Since it was a beautiful although windy day, the snow park entertained a steady stream of visitors. We contacted 85 people on Saturday and another 6, incidentally, on Sunday. Most of the folks we talked with were on snowshoes, with maybe 20 skiers out of the total. There was additionally a steady stream of snowmobiles; most did not stop to talk with us or have a look at our snow shelters.

 

Several kids (and some adults) were delighted to try out the tarp covered trenches and the snow cave. We passed out all of the Lake Alpine Topo maps we got from Hathaway Pines, and many of the Winter Recreation maps. Several people expressed gratitude that we were there, and were delighted to receive maps and some guidance. One pair of skiers were looking for a challenging day and since we were able to give them a map and directions, they went all the way to Wheeler Ridge and back. (I spoke with them at the end of the day. They were thrilled and look forward to trying it again with better conditions and equipment.)

 

We toured the Slick Rock Road and Osbourne Hill, reestablishing the western part of the trail for the latter.

 

2/6 Sunday, after camping on the ridge about 1/4 mile north of the snow park, I took a morning tour also to Wheeler Ridge and found over a dozen new tracks from Saturday just along the top of N. Osbourne ridge! This area is being well used. - Kathy

 At 8:30 no cars at the trailhead. Fluffy white clouds in a bright blue sky! Accompanied by Keira, broke trail along the Multi use trail from Lake Alpine Snowpark to Slick Rock road. The road had been skied from Hiway 4 to the lake, and back. We continued to the junction of Emigrant trail and up over Osbourne Hill.

 Met a nice couple at the trailhead who were planning to snowshoe or walk Hwy 4.

Last weekend Charles, Kathy, Ted, and I skied the Bee Gulch trail on Saturday. The
trail was reasonably well marked except that the portion near the snow park could use
some improvement. Sunday, Kathy and I skied up Poison Canyon above Round Valley and
back down.  -Gery

Oodles and oodles of beautiful white snow!  The Silver Creek crossing below the Lake Alpine dam can (finally) be accomplished anywhere.  Which was most appreciated by patrollers who covered the north face of Inspiration Point last weekend with deeply cut turns. 

With some skiers we met on Saturday we dug some pits on Saturday, revealing, surprisingly, a shear layer ~11" from the surface, and another, about a foot below.  This is all from within the past week's storm, which accounted, in fact, for all six feet of the pit we dug.  Granted, the pit was on a lee slope, but you get the idea: there is *a lot* of snow out here, desperate to be enjoyed. 

(Despite the relatively (for California) dry snow, we expect the above mentioned shear interfaces to consolidate quickly.  But standard avy-caveat applies; dig your own pits if you venture into avy terrain.)

Meanwhile, remember that TELEFEST is coming up.  We'll have to patrollers teaching at it, and LANSP might be going out touring with the TeleFesters on the Sunday backcounty trip.  Plenty of logistics still to be worked out, but we hope to see you there.

Mark

We had our annual training trip this weekend, complete with two new candidates who will make fine patrollers.  We worked out some new protocols with the forest service, discussed avalanche issues, dug a snow pit (the snowpack's looking bomber), practiced beacon searches, constructed emergency shelters and toboggans, and practiced some map-and-compass orienteering.  We also skied around the lake, finding the bridge across the creek that PG&E recently installed.  (Trail information updated w/ location.)

It's snowing in Bear Valley just now, which is a good thing.  Happy touring and turning to all!

Mark

Super fun weekend out there at the lake, everyone.  Kathy, Meg, Ted, and I skied the trail system, getting some great turns off Wheeler on Sunday. 

Not that anyone was there to share it with.  We saw but one pair of ski tracks near the Hwy closure, and not a single sign of snowmachines the entire weekend.  Hwy 4 was being groomed to the lake as we headed back to the car Sunday night.

The ever persistent snowfall seemed heavy and wet as it came down, but was remarkably light when it came to trail breaking and descents.  Our snowpit on Osborne Ridge suggests that the storm cycle brought more than four feet.

The trail markers folks put up last August look great, but there are still some tricky route finding areas, so if you're heading out be sure to keep on your map-and-compass game.

We couldn't find a safe creek crossing below the dam, but with this past weekend's storm, and the precip forecast for this coming week, it won't be long before we hit SCS (safe circumambulation season)!

Ski on!
Mark