Winter 2022

This winter was not only my favorite winter yet, but maybe even the best season since I moved out this way. Between Shannon moving to Tahoe, patrolling at Mt. Rose, December powder days and spring corn, it’s been a hoot and a half here in the majestic Sierra Nevada.

Winter this year went from being nonexistent with November being one of the driest ever, straight into a record December with 18 feet of snow. Hopes were high that trend would continue throughout the season, but climate change kept us firmly planted in a world of extremes. January, February and March brought an unprecedented dry spell with just 40” of snow combined, followed by a record 86” in April. Despite near average annual snowfall, the front-weighted storms and an exceptionally warm spring now have the Sierra sitting right around 30% of average annual snowpack. To put it lightly, our water and fire outlooks are bleak at best.

There may not be any fresh snow falling anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’m letting ski season conclude. There’s still a week down in Mammoth to be enjoyed training and testing with the Association of Professional Patrollers, terrain familiarization and ski tour of Mt. Shasta with the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team, backcountry corn to be found with pals and slush to be shred at Palisades.

Sometime toward the end of May I’ll go for a quick lap of the Tahoe Rim Trail. I tried in November but had to bail thanks to the few remaining water sources being frozen. This time around I’ll still get to enjoy plenty of snow up high, but flowing water should be plentiful. After that I’ll head east for a short while to see my family before heading up to the Canadian border to begin the Continental Divide Trail with Shannon.

There’s no better way to wrap up a fantastic season than with the anticipation of more fun to come!

Winter 2022 Tunes

Featured

By the end of December, 225 inches of snow had fallen on Mt. Rose, making the task of setting up and maintaining the mountain a daunting one. | 12/14/21 Mt. Rose, NV

Arriving at the peak at the tail end of a storm cycle. | 12/15/21 Andesite Peak, CA

Heading up the spine of Andesite Ridge after a fresh dump. Better even than the views is the wind protection. | 12/16/21 Andesite Peak, CA

911 Dispatch contacted Mt. Rose about a missing person potentially on the mountain, prompting an after hours search. | 12/25/21 Mt. Rose, NV

Ruthless distracted me with a dice game while working my side hustle driving a van around Olympic Valley. | 1/11/22 Olympic Valley, CA

A solid flow of Hot Toddy's at the Tahoe City ice rink gets Jay groovin'. | 1/20/22 Tahoe City, CA

Matt takes the mantra "look good, have fun, be safe" very seriously while patrolling. | 1/27/22 Mt. Rose, NV

Freshly rimed trees with distant views of Lake Tahoe make sweeping the mountain at the end of the day a treat. Special thanks to Stephen Neff for loaning me a Venus Laowa 9mm lens to play with for a couple of months! | 2/23/22 Mt. Rose, NV

Beau and Cameron practice with the RECCO, a device used to help locate victims buried in avalanche debris. | 3/3/22 Mt. Rose, NV

Shannon takes off from the halfway station at the Great Ski Race, a 26 km course to benefit the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team. Despite skiing an extra 5 km from our house to the start, beginning 45 minutes late, and taking a healthy break at the soup station she still finished with a quite respectable time. | 3/6/22 Tahoe City, CA

The Tahoe Cross Country Center didn't know they needed a door greeter until Ruthless arrived and did such a bang up job. | 3/8/22 Tahoe City, CA

Ruthless and Shannon take a sit at Silver Hut, part of the Tahoe Cross Country trail system. | 3/8/22 Tahoe City, CA

In the nordic skiing world, downhills are terrifying and everything hurts, all the time. These hippie purists are a different breed, yet at the end of the day I was still smiling just as much as after a day of gravity assisted skiing. | 3/8/22 Tahoe City, CA

At the end of the season we were sent on the Mt. Rose Rookie Scavenger Hunt, 17 secret and interestingly named locations in back corners of the mountain. We were meant to prove our success with a simple selfie, but Devin and I took things to another level. The full set of images can be found here. | 3/9/22 Mt. Rose, NV

Turns out my ski crampons perfectly fit and preserve my leftover breakfast sandwhich for enjoyment at the top of the climb. | 3/21/22 Twin Peaks, CA

Jennie at the base of Twin Peaks, still riding the high from killer turns off the 8,880' summit. Due to a low snowpack, we had to boot pack on the PCT before skinng the ridge up to the peak. | 3/21/22 Twin Peaks, CA

Mo peers out from a snow cave, soon to be rescued by Carmen, a Mt. Rose Avalanche dog as part of a training scenario. | 3/23/22 Mt. Rose, NV

Penny the pig, a rescue that now lives with the Common family in their Kings Beach home. | 3/25/22 Kings Beach, CA

Shannon does a van deep clean and mattress assessment in preparation for overnighting at the Winter Wondergrass bluegrass festival. | 3/31/22 Olympic Valley, CA

Lebowski came out from Colorado to ski and party at Winter Wondergrass. | 4/1/22 Alpine Meadows, CA

Best friends Squiller and Shannon enjoy some morning rays before the jams start at Wondergrass. | 4/2/22 Olympic Valley, CA

Ryan grills up some dogs after a fantastic day of spring corn skiing. | 4/3/22 Olympic Valley, CA

Lebowski and Shannon hydrate in preparation for the Infamous Stringdusters headlining show while Squiller cowers, terrified of every single thing that moves. | 4/2/22 Olympic Valley, CA

Lebowski enjoys the newest addition to the RAD4, a sink/urinal that drains out to the ground below. | 4/3/22 Olympic Valley, CA

Tish and Kevin skin along the ridge of Black Mountain during a killer ski tour in the Eastern Sierra. | 4/24/22 Black Mountain, CA

Kevin and Tish on the uphill skin track for a second lap off Black Peak. Dunderberg Peak and Virginia Lakes dominate the background. | 4/24/22 Black Peak, CA