Never really thought about volcanoes blowing up as one of the alpine risks before. Crevasse, rockfall, Avalanche, getting lost, yes.
I will echo that Shasta is maybe the best spring ski mountaineering spot in the world but I am slightly biased having had many of my best days there.Mt. Shasta has some of the finest, most classic spring skiing anywhere. There’s no comparison to CA corn skiing. Take SPF infinity+ sunscreen. The corn there is dreamy but so is the terrain.
However, it’s not that close to an airport with direct flights to MPLS. SFO or Sacramento would be the destination airport.
if Reno RNO airport can work & Shasta is too far a drive, Mount Lassen is another great option to look at for springtime ski mountaineering.California looks like a great destination, but no way to get there in an evening.
Basically, I refuse to burn a day on just travel on each end of a 3-4day trip, so looking for something that can be reached leaving in the evening, and ski a moring on the last day and be home same day.
Definitely on the list for a longer spring trip some time (When kids are grown?)
@Analisa , can you give me some town/trailhead names so I can look up areas and travel times for those places?
Both Mt Ellinor and Green Mtn lookout, google only knows of ones in the Olympic Peninsula, , not the cascades.
No better corn skiing in the world. Lots of touring near Mammoth.how about Mammoth? FLy to Reno- 3hrs to Mammoth or Spring could fly into Mammoth
yup, east side of the Sierra is the shizz for corn skiing.No better corn skiing in the world. Lots of touring near Mammoth.
No glaciers, no fog.
Disagree with the notion that the PNW is hosed. Snowpack is 85% of average at Stevens and we’ve had a lot of rain that fell as snow in the alpine (plus 5 ft in the forecast @ 5000 ft through Friday). It’s been painfully late, but it’s happening.
Good to know. I looked at a snowpack map last week and the coastal ranges were around 20 - 30%. My buds in Glacier were not happy with winter so far.
The temp thing can be so fickle there. A few degrees either way means snow, or torrential rain.
Better than what? Better than another time of year in the same destination? Or better than a different destination at the same time of year?
Baker’s a bit behind (~80%). And temps keep things spicy in winter, but late spring touring is a pretty sure thing since it tends to be pretty dry.
? what do you mean?VT, today.