home.


But I neglected home repair to return to the Eastern Sierra to ski Mt. Tinemaha. Tinemaha is on the front left; Birch, which franzklammer and I skied in January, is on the right. I love this view so much.


This view of Tinemaha, taken from Birch in February, ain’t bad either.





Photo: whatsupdoc



6,500’ of descent, summit to sage.


This skiing thing is pretty fun.

[subtle plague]

Wow. Nice.

[trex_9]

Epic. Thx for posting. Heres to hoping for a miracle march on the east side

Sent from my SM-G955U using TGR Forums mobile app

[El Chupacabra]

[el hefe]

Nice post and pics thanks!

[trogdortheburninator]

So good! I only managed to get to the Sierra for 4 days last year, but I wish it was 100! Hopefully it happens again this decade.

[mcski]

Epic post/season. Where's your house?

[snapt]

[El Chupacabra]

Epic post/season. Where's your house?

This is AKbruin's house after all that snow finally melted:

[Buster Highmen]

moist eggsellent.

[AKbruin]

This is AKbruin's house after all that snow finally melted:

Haha. I had to drive past that property's multiple Trump signs every day in 2016. I don't believe in karma or meteorological retribution, but, well . . . there was a certain symbolism in the collapse of that building in 2017.

mcski: I live in the nosebleed section of Incline Village.

[AKbruin]

April

April flat out kicked ass. More touring in the Eastern Sierra.


Dhelihiker is unsure which way leads to fun skiing and which way leads to certain death.

Skier: Dhelihiker

He chose wisely.

Skier: Dhelihiker

BGnight and I also scored this super cool classic. It’s one of the coolest lines I’ve ever skied—it’s just so unrelentingly steep (42 to 50 degrees) for a full 3,000’ to the apron. Having toured the day before and not slept, I was stupid slow, but the snow was soft enough that one could enjoy the steep skiing without any pooh coming out.



Rider: BGnight


Rider: BGnight

Later, klar, freak, and CM came to California and made a TR. They brought powder with them. We skied Tahoe first.



Skier: freak


Photo: klar


Photo: CM

And then we went to the Eastern Sierra for a three-day tour.








Can you see the three Innsbruckers?



Skier: klar

I love this photo that klar took so much.




Can you find our campsite?



Photo: klar

[AKbruin]

http://images.summitpost.org/original/102882.jpg[/img]
Photo: Summitpost


Skier: whatsupdoc

[img]https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=205643

[lazyasian]

Thanks for bringing back the stoke AK! Last year was a real banger - got in descents of Giant’s Steps, Bloody, Mendenhall, 3rd Pillar, V Notch, and many more - not to mention about a million pow days in Tahoe. What a year.

I was lucky enough to move to Vancouver this winter, which seems to be one of the few places getting decent snow this year. Was hoping for an Eastside trip this spring, but it seems exploring interior BC may be the better option this year. Hope you guys get some atmospheric rivers and get the snowpack back!

[zlatham]

So much f-ing winning here, holy shit way to get it while you could!! Inspiring to say the least, with any luck, those of us below the 45th parallel will actually have a winter next year, thanks for the stoke!!

[sierraskier]

Wow, so awesome and so depressing at the same time. No doubt we will be reminiscing about last year the rest of our lives. Super stoked we got to ski shitloads of pow in the back yard together. You absolutely crushed it on the east side! Inspiring me to step it up...

I’ll add a few to memorialize the Winter of 2017: Snowmageddon

It was relatively dry when I left Tahoe in early January to go ski the infamous Japanese pow. It worked out



I came back from skiing 10 days of pow in Japan to this. Skier: AKbruin



There multiple times that it snowed so much, and the plows were so late getting around, that I just drove the sled right off the trailer and went for a spin around the hood.



Blowing and shoveling 3-4 times per day to keep up was common. At the peak the walls were so high the Honda could barely throw snow over the top.



We skied the shit out of Rose Knob Peak - skin track stoke



Late April, still skiing pow





May 12th corn harvest


Dhelihiker and AKbruin on Tioga Pass May 20th


Dhelihiker and I skied Lassen right to the car Memorial Day Weekend


July 16th

[Ottime]

What an awesome season Frank. It makes me jealous you have this much dedication to get out after to it. A great year to make the push.

[Norseman]

Insto hall of fame. Holy hell, what a ski mecca that place is on a big year.

Outstanding images, dude.

[TahoeJ]

Nice photos, Frank. And what a season it was - I feel like maybe I took it for granted because of all the shoveling. Hope to get out there with you one of these days when we have more snow and try to keep up.

[yeahman]

That is a truly awesome photo essay. What an amazing place. Thanks.

[AKbruin]

Thanks for bringing back the stoke AK! Last year was a real banger - got in descents of Giant’s Steps, Bloody, Mendenhall, 3rd Pillar, V Notch, and many more - not to mention about a million pow days in Tahoe. What a year.

I was lucky enough to move to Vancouver this winter, which seems to be one of the few places getting decent snow this year. Was hoping for an Eastside trip this spring, but it seems exploring interior BC may be the better option this year. Hope you guys get some atmospheric rivers and get the snowpack back!

Whoa. That's a great set of ticks. I'm somewhat interested in Giant's Steps, but I can't confirm whether it's above my pay grade or not. Good year to move to BC!

[AKbruin]

Wow, so awesome and so depressing at the same time. No doubt we will be reminiscing about last year the rest of our lives. Super stoked we got to ski shitloads of pow in the back yard together. You absolutely crushed it on the east side! Inspiring me to step it up...

I’ll add a few to memorialize the Winter of 2017: Snowmageddon

It was relatively dry when I left Tahoe in early January to go ski the infamous Japanese pow. It worked out



I came back from skiing 10 days of pow in Japan to this. Skier: AKbruin



There multiple times that it snowed so much, and the plows were so late getting around, that I just drove the sled right off the trailer and went for a spin around the hood.



Blowing and shoveling 3-4 times per day to keep up was common. At the peak the walls were so high the Honda could barely throw snow over the top.



We skied the shit out of Rose Knob Peak - skin track stoke



Late April, still skiing pow





May 12th corn harvest


Dhelihiker and AKbruin on Tioga Pass May 20th


Dhelihiker and I skied Lassen right to the car Memorial Day Weekend


July 16th

That Japan photo is outrageous. So many good times. The photos of the shoveling bring back mixed feelings.