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Mountainerd

Diva in Training
yes a lot of snow is great, but the first layer is super light.... not what you want for base layer ....
:noidea:

Yeah its the worst base snow, was talking with one of the ESAC avy forecasters this morning and there's definitely a big concern that this is going to create a persistent weak layer that's going to cause issues this winter. We'll see how it all shakes out I guess...

Btw, if anyone is going to be up here Jan. 11, ESAC just announced their kick-off event. They offer free avalanche and backcountry seminars and then their fundraiser event in the evening. We went to the seminars last year and they were really interesting and useful.

esac19_20webfinal.jpg
 

SierraLuLu

Ski Diva Extraordinaire

Mountainerd

Diva in Training
I really recommend the seminars if you can make it, last year they offered 2 tracks of 3 classes, one based inside with lectures on different topics (managing risk and decision making in the mountains, weather forecasting and backcountry travel, and snowpack science) and one track out on the snow doing snow science and avy rescue stuff. My boyfriend and I went to the lecture track (I think the on snow classes filled up before we signed up) and they were super interesting and really helpful, especially the weather one.

It’s still snowing hard up in Mammoth, annoyingly light and perfect powder falling at totally the wrong time of year. :noidea: Snowing steadily all day in Bishop too, our office closed for a snow day! Didn’t get up to the mountain today due to the roads being an absolute disaster, but my boyfriend (works on the mountain as a lift mechanic) had to go up and sent me this picture looking up face of 3, and thought you all might enjoy seeing a couple pics of what Bishop looks like right now, it’s just beautiful! E8F815E8-B9D0-42C7-963C-DCBA50CCD216.jpeg12B9D1A5-7CA8-4F64-9646-B487F61E83B0.jpeg3A924FD8-1054-4E4D-906F-BB25738D58CF.jpeg9DB99395-A8B9-4447-9A2E-88E00713BB36.jpeg
 

Mountainerd

Diva in Training
@Mountainerd thanks for pics. You should get 25 posts then you can be in the 'diva's' only section and see more meet up info.....

I know...I'm trying to get my post count up, just get shy and self-conscious about posting a lot...which is just me being silly :noidea:

Anyway, who got out this weekend?? Got up to Mammoth on Friday and Saturday and felt like mid-winter! Crazy how different it was from the previous weekend. Official snow totals from the mountain for these storms is 70-77"! Friday morning we were skiing knee deep powder on powder bowl and forest trail, only did about 5 runs before having to head out. Saturday was cold and windy (60-70 mph gusts at the top of chair 1 made for some very cold lift rides :eek:) and some of the runs got pretty crowded, but they opened up 4,5,10 and 12 and the snow was so much fun. Can't wait to get back out there this weekend to see what things are looking like.

My boyfriend sent me this picture from this morning after the storm cleared. Makes me so happy to see the mountain covered in snow again. :thumbsup:

pic.jpg
 

skibum4ever

Angel Diva
We skied the last seven out of eight days at Mammoth. The snow has been excellent...the wind, not so much.

Heading home tomorrow and hoping to return in a couple of days to get a few more days of pre-Christmas skiing.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Wow Northstar had great skiing considering half the mountain hasn't even opened yet. It had snowed most of the week prior to going so was great fun.
Temps were in the low 30's so snow consistency stayed nice. Off piste and trees had plenty of snow and no crowds at all. Only caveat was I had a terrible sore throat and felt somewhat under the weather but managed to get out there and ski both Monday and Tuesday. Black Crows were perfect for the conditions. Day 1 and 2 on the books! Finally!
 

ski_hat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hi Friends!!

It's been a minute - so glad to be back on the snow :yahoo:

We're skiing at Northstar this year - @santacruz skier, maybe we'll meet up in the lift line again??

Days 1 and 2 were Dec 23 and 25, and they were absolutely wonderful ski days! We'll be back for a couple of days between Jan 1-Jan 4, and then we'll be in and out throughout the season (we got a ski lease this year, and we absolutely mean to use it!)
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Hi Friends!!

It's been a minute - so glad to be back on the snow :yahoo:

We're skiing at Northstar this year - @santacruz skier, maybe we'll meet up in the lift line again??

Days 1 and 2 were Dec 23 and 25, and they were absolutely wonderful ski days! We'll be back for a couple of days between Jan 1-Jan 4, and then we'll be in and out throughout the season (we got a ski lease this year, and we absolutely mean to use it!)
That's awesome ! Let's keep in touch.....I ski mostly at Northstar and Heavenly !
 

kiranbot

Certified Ski Diva
It's been gorgeous in Tahoe so far! We're mostly skiing Kirkwood this year, with some Northstar + Heavenly thrown in.

December 14/15 was at Heavenly + Kirkwood, and the whole mountain's open right now. We had a surprise powder day on the 15th!
December 21/22/23 was also Kirkwood, and we saw another storm Sunday --> Monday.
December 28/29 we hit Alpine + Squaw. Lots of hardpack, but a lot of the mountain's open there, too.

I might go up again this weekend, too, if the timing makes sense.

SO EXCITED

@ski_hat we should all ski Northstar some time this year!
 

SierraLuLu

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I spent the holidays skiing California from north to south and it’s pretty much all awesome. Much better than the last time I made a December ski trip (2017).

Dec 21, 24: Mammoth. One sunny slightly crunchy day and when we came back on Christmas Eve it was a powder bluebird day with buttery snow and perfect skiing. I’m still convinced that Mammoth has the best snow in California. They’ve gotten more snow since then, but I can vouch that everything is open with the caveat that there are some rocks sticking out in places (Ricochet, Face of Five).
Dec 22, 23: Squaw Valley. 1st day was a storm day so only the bottom was open, which was pretty icy despite the fact it snowed about 6 inches by closing time. 2nd day we stayed on upper mountain which had gotten a foot of Sierra cement, most of which was skied out by 10am and all of which was pretty choppy by afternoon. Super fun, nonetheless.
Dec 30: Decided to stay local and hit up Mount Baldy, which had 3 of the 4 lifts open. We had heard about 3 feet of powder fell a few days earlier which was mostly untouched in the trees, but due to a layer of wind buff had turned super crunchy. We ended up staying mostly on trail where the groomed snow was quite good, and did manage to find a couple pockets of real powder between runs. By all means, avoid the lower mountain which is icy and badly marked. For a mountain that’s barely open some years, this year is looking great.

Squaw Valley
603CBEA1-969F-4BE4-A06D-AEEC44763056.jpeg
Mammoth
753F5634-C363-4953-883F-58E2E96E50E2.jpeg
Baldy
AFA41F23-E55A-4317-A86E-EAB01F120C0B.jpeg
 

SierraLuLu

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Ugh ... looking at my last post is a little saddening because of how long it's been since we've had a good Southern California snowstorm. I'm deciding between visiting Bear and Mammoth in the near future (I'm in LA local). My default is always Mammoth due to better snow quality and tree skiing and better roads, but considering it hasn't snowed in Mammoth recently, I'm wondering if it's worth the extra drive. For those who have been to Bear Mountain or Snow Summit recently, can you testify to the quality of skiing there? For those who have been to both resorts recently, is Mammoth any better right now?
 

mustski

Angel Diva
I have been skiing Snow Summit everyday. We did get a bit of fresh last Monday which was sorely needed. When it was cold enough, they blew as much as they could so coverage is still decent. We are experiencing pretty normal spring conditions - fast and hard in the morning, softening to cream cheese by 10:30 and then slush in the afternoon.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@SierraLuLu I share your feelings. Its been rather dry except for that bit of snow last Sunday/Monday for SoCal. Such a great start end of December. Haven't been to mammoth for a few weeks so can not comment.
Love your Baldy picture - its on my bucket list.
 

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