Mammoth

A Guides Day Off; Skiing Mt Ritter

At this point in life one would think that I would take days off at a beach somewhere with drinks in tall glasses and little umbrellas in them. But no, have to go skiing. Friend Jen Giraud and I had talked for years about skiing Mt Ritter the prominent peak visible from Mammoth. A fantastic peak with the history of John Muir's first ascent and a ski from the very top. So we took snowmobiles ( have learned a few things) to Agnew Meadows, camped there and climbed and skied the next day. About 6000 vertical and about 17 miles. Snow was pretty good, but up high still wet winter [...]

By SP parker|2016-12-23T19:52:38-08:00May 6th, 2011|Backcountry Skiing|

Yosemite High Tour, 11-15 April 2008

Bob, Charlie, Curt, Jon, and Phil joined SP and I for one of the classic tours of the Eastern Sierra, the Yosemite High Tour from Mammoth Mountain to Tioga Pass. After a breakfast meeting in Mammoth Lakes, we drove up to the ski area to get started on Friday, 11 April. After a long descent to Agnew Meadows, we said goodbye to the snow-covered Minaret Summit Road and continued down to our first camp near Olaine Lake. We discovered fresh bear tracks moving ahead of us, and hung our food that night. The next morning we had to pioneer a new variation along the west side of the valley. Strong [...]

By SP parker|2016-12-23T19:52:43-08:00May 20th, 2008|Backcountry Skiing|