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Got a hall pass for 24 hours from wifey.

Thinking of driving down from Tahoe and camping at Tioga Lake tonight and riding Dana and/or Solstice couloir tomorrow AM.

How's the snowpack, avy conditions, etc?

Any tips to help us make the best of it?

This is our first trip down to that area this season due to injury, great local conditions, sloth, travel, etc.

I just got back from Tioga/Dana, spent three days down there. We rode Unknown Chute and Ellery Bowl on Friday, Poop Chute Saturday, and Solstice Sunday.

The snow in the chutes we rode seemed stable, but there are some huge ass cornices that are shedding onto the slopes a bit. I would avoid any approaches that involve climbing under any kind of cornices and limit any time riding under them. And watch out for your sluffs in the lower sections of the chutes.

There is a lot of snow left down there up high and a decent amount in glacier canyon for your exits. You can skin all the way up the back side of Dana and you can skin most of the way up the back side of the plateau to get on top of Ellery. You might have to unstrap and walk over rocks on your exit of glacier canyon or to gain the ridge on the plateau if you do the Dana daily double.

Stuff seems to be softening up early we dropped Unknown around 9:30 in the morning and it was good riding. We dropped Solstice late on Sunday maybe around 4:30, and the entrance was good and iced up by then.

Basically it's f-in awesome, go get some Dana!!!

Oh PS- bring ski or boot crampons; a dude on a solid board who was booting without crampons, took a slide on the approach up glacier canyon over some rocks and had to be medi-vaced in a heli due to a broken femur.