Splitboard.com Forums

hey guys and hopefully gals,

It's been a while since I was on the forum (regrettably few split trips recently). I'm planning a quick trip the weekend of July 9th. I have to pick someone up at LAX on Saturday noon, then we want to charge to the southern Sierra or anywhere. Any ideas for good places late in the year? I know there is still tons of snow. My old standby is Mineral King in Sequoia National Park. My family has a house on Mineral King, but that late in the year we'd be looking at an hour hike in the dirt, so I'm wondering if there are any other places with higher starting points and easy access?

Any ideas or info would be appreciated. We did Onion Valley in mid-May and it was awesome, put skins on in the parking lot. We could go there again, although I'm sure the snowline is higher now.

Thanks guys, happy turns.

Justin

yeah i think anywhere you go will probably have a bit of a dirt approach. what i'd do is close your eyes and randomly point your finger onto a tom harrison map of seqouia kings canyon. you cant really go wrong.

yep, the dirt will be difficult to avoid this time of year. Thanks for the input.

heynow! sbboarder

have not been up to MK yet this year but i am sure it is still holding snow.
http://www.mk-webcam.net/

family has a cabin there eh? nice! any chance you can use it mid-winter?

well if you are thinking eastside - then tioga or other high ele spots will be your best bet. still good up high, say above 10k = below that it is pretty slushy and where exposed - suncupped. i have to ask myself is it worth the efforts for the rewards? if so then who cares about a little dirt walk. i say heck, every day you ride is one more day you DONT have to wait till next season.

while i wont endorse going to conness zone, that would be a good spot due to high ele access. maybe you will be able to take a boat ferry across the lake by then and it is probably still super filled in up high.

Hey Fullers,

Thanks for the info. I forgot about the MK webcam. I’m sure it is holding snow, so we’ll probably just go there. I was there Memorial Day weekend and got skunked because they hadn’t managed to plow the road, so we hiked two miles on the road just to get to the valley, and by the time we arrived the fog rolled in and there was zero visibility. I don’t mind the hike, but I’ll be with a newbie, so I’ll have to explain it’s part of the adventure. Not like I haven’t done it many times before.

The family cabin is only 7 miles up MK Road, so it can definitely be used mid-winter, but that doesn’t say much for winter access to Mineral King valley. Have never tried that.

I thought about Tioga too, but I think it’s too far given the small window of time we have. I am not familiar with conness zone?

coness is at tioga pass

got it. Thanks

lol! Did dave just "not" recommend Conness?