Sugarbowl Sidecontry March 2010

This week we were blessed with two storms dropping fresh snow. The temperatures have stayed cold, so even though there has been bluebird days between the storms, there are still pockets of incredible untracked snow to be had.

The deep snow has been tough on the wildlife. The first photo is an unusual coyote track - more like a trough plowing through the soft surface layer.

(Click on center of picture to start slideshow...)




We were headed down to Mt. Tallac, but I discovered I had forgotten my poles at the trailhead (urrgh!) so we turned around and made the best of the remains of an incredible day skiing the sidecountry around Sugarbowl. Hunting for pockets of light powder left over from the two storms earlier this week, we looked all over the place, finally finding a perfect stash off Cross Nest Peak towards the late afternoon. I lapped it a few times after parting ways with Jeff,then pointed tips towards home down and through the woods, skating back across Van Norden Meadow in the balmy afternoon sunshine. Gotta love California ski touring.