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Winter Thoughts… and Evidence?

Winter should be just around the corner – or at least what passes for winter here in coastal central California. It has recently gotten cold (I can hear the midwesterners laughing outloud, “You call that cold!?”) but we still haven’t seen much in the way of winter-type storms here. Oddly, we had a series of early Pacific storms in late September and October – they closed passes in the Sierra for a few days and caused my talusdancers and me to cancel our annual mid-October Final Sierra Pack Trip Before The Snow Falls because, well, the snow had already fallen. But since then we’ve only had maybe one real storm.

But there is some news suggesting that something resembling winter is coming to the Sierra. First, and not unexpectedly, Tioga Pass Road over the Sierra crest in Yosemite was finally closed for the season by the last storm. (Now the annual guessing game can begin – when will it open?) And I saw a report today at The Little Red Tent about the preparations going on at Yosemite’s historic Badger Pass ski area. Although it isn’t open yet, I’m quite certain that I saw people on skis in those photos…

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December 11, 2007 - Posted by | Commentary

2 Comments

  1. Hiya, Dan! Yep, you did see folks on skis in those pictures. Those were staff. Some instruction going on for us first timers, and some folks who live and die for the snowy slopes who just had to make sure their gear was in working order. It is NOT open to the public yet, not until we get more snow. The young lady on the snowmobile mentioned that there are a lot of streams just under the snow, and in some places they are visible.

    Rumor mill has it another storm may be coming our way Monday night. Think Snow.

    Comment by Ambitious Wench | December 11, 2007

  2. Cool! I’m certainly thinking snow at this point. (As a teacher, I have a few weeks of “snow” – and photography – time coming up.) When you describe yourself as a “first-timer,” is that a first time skier or a first time employee at Badger?

    I cross-country skied in that area for a long time. These days I still XC ski but I also do a bit of easy intermediate level telemark skiing, too.

    Dan

    Comment by Dan Mitchell | December 11, 2007


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