June 12th-20th, 2010

Locations: California Sierra Nevadas. Pinpoint locations include Kirkwood, Mammoth Mountain, Tioga Pass (near Mt. Dana) and Sonora Pass.

Weather: mostly B-L-U-E-B-I-R-D

Skiers:

Skier666, Some KW patrollers, Spats, GDS, Schralph Macchio, Driver, Abominable Snowman, The Dad…

Cameramen:

666, Schralph Macchio, Abominable Snowman

POV VIDEO – Not too bad for Mid to late June….

Music: S.P.Y – ‘Xenomorph’ – forthcoming 12″ on Metalheadz

Synopsis:

Below you will find pretty pictures of the melting snowpack of 2009/2010 in Northern California. Starting with a morning wind-filled ski tour at Kirkwood on June 12th, and concluding with a trip to Leavitt Peak on the 20th, we managed to accomplish almost everything on the agenda. With a South Lake Tahoe bachelor party slated from 1pm on Friday the 18th through the 19th, of which I can’t seem to find any photos (ha ha ha), a couple days of skiing before and after was officially scheduled. Items included a look at Solstice Couloir off of Mt. Dana (Tioga Pass), some lift served at Mammoth Mountain ski field, a hungover skin up to the Wall at Kirkwood, and a full day of touring at Sonora Pass.

Java Porn: Double Shot light – a 4-pack is a road warrior’s best friend…..

How about showing you some skiing…?

Kirkwood, CA – June 12th, 2010:

Early bird gets the cool shots…Carson Pass:

Hmmm, didn’t see clouds in the forecast….

The last of the roadside frozen lakes? Yep, it was gone a week later.

Kirkwood has been closed for a month and a half…

I think we should b-line to the sunny areas…

We skin up a groomer….always makes me laugh…

Getting closer, but also getting colder…not good for the Cirque mission…

Eagle Bowl ridge….frozen solid.

‘It’s a hurricane out here, let me in!’

So nice and cozy….well, too cozy. This will be our home for an hour…

This may be our line, but we should check out our intended line off the top of the cirque….at least to see if the snow will soften…

Spats runs up to the moon…

666 tells the young kid that this is an ExTr3m3e area…

Too windy to prove in this shots, but we decided to ski something safer…

A look to the South….in the direction of Mexico…

Spats goes for some firm delight behind ‘99 steps’…

GDS takes a much needed sunny line off the Wall…

‘Kinda firm’….not really waist deep.

Spats drops in….

And lays one down in minimal suncups….

GDS is too relaxed…

But as a young adult, his form is definitely improving.

Spats on the way to Buckboard…

666 had no idea that groomers could be so fun in mid-June….

Top to bottom coverage, GDS is rewarded with an apple juice for his efforts…

MaMmOtH mounTain – June 17th, 2010

Decided to hit Mammoth on a random Thursday in the middle of June, and funny enough , I get on the first chair with two Kirkwood patrollers on Moment Skis. Small world….

Off piste run numero uno….

Chair 23 was The Hotness….

You need to go deep to find the powder….

Told you….

Its as deep as it looks…ie, no photoshop.

Hiking DOWN into P4….

It doesn’t actually go, but we’re still going for Phillipes….

WE SURVIVED! OMG…(the POV video shows the snow quality)

Time to open it up in the suncups….

A look to the South….in the direction of Chile….

A scenic roundabout…

Token shot…

Back to corn farming…

‘The Dad’ had a buddy from Palo Alto fly him in for the day…and here’s proof:

I think we did a proper painting job….

BYE BYE Mammoth….

Tioga Pass, Mt. Dana, Solstice Couloir attempt – June 18th, 2010

With a golf game slated for 1pm in South Lake Tahoe, an early morning attempt to see if the Solstice Couloir cornice had melted out….if not, we would have to ski back to the car parked near the Eastern Yosemite gate.

Dana with Solstice on lookers right (internet photo)

Might as well just boot up this, skins aren’t going to help….

After about 2 hours or so…here’s the internet beta of Solstice Couloir as of June 18th, 2010….looks fun…but can we get in safely?

Hmmm….not from up there…

Little cliffy right here….

A week or two earlier, that apron towards where the photoguy was standing would have been sweet….sadly, it’s a no go.

Looking North towards British Columbia…

Winter vs Summer: FIGHT!

The swimming pool is still not open to the public….

Looking South towards New Zealand…

Dana Plateau….sunbathing…

Mono Lake Madness…

I took a swim in the salt water just so I’d feel refreshed for my 2 hour drive to golf…

This is a picture of my camera taking pictures while taking a nap on the salt bed…

Wow, a two sport day….

This is the best pic I got from the Bachelor Party…SORRY!

Kirkwood, CA – June 19th, 2010

After around 3 hours of sleep, and waking up early with a bunch of 30-somethings dead all over the rental….a trip to Starbucks and a solo hike up the Wall was in order…

…oh, I also left my camera on the roof the car and had to drive back to the Caples Lake Dam….that wasn’t so fun, and the camera…well…I’m still waiting to get a battery to see if it works…IDIOT!

View of Round Top from the new bathrooms at the lower Carson Pass parking lot…

Kirkwood….10am…summer is finally winning the battle at the lower elevations….

They were nice enough to plow me a skin-track ¾ of the way up the Wall…

Making it this far in a hungover state without any problems = good sign

…and ready to drop, not too shabby for June 19th. (Check the POV for the descent)

Back in Tahoe….I was out for a run but this got in the way…

You can see an Eagle in those Falls…

A pier…much more fun after a rum-runner or two….

SOnORa PasS – June 20th, 2010

I left Tahoe at 5:30am to meet a few diehards at the top of Sonora Pass. The plan was to ski the ‘Y Couloir’ and possible ‘Deadmans’…but with 5 other people, we began our uphill battle a little on the late side….

‘How the hell to touring bindings work?’

First ridge done, now just a short walk to that Leavitt Peak on the left…

Getting closer, just need to skin up that bowl….so easy.

Schralph….the typical snowboarder…

Base camp….

….whoa…trippy!

Do you know that its easier to skin up to the summit over those rocks than walk?

Summit log…misspellings everywhere, must be the altitude….

Summit of Leavitt Peak looking towards Peru….

I think this will do….

666 checks his entrance…

GDS drops in and gets some smooth steep corn on the cob….

GDS concentrating too hard…

Not too bad…for a kid.

…a kid…with energy and no reason to stop….

Driver drops in….

I’m assuming he’s a steep skier….

…enjoying himself? Only Driver will know….

666 encounters some loose granular at the entrance of the ‘Tube’…

But then, its groomer snow….

He told me that he had a good time…

Schralph gets into the mix…

…it’s this new sport called ‘snowboarding’….like a skateboard but with now similarities….

‘Hang 20 brah’…..

GDS gets binding deep at the exit…

Schralph….waiting for Karate Kid IV, not some lame remake…

666 showing off the red coat he bought off of Slim….

GDS takes a turn to the saddle….

Abominable was also there….a little tired…but he was there…

…I mean, its not like there’s obstacles in his way…heh

Schralph and 666 (cough…the real men of the group) take another hike for some extra vertical….

Nice view looking towards Alaska…

Oh hell yeah….this is going to be good….

…dare I say even on a snowboard?

If you squint, it could almost look winterish…

WhoooooooooooooooooSH!

That snowboarder again…

666 LOVES the groomer zone to the river…

Look at that jackass….

Maybe you should make sure that your skis are connected before crossing the warm river….

Driver found the other one….WOOT!

BYE

bYe