I don't feel like writing the usual conditions/snowpack/whatever beta bits. Lets just say it was a thin Great Basin snowpack, with some isolated windslabs and generally firm conditions underneath. Its unusual to get that much snow there, but it worked! Story: King Lear peak is a captivating Nevada mountain , which holds a special place in many people's hearts (mine included). It’s frequently seen and revered as a steep hulking mass seeming to rise straight from the black rock

Location: Weeks Creek, East Humboldt Range Conditions: Actually good, though probably wind wrecked now Snowpack: Reasonably deep, and actually (surprisingly) quite a bit deeper than our previous visit. Seems like that last storm dropped 1-2 feet depending on aspect and windloading. Speaking of which...there were absolutely some weird and spooky wind layers and slabs forming. Story: Our previous visit to the East Humboldts had been a fruitful mission, skiing a very steep coulo

Location: Adams Peak, Osgood Mountains Conditions: Sagebrush, ice, corn, and light old fluff (on north facing) Snowpack: Not super deep, only skiable on north thru east aspects above 7,500 ft. Seemed well consolidated. Alls good at sunset over the Osgoods Story: I love the basin and range so much, that I’ll do just about anything for a good adventure out there. Sometimes that results in good skiing and other times, well… it’s a good ol’ sagebrush smashing adventure. Often tim

Location: EastSide (East Side of Rubies, East Side of South Rubies, East Side of East Humboldts) Conditions: Rain affect down low, transitioning to windboard, windbuff, and full on powpow at higher elevations. Mostly staying cold, especially on North aspects and at elevation. Snowpack is sitting about average, which translates to decent coverage on most aspects above 7,500 feet. Many lines are skiable, though some bigger lines could use a little more coverage. Avalanche Conce

Location: Santa Rosa Range, East Side Conditions: Virtually everthing -dust on crust, windbuff, glare ice, mahogany forest powpow, corn, windcrust, mud, and lots of sagebrush tip knockers. Snowpack/Avalanche Considerations: Dug a pit at around 8,000 ft. on east facing 33 degree slope. Snowpack was 170 cm deep at that locale. Some weaker layers with facets were buried in the top 10-15 cm of pack, and what appeared to be a rain crust was found 5-10 cm deep. I would be a little

Location: Ruby Mountains, specifically Right Fork Lamoille Canyon Conditions: Wonderful bluebird spring pow, crunchy/crusty down low transitioning to blower up high. Story: Mt. Gilbert has been on my list of dream lines since I first set eyes on it years ago. It's a huge glacial horn that appears spectacular from State Route 227 (Lamoille Rd.), and is easily visible just before reaching Terminal Cancer Couloir. The imposing north face stretches over 3,000 feet to the bottom o

Location(s): Shoshone Range (North Shoshone Peak) and Toquima Range (Wildcat Peak) Conditions: Blower pow around a foot deep depending on wind and aspect, quickly warming and transforming with sun. Skiable snowpack above 8,000 ft. on most aspects, North/shaded aspects down to 7,000 ft. Road skiing and sagebrush tip knockers predominant at lower elevations. Choose approaches wisely. Concerns: Mostly just a few wind loaded pockets and storm slabs were forming in spots. Snowpack