Conditions to the summit?

[Sally]

Not having any luck with pics on my iPad, will go home and try on my computer.

[Sally]

https://picasaweb.google.com/1009477359 ... directlink

It worked this time! Enjoy!

[Ed]

There is a snowshoe super highway following the Sid Davis Drainage from the ranger station to the peak.

That's a good description. We followed it on Saturday. A decision was made to take a different route down, plunging straight down from Miller saddle, along the more traditional Sid Davis route. To avoid the constant switch-backing and the steeper slopes, and descend faster. It seemed the right decision.

Sorry about Ellen's fractured humerus. At least she didn't do it in her own driveway, as I did in Rancho Mirage on January 1, 2015. The orthopedist shrugged his shoulders and said what can you do, it will heal as well as it can. When he looked at the xrays, he was more interested in the damage in my shoulder from an 11-day dislocation in 1974. Said I would need a shoulder replacement. I intend to prove him wrong by dying first. I found that being a many-times veteran of orthopedic damage, surgery and recovery does not help, it is still a bummer. The good news is that I was back on Skyline by March 14, and Ellen is younger and tougher than I am.

[guest]

Great photos Sally, thanks for posting, haven't seen like that in so many years.

Makes me want to learn back-country skiing.

peace, ss

[sdtrackrunner]

Makes me want to learn back-country skiing.

San J is a good area for it if you can find someone who can loan you the gear. No place to rent south of Mammoth unfortunately.

[Ed]

Makes me want to learn back-country skiing.

There were about half a dozen skiers up there on the 9th. Sigh! I envied them. Those days are over for me. But I must say that plodding along in modern snowshoes is better than plodding along in the old ones. It was my first trip on my MSR Lightning Ascents. My last pair of snowshoes were wood, Vermont Tubbs Green Mountain Bearpaws. Quite a difference.

The old rule of thumb was that you should learn to be a strong intermediate skier, able to ski under control under a wide variety of conditions, before taking up back-country skiing. The alpine ski touring equipment looks much better than it once was: shorter, wider skis with more sidecut, bindings and boots that seem to be nearly the equivalent of downhill equipment. But I think that it is safer ski touring in the Sierras, where you are less likely to smack into a tree.

[Ktcarrillo]

Hello!!! Did you see people hiking up to the summit with micro spikes or are snowshoes mandatory? Thank you!

[RocketJ]

Yup, or ski, whatever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlzrmqEkzQ4

Great vid! By any chance did you make a GPS track of your descent? I'd love to see it if so.

[sdtrackrunner]

I started the track a little late on the skin up but you get the gist of it. Skiing back down the lower Sid Davis drainage was the tricky bit. It was almost a pillow line, but discontinuous and some big rocks in play.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move89091104

[ghalsne]

That video got me hot and bothered! I think we were on baldy that day!

Heading up tomorrow to skin up! I assume I wont find that quality of Pow, but hoping it wont be all iced up either. I went up Waterman on wed at sunrise and there was plenty of deceitful and very hard snow. Still had a good time though.

Any updated reports for snow quality? I assume no new accumulation....