The saga continues: this week’s storm dropped copious amounts of moisture on our local mountains, and, above 8000 feet, at least temporarily brought things back into the “skiable” category.

Astonishingly, the 2 is still open, meaning there is currently drive-up access to the absolutely stellar backcountry terrain between Vincent Gap (Baden-Powell) and Cloudburst Summit (Waterman Mountain)—with more snow imminent.

My urge to shout this wonderful news from the rooftops is a bit tempered however by the sobering reality that our current November SoCal snowpack is one of the trickiest and most treacherous I’ve ever tangled with.

I was counting on the recent snow to cover up the unskiable ice—which it did. I was not counting on the new snow, itself, to transition to ice so quickly—within 24 hours, as best I can tell.

I was skinning as soon as I gained the ridge above Dawson Saddle, so coverage is great. But at these lower elevations, the snow basically solidified overnight. A soft and fuzzy layer of hoar crystals (more on that in a bit) sat atop an otherwise hard and smooth surface.

Given much of the 2’s terrain is steepest right above the road, that means you encounter maximum consequence where the snowpack is thinnest—ie, bring your axe and crampons.

And oh wow is there ice out there right now. It’s beautiful. It’s everywhere. It’s… deadly. Falling ice hazard easily made this a helmet day.

As I was admiring (and photographing) it, it occurred to me it would be very ironic if I got capped by a piece of ice while taking pictures of ice. So I tried to remember to expand my field of awareness to include sky as well as ground.

Waterman should be skiable at the very top—above the lodge. Not skiable below. Islip did not look skiable except at the very top. Kratka/Buckhorn are no’s as well. Prior to this storm, everything melted except shaded or steep north aspects over 8500′.

Despite the day’s many objective hazards, it still felt incredible to be out there. It was cold and silent; about 29 degrees when I started hiking. I could rapture on endlessly about the simple pleasures (and sanity-preservation) of skinning up in the San Gabriels. Eventually I topped out, took some more photos, and then went skiing.

Look: sooner or later, you’re going to figure out there’s snow out there whether or not I point it out to you. Under the circumstances, I think my job is to give you some notion of what to expect if you’re thinking about skiing or boarding it.

Normally I relish my role as an evangelist, but I really can’t encourage you to just get out there. Until colder, drier snow arrives in quantity, the Angeles Crest is exclusively offering high-level, high-consequence ski mountaineering. Not gentle beginner-friendly fun.

Looking ahead to the next storm: that surface hoar layer surprised me. We don’t normally see such aggressive crystal formation, but then again, we don’t normally see skiable snowpacks in mid-November.

Given a foot or more of new snow is on the way tonight, our AIARE instructors would probably be yelling at us right now to watch for developing slab hazard, and they might be right. Who knows? I certainly don’t.

For me it’s a thrill getting to explore our local mountains in this new, unexpected, and uber-dynamic November ski season. Absolutely, in terms of never-seen-that-before, it’s pretty rich out there. If you go, expect to be challenged.

SierraDescents

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