Loma Prieta Ski Touring Section

06/02/2022

The picture above is from an overnight trip to Lassen NPw during Jan-Mar, changed some of our trip plans, but the April storms helped save the late season. We are looking for volunteers to help lead the section. If you are interested, please contact me.

The picture above is from an overnight trip to Lassen NP. Click here to see the album. https://photos.app.goo.gl/wreCn7yHnjPEYxMJ8

05/01/2021

05/01/2021

Some photos from the Lassen Volcanic NP Spring break trip April 8-10.

04/27/2019

Temperature extremes at 7000 ft have been in the 60s during the day and 30s at night. That means plenty of melting with possible crust developing in early mornings from radiational cooling. With 6-8 feet of snow on the ground, skiing should remain good, but the snow will be softer than a week ago. High temperatures will dip to 48F Tuesday with overnight lows around 25F as cooler weather moves in. Temperatures will rise into the 50s by next weekend (4th-5th), but weather will turn showery.

The Sugar Bowl, Royal Gorge, and Soda Springs resorts are closed for the season. Donner Ski Ranch is open daily until April 28, then weekends until the snow is gone. Boreal may be open. Squaw Valley will be open daily through Memorial Day, then weekends until July 7. Alpine Meadows is open on weekends through May 19. Tahoe Donner is closed for the season.

The Donner Summit Sno-Park was cleared of snow on April 19. There were some problems with ice in the restrooms, so prepare accordingly.

Sierra Club huts remain available, and there is lots of snow in the backcountry; contact Clair Tappaan Lodge (530-4260-3632) about reservations. The attached photo was provided by a user of Benson Hut last weekend. He reported no obvious damage, so the repairs after the 2017 burial are apparently holding up.

The final forecast from the Sierra Avalanche Center for 2018-19 was issued on April 21. 👍

04/19/2019

It's definitely spring skiing at Donner Summit. There's plenty of snow cover at the Summit, the sun is out, and the temperatures are warm. Temperature extremes today were 37F at dawn and 58F at midday at 7000 ft. Tomorrow's range will be similar, but there will be clouds. There could be rain/snow showers Saturday, and a high of 44F is forecast; Sunday a bit warmer but mostly cloudy and no precipitation. Overnight the temperature both Saturday and Sunday will dip below freezing meaning that the snow will firm, allowing for morning 'crust cruising' on local meadows. The middle of next week could see 60F and sun again; next weekend more showers and cooler.

On the drive up today (Thursday), we saw first snow above Drum Forebay (4700 ft). It's possible to ski at Cisco Grove (5500 ft). You'll find better snow on north facing slopes; expect mostly rocks on south facing at that elevation. Loch Leven Lakes might work. There's still 6-8 feet of snow on the ground at 7000 ft; a few additional inches fell Monday but are now integrated with the base. I walked on base snow in street shoes this afternoon; virtually no sinking. I went to Peter Grubb Hut (7800 ft) last weekend (photo attached), where the nearby snow is only slightly lower than the roofline, meaning 12-15 ft deep. Royal Gorge closed Sunday, which means skiing in Van Norden Meadow (perhaps from Clair Tappaan Lodge?) is now unregulated. Meadows are generally smooth and easy to ski; under the trees there's more variability in texture and depth.

The Donner Summit Sno-Park was open this afternoon; there were about a dozen cars parked parallel along the sides of the linear stretch near the entrance, which meant there was only one lane for vehicles to get in and out. In the loops at the east end there were roughly another 20 cars primarily for snow play. The outhouses were still buried in snow, but a couple people were shoveling the one closer to the entrance. The web site says the site is still closed; Sno-Park management may be waiting for outhouse recovery and official word from Boreal before announcing availability. If you plan to use the Sno-Park this weekend, arrive early; there are likely to be a lot of others trying to park there even if the re-opening is not well-publicized.

For spring, the skiing conditions are reasonably good now at 7000 ft. The showery weather forecasts for this weekend and next are a slight negative, but waiting a couple weeks for sunnier weekend conditions may not be wise since the warming temperatures will eventually lead to round-the-clock slush. On the other hand, there may very well be skiable snow to the end of May is slush is acceptable.

The Sierra Avalanche Center forecast today (Thursday) was for "1.Low" danger in the morning but increasing to "2.Moderate" as the snow warmed and wet snow avalanches became more likely. Watch for terrain hazards and dangerous snow conditions in the backcountry even though there hasn't been big storm for several weeks.

02/23/2019

Donner Summit Snow update #8 (2/21)
It's cold but snowing flurries at the Summit; temp range today was 11F to 20F. There's wind. Although most of northern California is clear and sunny, clouds hang over the mountains. There should be more sun tomorrow, but clouds return on the weekend. Temperatures will remain below freezing through at least Sunday. Roads are clear and parking is reasonable, but blowing snow continues to keep roads like Donner Pass Road white and potentially slippery. Drive with care.

Snow is deep (8-10 feet) and powdery. Skiing should be excellent this weekend. Resorts are open, but not all trails are groomed — for example, Royal Gorge's Van Norden Meadow parking was not open today, but I'd expect it to be ready for the weekend. Avalanche danger is "2.Moderate" at all levels. Be prepared to break trail if you're going where others have not.

01/11/2019

Reminder. STS Jan meeting is tonight (Thursday) @ 7 PM at the Sports Basement in Sunnyvale. COme here about upcoming trips and new gear.

12/15/2018

2018 Dec 14-15 STS Tahoe Snow report
by Dick Simpson
First snow along I-80 as I drove to Donner Summit today was just above Baxter (4000 ft). It's probably skiable at 6000 ft. I've not skied yet (at 7000 ft), but cover appears to be about 2 feet deep on north facing forested slopes. There is less where the sun gets to it, but it may be OK if you watch for exposed rocks. From my deck, it appears that about six inches of snow have fallen (and consolidated) since I was at Donner Summit two weeks ago.

At Serene Lakes, the snow is crusted but not icy — a benefit of short days and low sun angles. The high temperature today was 43F and the low this morning was 23F, so there's not a lot of freezing and thawing where the sun doesn't shine. Today was perfectly clear.

Tomorrow clouds move in and snow showers are predicted in the afternoon. There may be more snow showers Monday, then just cloudy until Christmas when more snow showers are forecast. So the snow depth and surface condition will probably not change much over the next two weeks.

Royal Gorge has about half of its 145 km groomed; both Summit Station and Van Norden Meadow are open. Neither was very busy today. Tahoe Donner has 35 km of trails groomed. I've not checked, but I suspect other nearby resorts are also open and functional.

04/07/2018

4 people attempted to reach Grouse Rock on the Sierra crest starting from Gstaad Rd in Tahoe City. We made most of the climb to Sierra crest, but turned around just south of Alpine Ski Area because of poor snow conditions and the incoming storm. Participants were Alex Sapazhnikov, Chris Wahl, Diane Gleason. Leader was John Cordes.

04/07/2018

Donner Summit Snow Report #14

Temperatures at Donner Summit have mostly been above freezing for the past week, so there's been melting. The South Yuba River is not close to flood stage; but it has as much water flowing as I've seen in 2018.

We saw snow along I-80 at Drum Forebay (4000 ft) when driving up this afternoon; but it's probably not worth trying to ski until you reach 6000 ft (e.g., Kingvale). At Soda Springs there's 1-3 feet of snow cover among the trees except on the most exposed south-facing slopes. It's soft but skiable.

The short-term forecast has rain starting tonight and continuing through tomorrow into Saturday when temperatures will start to drop. There could be 2-3 inches of rain followed by 1-3 inches of snow with an overnight low of 20F Saturday. Sunday should be mostly sunny with a high around 50F at the Summit. With the sun, warm temperatures, and a bit of new snow, Sunday is the better of the two days this weekend for skiing.

The long-range forecast has unsettled (partly cloudy, showery) weather for the next two weeks with daytime highs typically in the mid-40s and overnight lows in the mid-20s at 7000 ft.

The Sierra Avalanche Center rated the avalanche danger as "2.Moderate" at all elevations this morning.

Soda Springs, Boreal, and Donner Ski Ranch appear to be open. Sugar Bowl remains open and will host the Quad Crusher Race next weekend (14 April) — a race up and down each of Sugar Bowl's major peaks, plus some minor ones. Royal Gorge had 72 of 126 trails and 72 of 148 km open today but warns that operations may be limited tomorrow (Friday) because of the rain. Royal Gorge expect to close April 15.

03/09/2018

Last week's storms dropped 4-5 feet of cold light powder at 7000 ft; temperatures stayed mostly below freezing through the weekend, and the ski areas were jammed. Sugar Bowl and Donner Ski Ranch were full by noon Sunday, and I overheard a woman in Truckee say she spent 3 hours crawling through traffic to get into Squaw Valley, only to be turned away when she got there. Friends skied to Bradley Tuesday and met a group that had spent 9 hours breaking trail to reach the hut on snowshoes Sunday.

From driving I-80 and Hwy 20 in the past three days, I think you can ski almost where you want if you're above 5000 ft. You may have to work your way around rocks and tree trunks on slopes exposed to the sun; but there's coverage in the backcountry. X-C trailheads above 5000 ft along Hwy 20 have 1-2 feet of snow. At Donner Summit it's more like 3-4 feet. But it's become heavier and wetter over the past few days. The high and low today in our sheltered corner of Serene Lakes (7000 ft) were 30F and 39F. There will be a crust in the morning, but it won't be very thick.

All ski resorts are open and running at full or nearly full speed. Royal Gorge has 75 of 126 trails open and 76.7 of 147.9 km groomed; both Summit Station and Van Norden Meadow are operational.

The Sierra Avalanche Center advisory for this weekend is "1. Low" at all elevations. Beware avalanche-prone slopes where the increasingly dense new snow has not bonded to the icy surface underneath. There was an avalanche from the Sierra Crest into the Pole Creek drainage last weekend (southwest of Bradley Hut). There were also avalanches at Squaw and Mammoth. A woman and her son were killed two days ago when snow slid off a condominium roof at Kirkwood and buried both.

Clouds will increase over the next 48 hours and temperatures will rise into the low 40s this weekend. Saturday and Sunday showers may be a mix of rain and snow; there could be another inch of snow accumulated both Saturday and Sunday. Dress appropriately for damp weather to avoid hypothermia. Temperatures will drop back to freezing by Tuesday and there could be a few days each with 6 inches of new snow before the following weekend. The forecast shows snow showers and highs around 30F on March 17 and 18.

So next weekend might have a little better weather for skiing; but the snowpack is respectable and skiing in the backcountry has become interesting again.

03/02/2018

Here is the latest Snow report from Donner Pass. Winter is here, at last, at last ;)
🤗
After a slow start, winter seems to be rolling along at Donner Summit. There was 6-8 inches of cold snow Monday and another 18 inches in the past 24 hours … and it's still coming. Our deck in Serene Lakes (7000 ft elevation) had 29 inches of light fluffy snow at midafternoon today, accumulated over the past two weeks. There are a couple caveats, however.

(1) I-80 has been closed much of today because of whiteout driving conditions, so getting here is a problem. The freeway is now open, but chains (or 4WD with snow tires) are required from Nyack to Truckee. Connecting roads to I-80 are plowed, but you should expect to need chains. Conditions on other roads vary; there was about 8 inches of snow on the street in front of our cabin until a few minutes ago.

(2) Although daytime high temperatures have been mostly in the low to mid 20s for the past couple weeks, it was 28F at lunchtime today and the falling snow started becoming wetter and heavier. Of more importance to backcountry travelers, the early afternoon snow formed a surprisingly strong layer on top of the powder. It was hard to break trail when we went out between 3 and 5 PM today. When my skis broke through the top layer, I'd sink to my knees in the powder; then it was really difficult to pull the tips back to the top. We spent about 15 minutes covering 100 yards between the house and Royal Gorge's Reindeer trail, which had been packed (but not groomed) around midday. This heavier layer will be less pronounced at higher elevations; but be prepared for a workout if you go into the backcountry before there has been much settling.

The Sierra Avalanche Center rated avalanche hazard as "4. High" at all elevations today. Travel in or below avalanche terrain was not recommended.

Royal Gorge apparently was closed today; their web site says they will "reopen" Friday "following the large snowfall". Tahoe Donner seems to have similar status. Sugar Bowl is warning guests to anticipate a late opening tomorrow "due to large amounts of snowfall." Boreal closed at 4 PM today because of high winds and road closures. Donner Ski Ranch is "closed until the weekend". All of the resorts on Donner Summit should be open this weekend; for a change, limitations will result from too much snow rather than too little.

The forecast for Donner Summit includes as much as a foot of additional snow tonight, 5-8 inches tomorrow, and perhaps 1-2 inches Saturday. High temperatures will be back around 20F through Saturday. There may be some breaks in the clouds Sunday with temperatures getting closer to freezing. Over the next couple weeks weather will be generally unsettled but with showers rather than heavier precipitation. There could be rain mixed with the snow showers in the middle of the next two weeks.

There's lots of good snow; but breaking trail in deep powder is hard work. Finding trails that have already been packed will simplify matters. Avalanche danger is high. The next two weeks look generally good for skiing but expect slow consolidation, somewhat warmer temperatures, and showery weather.

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