In early April, it looked like our
skiing season was about to end early, as
a result of the lowest precipitation in
recorded history. Then, the skies began
to fill with heavy moisture-laden clouds
that were being whipped around by strong
and gusty winds.
That weekend, April 14-15, the storm was
due to hit the Sierra and I had a
scheduled outing to the South Lake area
out of Bishop to climb and ski
Cloudripper and Mt. Goode.
When the participants, Ellen, Jake,
Andy, Scott, Jim and Mark, arrived
Saturday morning, everything was still
calm and clear and Mt. Goode seemed like
our best option. On the way there, Scott
and I decided to bag Chocolate Peak, as
it is has a classy look and a nice
snowfield that enticed us to go for it.
The views from the top were impressive.
While up there, we stayed in touch with
all other participants by 2-way radios.
We decided to regroup above Long Lake, closer to Mt. Goode. On our way up
the class two route on the back side of
Mt. Goode, the wind picked up and
visibility grew more limited as the
snowfall increased.
Eventually, the wind, visibility, and
new snow prompted us to retreat. We
savored the powder runs and executed
many fine turns.
Back at the cars, the storm let up and
it was a pleasant evening of
conversation for the few who decided to
spend the night. By about 9:30 p.m.
Ellen and I dozed off, anticipating the
storm had blown over and we would get
more of that fresh 6 inches in the
morning.
At about 4:00 a.m., I awoke to see that
more than a foot of new snow had
accumulated around our van and it was
still coming down heavy. By 6:00 am
there was about 18 inches and I was
concerned about being able to get down
the road. Fortunately, Jim and Mark had
a high clearance 4 wheel drive truck and
I brought chains. Since the snow wasn’t
letting up, we all decided to get to a
lower elevation before none of us could
move since no snow plow was anticipated
just to clear a road to a parking area
that had only been opened the Monday
before.
Jim and Mark did a fine job opening up a
path for Ellen and I to be able to push
through behind in our lower clearance
van until we got to a point where we
felt we were safely at a lower
elevation, then we broke out our skis to
savor the new powder -- it was great and
great knowing that this amount of snow
was going to extend our ski season for
weeks to come.
.jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)
Alvin on Chocolate Peak
Mt. Goode from Long Lake
Scott & Andy in the wind
Following 4wd down the road
|
