Headed up north to find some snow.
Found some!
Headed west out of Red Bluff.
The road soon turned to dirt. And fence-less.


36 miles from Red Bluff is a gate. It will soon be closed.
It was open today - I drove 8 miles past the gate
to 5500'.

Mt. Linn (South Yolla Bolly)
the tallest mountain in Mendo. Natl. forest





It got a bit cold. I spent the night in the Jeep.
The reading on my watch (off my wrist) around sundown
was 14*. Later that night, I awoke,
looked at my watch hanging from the rear-view mirror
inside the Jeep and it read 18*.
I decided that it might be a little warmer in the vehicle, so
I was going to hang my watch out the window.
I dropped it into the snow. When I picked it up a few seconds
later, it was dead...
Well, there goes my alarm.

I awoke to the sun shining in the window.
Not knowing what time it was, I quickly prepared to jib.
I have only been here once before in the snow.
I brought no maps.
I skinned on up the road.

Soon the views appeared.

Black Rock Mt. to the far left,
North Yolla Bolly just to the right,
Tomhead Mt. on the far right.


Mt. Shasta to the north


Good thing there are directional signs along the way.


The road A7 out of Red Bluff turns into the M22.
The lower portions of South Yolla Bolly in the distance


Black Rock Mountain (L) and North Yolla Bolly (R)


The northern Sierra overlooking the Sacramento Valley


I made it to about 1 mile from the summit.
The tip-clip to my skins broke, I followed the road, when I
should have taken some short-cuts through the woods,
I slept in...

Not many turns down the deep, loose snow-covered road.
There are turns to be had if I cut the switchbacks on the road.
Needs to be done on the way up as well.
Would shave off at least an hour.
Steep lines to be had up there.

After coming home and pouring over my maps -
I had parked about 5-6 miles from the summit.
Now I see the line...

Black Rock Mt./N. Yolla Bolly at sunset on the way out.

_________________
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Good stuff, man! Thanks for posting!

Decided to check out the snow conditions on SYB.
This mountain is the tallest peak in the Mendocino National Forest,
rising to 8094'.
Access is from either Red Bluff or Corning.
Google Earth or Forest Service maps only confuse the situation.
I have used my trusty Northern California Atlas & Gazetteer
to find the access roads to all the peaks in the Coast Range.
If you take off from Red Bluff, you will take
road A7 to Colyear Springs Rd.
If you come from Corning you want road A9 > Lowry Rd > Colyear.
The southern route using Toomes Camp Road hits high elevation
too early and you won't get anywhere near the mountain
when there is snow.

I decided to do something different.
I wanted to take the drive along the east side.
I took off from highway 20, right by the 16.
Bear Valley Rd heads north through Bear Valley and on up
to Stonyford. The entrance to Snow Mountain.
I wanted to drive the entire 75 miles on back roads.
I gassed up in Stonyford and drove north.
Past Elk Creek and on up to Paskenta.
Paskenta is on the A9, west of Corning.
Lowry Road takes off from there heading north.

What a great drive! Only saw three other vehicles, if you count
the rancher on his 4wheeler...
Gravel roads heading through the foothills of the Coast Range,
past herds of cows standing in the middle of the road.

Saw a bear scurry off the road 30 feet in front of the Jeep on
the way up the M22.

After 7 hours of driving I was finally at SYB and parked the Jeep in the exact spot as last time I was here - back in November.

I crashed out and got some sleep. I awoke shortly before sundown
and made some food.

SYB (South Yolla Bolly)




A closer look at the north face


Passed out by 9:30 and was up at 5:30am the next day after some
much needed rest.

By 7am I was jibbin'. Took a shortcut from the road to the TH.
Don't follow the M22 road to the TH - take this one.


It cuts out at least an hour of time. Go straight at the first intersection
and follow it along the ridge until you are directly under the upper road.
30 minutes of hiking got me to skinable snow, but the slope to the
upper road is too steep, so I booted my way for another 30 minutes
up to the road.
Started skinning from there.

Soon I was in the large clear cut just below the TH.
Lots of bear tracks everywhere.
Took some photos on the way up.

Shasta


The Trinity Mountains




Lassen






Soon after the big open meadow, which was buried under 3-5 feet of snow, the ridge starts.
Route finding around the rocky false summits along the ridge
is fun. I had to take the skis off for the first one and jib my way around to the left across the steep, south facing scree slope.
I always forget...but was able to keep the skins to the snow
for the rest of the way to the summit.

Arrived at the top at 11am - 4 hours from the Jeep.

Black Rock Mountain/North Yolla Bolly in the distance






Apparently, the last people up here - according to the summit register -
had summited with snowshoes back in January... :shock:
That's 13 miles from the gate. 26 miles round trip using snowshoes.

Here's a visual tour of the Coast Range.
First the photos and then the video.

Looking south - left to right -
Snow Mountain / Black Butte(tree covered,middle) / Hull Mountain


Hull Mountain


Snow Mountain


Looking southwest -
Anthony Peak - Sanhedrin Mountain/Impassable Rock behind, left


Anthony Peak


Looking west -
Hammerhorn Mountain, left background
Solomon Peak, center-shining brightly


Looking northwest -
Black Rock Mountain / North Yolla Bolly


A closer view I had captured earlier-
North Yolla Bolly is on the right, not the middle


Looking north -
Shasta


Looking east -
Lassen / Brokeoff Mt.


The video version. Sorry for the camera tilt. I'm just
gonna have to go back and do it over.
It starts looking south/southwest with
Anthony Peak on the right...

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... zpTHP9af_c

Now it's time to ski!
Lot's of runs down the north face to my left.
Now that I know the timing and the shortcut,
I'm gonna have to come back.

Here ya go.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... o_m6cUrPtw

On the hike out, I found some enormous bear tracks
that weren't there on the way up...

The gate, 13 miles from the summit, is locked from Dec. 1st until May 1.
This is the window. More snow on the way!

A few last shots of South Yolla Bolly on the drive out.

_________________
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Drove up to SYB again. Found out that it's 30 minutes
shorter to take the Corning>A9>Lowrey>Colyear route.
Red Bluff>A7>Colyear takes 5 hours from Angwin vs.
Corning - 4.5 hours.
Lowrey road is a blast. Perfectly smooth gravel road.

Left home at 3:30 in the morning. Dreary, rainy start to the day.
By six, I was gassing up in Corning.

Soon after taking off down the A9,
the Coast Range comes into view.


The day is looking promising.


20 minutes later is Lowrey Rd. A9=Paskenta Rd at this point.
Fresh snow up in the hills.




13 miles north on Lowrey and I'm at Colyear Springs Rd.(M22).
Turn left and drive up for about 23 miles.
The road soon turns from gravel to dirt. It was mud today.
At the upper elevations, the road becomes a grippy mix
or rock and sand.
Hit snow around 5000'. Deep freeze at 5500'.

South Yolla Bolly from aways down Valentine Ridge.






Drove right over the drift that stopped me last week. Really firm snow. Veered right at the short cut road.
Road C-19.
Parked at the base of the steep hill below the upper road.
It was 8am. I was jibbing my 8:30
Should have skinned right from the vehicle, but booted my way
up the road to the steep part. Found another road and put my skins
on and took it up until it met the upper road.

One hour from the Jeep and I'm in the meadow below the TH.




The first part of the ridge above the meadow ends in a clearing.
Take the road that goes around to the left before the second
peak on the ridge.
This will take you to the TH.
Luckily, the new snow was covering this road on the south side
of the ridge today.
Once at the TH, simply follow the ridge up to the summit.

Some shots along the way up the summit ridge.




Farther up the ridge, different false summits appear.
You either have to cross on the south side or traverse
across the steep north side to the right.
I wanted to test the snow on the north side, so I took the traverse.

The snow was manky and rollerbally. It was covering an ice layer.
Took a little slide for about 30 feet as the slope slabbed off.


It was only a few inches deep and I kept on my feet as
I slipped down the steep slope.
There were more wind loaded spots that I wondered about.
I chose the rocky/bare south side option around the next few spots.

By noon I was at the summit.




Looking back where I came from (east)


Some holes in the clouds offered limited views from the summit. It was snowing lightly and breezy.

Part of the north face/bowl.


I wanted to drop the super steep north bowl, but I didn't trust the snow.
It hadn't consolidated yet. Still manky with that evil layer underneath.

I decided to drop the North Ridge.
A steep ridge dropping down through the trees.
I took it down about 700'.
Awesome run! Wide open huge trees on skiers left and a cornice
dropping into one of the north bowls on my right.

Looking back up.


Looking west on the skin up.


Almost there.


45 minute skin back up top. Looking back down.


Such amazing terrain here. The month of May will from now on be
about exploring this place more.

I skied the slow snow back down to the Jeep.
Took about an hour.

Some shots on the way out.

SYB




The Trinity Mountains


Such a great place! easy access on smooth roads with a great skin in
and a good run back to the Jeep.
I'll be back!

_________________
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http://www.zazzle.com/jibmaster
http://www.earnyourturns.com/3878/ccsp-guide-2-mendocino/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/

Headed back up to SYB with Jon. We drove up Tuesday and camped out.
We parked the Jeep at 6000'.
We were expecting the storm.
It rained/sleeted/snowed off-and-on all night.
By morning, there was a dusting at camp by the Jeep.
Booted up for about 10-15 minutes where we finally hit skinnable snow. We took the little road up 'till the snow didn't connect on the road.
So we skinned up the steeps until it hit the upper road.

When we left camp, the snow had started.
A heavy, wet snow that stuck to everything.
I started from camp with my fleece gloves and soon changed out from those - now soaked and saturated with water to my ski gloves.
We hit the upper road and skinned on up to the open meadow
just below the TH.
It was snowing heavily. By the time we reached the meadow,
my gloves were soaked through. We continued on.
Up the first peaklit on the ridge and around to the left of the second one on the road up to the TH.
My goggles where useless, and my hands were freezing cold.
Heavy, wet snow fell from the sky.
The winds up on the ridge became rather strong and we thought
that maybe we should continue to get some turns down
to the TH from the upper ridge.

By now, my hands were becoming useless. No feeling in my fingers. I searched for my Goretex glove covers, but everything was getting wet. The wet snow had saturated my pack
and was getting my down jacket wet inside.

Storm skiing the Coast Range in late May... :?
:lol:

We bailed. The snow was faster than expected on the way down.
And there was enough new snow to ski almost all the way
down to the Jeep.
Took the skis off and walked the last 300 ft.

Tons of snow up there. It needs to consolidate yet,
but there are some steep runs to be had up there
that would be awesome under perfect corn conditions.

Next time...

_________________
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Drove up to South Yolla Bolly again with janzalo.
Headed up Tuesday around noon.
Was able to drive to the same camp spot
as last time. Right around 6000'.
The same drifts denied the Jeep, so we drove
back down and set up camp.





Woke up Wednesday, a few hours before sunrise and booted up
to the upper road.
Kept walking for another five minutes,
then put the skins to the snow.

A few dry spots at first, but the drifts merged into
each other before the open meadow.
We skinned up the first part of the ridge
above the meadow and found the road around
the next hill to the TH melted out.
We put the skis on the packs and hiked the
10 minutes to the TH.

From there, the ridge starts up again.
We gladly took the skis off the packs.

Perfect, sunny day. Slightly cool.
We thought that we might be too late.
But the snow was staying really firm.
It was 38* at camp when we woke up.

By the time we got to the upper part of the ridge,
the snow was pretty frozen.
The first false summit to go around provided
solid ice on a steep slope to the right (north facing).
The left side was melted out.
We opted to shoulder the skis and walk around
the south side.
The last pitch to the summit offers a steep, very exposed line
on the right, which was covered in hard-as-rock corn snow.
Or the more moderate slope to the left of the rocky ridge.
This slope faces south east and is a fun skin.
Lifters on high - crank it out for 10 minutes.
It was melted out this time.
Just enough vert to want to put the skis on the pack.

Summited at 9am. 3.5 hours from camp.

Kept switching battery positions in my camera
to wake up the batteries and got a few shots.

Shasta




janzalo studying the summit register.
Solomon Peak behind him, just left of his head.


janzalo w/Shasta in the background.


Just west of the summit - bear tracks crossing the ridge.
Look how smooth the snow is!


Looking west -
Solomon Peak just right of center
Hammerhorn Mountain left, behind


The bowl facing north-west off the summit was too icy.
The other north facing bowl from off the summit
faces north-east. At the bottom of this bowl is
Square Lake. 1000 feet below the summit.

The ridge between these two bowls is the skinning route
back up. Very steep skinning.
I'm going to call the ridge - North Ridge.
And the north-east facing bowl with Square Lake at
the bottom - Square Bowl.

We skied across the top of the first bowl and headed
for the top of North Ridge.
The snow was incredible!

Dropping into Square Bowl.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... FBXkv0_VKo

The snow was super smooth.
And alive.
:shock:

We did notice a few slabs had come off
aways out on the summit ridge to the west
while we were on top.
I heard a few 'whoomffs' around me on the descent.
Hence the reason for ducking onto North Ridge and not
continuing on down anything with 'east' in the aspect.

Time to head up. North Ridge provides very steep skinning.
Lifters on high, taking advantage of small nuances in the
snow on the drifted ridge.

Part way up - looking around.
Square Bowl is on my left.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... 3ZKqTvPyBw

Skinning up the last section below the top.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... ZlllXWHzzA

The whole way down the ridge, the snow was settling
under our skis.
You can hear me say 'Whoa!" at 1:39 in this video
as the snow around me 'whooomps'.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... Ia7a_VoS7E

After traversing around the next false summit,
we jibbed on down the ridge.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... xdMHjbkVhQ

The snow was pretty fast all the way down through
the meadow and down the road.
Six hours after we started, we were back at the Jeep.

So much ski terrain up there! Must come back!

Some shots on the way out.

Shasta


Looking back to SYB.
Square Bowl coming off the summit
North Ridge with the trees on the skyline.




Unless you want to hike/skin in from the gate
which is 13 miles from the summit -
there are only two months a year to ski this mountain -
November and May.
You know where I'll be!

The past 8 months have been a blast skiing the
Mendocino National Forest. Can't wait for next year!
Looking forward to a summer filled with Shasta snow.

_________________
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http://www.zazzle.com/jibmaster
http://www.earnyourturns.com/3878/ccsp-guide-2-mendocino/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/

Headed up to South Yolla Bolly Oct. 24.
Driving in on the A9 (Corning Rd.) towards Paskenta from Corning.



This is the place to be this time of year. The gate closes Dec. 1st.
The gate is located at 4000' on Colyear Springs Rd.
Also known as Forest Route M22.
South Yolla Bolly is the tallest mountain in the Mendocino National Forest.
Standing 8094' tall, it'll have the goods before the rest of the forest.

The Sacramento Valley was foggy and the Coast Range was buried in clouds.
By the time I reached the gate, it started snowing.
Half a mile later, it started to stick. A few miles later, the road was fully covered in snow.
After almost two decades of skiing the Mendo. Nat'l Forest,
I have come to equate skiing with 4wheeling.
It just doesn't seem like a complete ski experience without dropping it into 4X4 and getting the Jeep all muddy.
:D

Drove about 8 miles past the gate to 5800'. It was DUMPING!
About 6 inches of snow on the ground here.
The snow was not consolidated.
However, the very wet snow in the Coast Range allowed me to ski over the road without sinking too low.
Just as I started skiing up the road, the sun made an appearance.

The next couple hours were sunny and snowing at the same time.
Very little wind.
I was using my Rossignol BC110's.
I was hoping to make an easy day of it, by gliding along on my scaled skis.
I skied up the road towards Bear Camp.
The first thing I noticed was the clumpage.
The unconsolidated snow was sticking to the bottom of my skis.
It was sticking to everything.
It would gather under my heel and ghost shift my heal piece to downhill mode.
As the snow got deeper, the amount of snow sticking to the bottom of my skis got heavier. At first, I was enjoying the extra effort.
It was a good work out.
But after awhile, I began to rethink my day trip plans.

I wasn't sure of the snow conditions sitting at my computer at home.
There appeared to be about two feet of snow at the top.
I knew that the new snow needed a nice freeze/thaw cycle to consolidate.
That's why I waited 'till Wed. to go up. But as I found out, the skies never cleared overnight enough to firm up the wet snow.

I made it to the main road above Bear Camp about an hour from the vehicle.
The road was perfect for skiing, as it's nice and smooth. I wasn't hitting any rocks. But my legs were killing me.
Having to lift up and forward 10-15 pounds of snow stuck to the bottom of my skis was starting to take it's toll.
I had a stick of purple wax that I used several times.
I would glide along for about 5 minutes before it wore off.
I didn't even try the skins. Figured that would be worse.

So I took a break at the upper road.
The road was fine for clumping up, but the road would soon end. And then it would be on to the summit ridge.
Tons of rocks. I didn't want to ruin my brand new scaled skis on the upper ridge and slopes with the unconsolidated, shallow snow.
Plus, if I continued on to the summit, I would be crippled for days, by the pain in my legs.
You know, that hinge at the top of your quads that takes the toll of clumping too much...

So, I decided to 'top out' at the open meadow. By the sign.
I continued on up the road. It was warming up now.
The trees that were loaded up with the wet snow, started branchalanching.
Loud WHOMPS thundered through the woods as the trees shed the weight. I could hear branches snapping. It was gorgeous!

Back on the main road










After about two hours of clumping, I made it to the open meadow just below the TH.



Luckily, the ski back was fast.
I was afraid I would have to clump my way back to the Jeep.
But the snow let me slide and glide on down the road.
Even out of my skin track in the fresh was fast.
By the time I got back, most of the snow by the Jeep had melted.
But I was able to stick to some shaded spots and made it back without having to take off my skis.

Nice and muddy for the drive back from all the melted snow.

Views of the Sacrament Valley on the way out.






------------------------------------------

I didn't think it would snow this much.
South Yolla Bolly is a great place to ski.
But as with any mountain in the Mendocino National Forest, you gotta get there early in the day.
I decided too late on Tuesday to drive up the day before. So I opted for a day trip this time.
Left my house, here in the Napa Valley, on Wed. at 5am (too late).
Foggy conditions in Lake County made for slow driving.
It took me 5 hours to drive to 5800 on SYB. 4.5 hours on the way back.

9.5 hours of driving for a 3 hour ski tour. It was totally worth it!
:D
-----------------------------------------------
Just under 200 miles from my house - one way.
SYB is 2 hours from Corning.
15-20 minutes driving west on the A9 (Corning Rd.) from Corning.
Just before Paskenta, turn right onto Lowery Rd.
SMOOTH gravel road. Hulla fun to put it into 4x4 and drift the corners!
30 minutes of Lowrey brings you to Colyear Springs Rd.
Turn left.
This is an excellent road. Very smooth.
1.5 hours of Colyear and your at 5800'. This is where one can typically drive to this time of year.
Then it's about 5 miles to the summit.
You'll have better luck if you drive up the day before and car camp where you can skin/ski right from the vehicle.

This is the time of year to go to SYB (South Yolla Bolly)
The gate @ 4000' closes Dec. 1st.

_________________
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Headed back up to SYB with snowblasta for Thanksgiving. We drove up Wednesday morning.
Made it to the Ides Cove TH in the Jeep with a dusting of snow.
Snowblasta Thankful for the snow.


We set up camp and took a short hike to the top of the ridge.
Had to get some mug shots by the sign.
Me


snowblasta


It was good to be in the snow again. There are lots of huge trees here.




The air was sparkling and clear. Views from Snow Mountain to the south, Lassen to the east
and Shasta shining brightly in the north. I never tire of the view from up here.

Surrounded by mossy trees covered in snow, gazing down on the sunny valley below.




We headed back down to camp and continued to give Thanks.
It looked like there would be enough snow to ski!
Just barely.
Lucky for us, the sun was out and it was going to be a clear, cold night.

-------------------------


We awoke just before sunrise to clear skies.
It was at this point that I realized that I had brought all of my skins - for every ski I own.
Except for the ones for the skis I brought - my Rossi BC 110's.
Knowing the terrain to the summit, I brought the right skis for forgetting my skins.
The scales would be fine.
We hiked up the thin snow to the top of the ridge. A few inches of consolidated corn
covered the ground.

Snowblasta preparing to start skiing. Lassen in the background


The funny thing about that picture, is that is the last time either of us saw his helmet cam...

Took a look around at the change out.
Shasta




Lassen


There was just enough snow to ski up along the ridge. The rock outcroppings along
the ridge were melted out on the left(south), and the snow to the right(north) was frozen solid.
We opted to hike around the left. The last one, we kept hiking the remainder to the top.
We summited around 11am.

snowblasta on the top of SYB
It was at this point that I noticed he was missing his helmet cam.


Looking west from the summit


Video edit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhFqK-pf ... ature=plcp

The skiing was great! Nice corn. Just firm enough to let us slide over the top
of only several inches of snow. Perfect!
We never found snowblasta's helmet cam. It had fallen off on the ski up somewhere.
We looked for it on the way down, but it never appeared.
About halfway down, I noticed that one of my baskets from my poles was missing.
We had been pine-ing our way through the small trees on the ski down.
Those thieving trees!

It's all good. Got a beautiful day up in the snowy mountains.

The Sacramento Valley on the way out.


For all the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=1174439 ... day%202012

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