Nightrider

I popped down to SF and was able to connect with Steve-O to hit some night riding out on the trails around his house. He's been talking it up for a few years now, but the cost of entry with the high powered lights has just kept me from diving in. He was able to snag a few from his buddy Josh and we got out for a great 15 mile rip-fest. Guess it's time to throw down on them lights, but alas the snow has started to fall in Tahoe and it's time to get back up to rip some pow.

After a long climb we are in some thick fog

Down, down & fast, fast

A fun little vid from the evening excursion (passcode: nightrider)

Spring in Feb

One big but tragic storm came our way in February. Tragic because though there was a decent amount of precip in it – around 10" of water, it rained almost to the tops of most summits in the area, leaving much less snow than desired. Warm temps followed and what was up in the mountains quickly became spring-like conditions for a few weeks. I had a few fun days at the resort but managed to get out for a few back country tours to get some nice spring slop and even a stellar corn run in – 3 months before conditions should be this way. Dan and I got up to Jakes for some fantastic lake views, then joined up with Andy for a separate day over on Rose Knob. Andy is my back country guru and I always feel lucky to join him and get shown a stash or two in the area. And finally, I headed down to S. Lake and joined Ari and his friends Justin & Nick for a tour up Red Lake Peak over on Carson Pass.

With a series of storms lined up off the coast, my fingers are crossed for some more wintery conditions in our near future, but have enjoyed spring in Feb here in the Sierra. In other unfortunate news, I'm still on the hunt for work, so, um, I suppose I will just continue to play...

Warm temps made the air nice and toasty, but the shade made for some unspectacular snow to skin on

Dan with me, enjoying lunch up top of Jakes

Beautiful lunch site above Emerald Bay

Fueled up and ready to head down the East side of Jakes

Me making some fun turns on the 40+ degree face

Dan making his own mark

A challenging skin up was followed by a challenging skin out with the low snow

Back on it with Andy & Dan over on Rose Knob

Andy & I grab a quick snack before we drop in on our first run

Another gorgeous place to ski – Dan approaching the summit

Dan making some scenic turns on our second run on Rose Knob

The boys making their way up on Carson Pass

Ari peaks out and is ready for a bite to eat before heading down

Me with new friends, Nick & Justin on the summit of Red Lake Peak

View across the valley of Crescent Couloir up on Round Top Peak – a ski for another day

Me making my way through the mank down the open face

Justin putting his new knee to the test in the heavy snow

Heavy but fun turns

A look back up from the runout

Even the road home was a scenic one