After an extraordinary long winter with more than average amounts of snow, the Sierra Nevada really lived up to it's name: there was and still is a lot of "Nevada" up in the Sierras and it'll take quite some time to melt it all. One ski resorts for example decided to stay open until August! (click). I was in the Donner Pass...

DG aka "Why Wait!?" and I wanted to go for a "hike" a long time already, but for one and the other reason it never happened yet. Today it did and it was a fun showshoe/back country ski outing on a wonderful spring day in the Sierras. We did the loop from Woods Lake to Round Top and back, like Donnie Darko and I did...

Round Top is on my wish list every season and today I was contemplating to start at Woods Lake, like I did here. However, the last winter storm brought more snow to the already very high snow pack in this area and I was afraid to not even be able to park at the turnout there. Instead I planned to start at the sno-park on Carson...

The start to the winter in California's Sierra Nevada was rather slow, but picked up in mid January and really kicked in in February. In the Donner Pass / Castle Peak area there were more than 7 meters of snowfall in February, with some daily totals of more than a meter. At this point the cumulative snow fall at Donner Pass is...

Since I'm still employed in Switzerland, I get the Swiss Holidays off at work even though I live in California. This has advantages and disadvantages. One of advantages is that on those Swiss Holidays almost nobody has the day off in the US and therefore, it's hardly ever crowded, neither on the roads nor in the mountains. If you...

As you might have noticed by now, Round Top is one of my favorite goals in winter and summer. So far my starting point for this tour has always been Carson Pass. For back-country ski tours, the section from Carson Pass to Winnemucca Lake is somewhat sub-optimal. The main reason is that this part is rather flat with only little...

Whenever I drive to Carson pass from east during the winter, I see the nice east facing slopes of Red Lake - and Stevens Peak, which look very inviting for skiing. David Wonser praises Red Lake Peak's east face on his website as "some of the best corn skiing terrain in Carson Pass". And that's exactly what my plan was for the day....

In Northern California we had an unusually long lasting period of very hot weather for more than a week now. The high temperatures were up to 110°F (43°C)! Luckily where we live, we have two options to flee the heat, we either go to the Pacific Coast where temperatures are always cool even during the hottest days in the summer,...

I had plenty of real life views and took many many pictures of Round Top in the last few weeks. Due to the massive amounts of snow this area got during this winter, I thought of an approach to the top from northeast. I did not find any reports in the www about such a line, but judging from my inspection last week from the top and...

If I had to name "my favorite peak" in my new home, it would have to be Round Top. Not only because I have been on top of it 3 times already, but also because it offers quite a few interesting routes, in summer and winter and with it's >10000ft altitude a very nice view as well. One of the little more adventurous routes to the...

On this day I had a clear goal: to get a good workout with as much altimeter gain as possible. In the Tahoe area Freel Peak with is 10883 ft is one of the highest peaks and if you start somewhere around lake level (for example at the end of High Meadows Tail in Meyers (same as here), you get a good 4000 ft climb. So much for the...

Maggie's South Peak is a very popular hiking destinations in the Tahoe area. It is an easy marked path from Inspiration Point (a view point at Emerald Bay) to the top. During the summer months hundreds if not thousands of people visit this peak every year which offers a nice view to Lake Tahoe. During the winter, the peak is in...

Since I missed the true summit of Jakes Peak here, I wanted to go back and give it another try. This time I was aware and conscious of where to "find" the true summit. However, the very top of Jakes Peak remains unvisited by 360, this time I didn't quite succeed, because the technical difficulties for the last few meters to the...

By now you've probably heard or read that California's Sierra Nevada got a lot of snow this winter. The Squaw Valley ski resort officials already decided that their ski lifts will stay open until the Fourth of July weekend. No wonder, because their cumulative total snow fall this season currently is at 623 inches (15.8 meters)!...

According to several sources Jakes Peak (or grammatically correct: Jake's Peak) is one of the most popular back country ski destinations in the Tahoe area. With its corner position at the north end of Emerald Bay it offers fabulous views of Lake Tahoe in general and Emerald Bay in particular. With the many many feet of snow this...

The Sierra Nevada got quite some early snow this season and I was eager to get out there after yet another month without serious mountain activities. My tour today only makes sense if the Northstar ski resort hasn't fully opened all their slopes and lifts yet. The otherwise very crowded ski area and groomed slopes would most...

The two main conclusions from my hike a few days ago were: "There is plenty of snow on the Northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a ski tour and I need to improve my fitness" helped me decide on what to do on this day: A ski tour with only little altitude gain on the northern slopes of Round Top. Since I hiked Round...

Last week a storm brought about 10 inches of snow to the Tahoe region. So I was hoping to finally get my skis broken in for the season. In order to make sure an attempt to do a ski tour wouldn't fail this time, I planned to start at an elevation of almost 8000ft and in addition choose north facing slopes for my tour. Waterhouse...

Last weekend the Sierra Nevada got about 8 inches of fresh snow and even though the past winter had only way below average snow, I fancied doing another ski tour before the snow definitely melts. As my goals I chose a few peaks in the vicinity of the Squaw Valley Ski Resort (which is closed for the season). The fact that the...

Mount Tallac is a favorite destination for Tahoe’s backcountry ski crowd and it's also popular with boarders. According to some sources it's actually rated one of the "top 10" backcountry skiing destinations in the US. My plan to get to the top via N-Ridge (which used to be the standard) and ski down the NE bowl had to be...