Tioga Pass, today, 10K feet, freezing nights, warm sunny days, 1 inch of corn over a firm frozen base.  Perfect.  That's the quick summary.  It has been a warm year.  The snow stayed very high, between 6000 and 7000 feet in most storms.  There is little left in the Sierra now unless you go even higher.  That means "The East Side", a term spoken in reverence by west coast backcountry skiers.  You drive through the low passes and little peaks of the Tahoe Basin and head south on 395, the greatest recreational highway in America.  The Sierra is a fault block range, precipitous on the east side.  For 250 miles from Carson City, NV to Mojave, CA, there are no open passes in winter, November to May.  The road is never more than a few miles from the peaks, which get steadily bigger as you go south to Lone Pine and Mt. whitney, highest in the lower 48 at 14,495.  You drive for hours and the snow capped giants of the East Side march past one by one.  If you love mountains and skiing as I do, it is the stuff of dreams.  

CA Highway 120 runs from Fresno east through Yosemite and over Tioga Pass ending at the little town of Lee Vining, CA.  I knew that the pass is still closed from the eastern gate of Yosemite, but I also knew that this is very close to the high point and if I could drive up there, there would still be vast snowy terrain for anybody who doesn't need a lift.  The drive up is even more stunning than 395.  Also intimidating.  There are sheer cliffs rising hundreds if feet above you on one side and sheer drops of thousands on your left side.  No guardrails.  But, don't take my word for it.  Go see it and ski it.

For those of you back east, the Mt. washington auto road is soon to open.  They almost always have it clear by memorial Day.  It gives easy access to the summit snowfields and the Great Gulf.  I did it almost every year for my last 20 years in DC.  Its worth the drive. 

Go for it Denis:-)

Grass-fed skiing at Jay Peak, May 2016, from unofficialnetworks. The guy in the video skis better on grass than snow:

 http://unofficialnetworks.com/2016/05/watch-skiing-jay-peak-in-may-grass-fed-turns

That is poetic, very easy to read.  Denis we need a compendium of your essays, a future best seller among the outdoors crowd. 

pagamony wrote:

That is poetic, very easy to read.  Denis we need a compendium of your essays, a future best seller among the outdoors crowd. 

Did you say poetry! I am deeply hurt. I did win a poetry.com award which I have hanging over my toilet . Unbelievable. I posted a few of my works here and I still have not one kudos I don't understand;  my best works have been deleted from this site oh the loss. I'll have to dig up some jack Daniels to soothe my rage.

Crush wrote:

pagamony wrote:

That is poetic, very easy to read.  Denis we need a compendium of your essays, a future best seller among the outdoors crowd. 

Did you say poetry! I am deeply hurt. I did win a poetry.com award which I have hanging over my toilet . Unbelievable. I posted a few of my works here and I still have not one kudos I don't understand;  my best works have been deleted from this site oh the loss. I'll have to dig up some jack Daniels to soothe my rage.

oh man, don't mean to crush your dreams.  when the mood strikes try it again and we'll put the jack on ice.