Skied East Ridge Trees from the Summit of Echo Peak on Friday. No tracks from at least a few days, and I don't think anyone else went up there that day. No tracks in the bowls to either side of the ridge, but I was a little concerned about avy danger. They're probably fine, but they get a lot of sun, so harder crust under the recent snow. Less snow fell down there, so it's really dust on crust in the open. Perfect powder in the trees though.

thanks to the mellow neighboorhood along Tahoe Mtn Road and Wintoon circle for no hassle parking. Drive 5 miles along Tahoe Mtn Road from South Shore, turn right on Wintoon, and park at the dead end. Head for the huge treed East ridge, and choose a careful skin track at the top...where it's steeper and more exposed for a few hundred feet. Killer huge flat summit with 360 views into desolation, the Lake, etc... A great place to scope out your next line bra.

Mike Schwartz
www.thebackcountry.net
mike@thebackcountry.net

heading up there sunday but gonna go down toward angora lakes. just a note, i think u meant north upper truckee rd instead of tahoe mtn rd. does anyone know if the road out to fallen leaf lake is plowed????

same road, signed differently depending on where you start. Actually, I think it's called Lake Tahoe Blvd for part of it as well. South shore doesn't quite have it together with street signs. I know of street sign names in triplicate within the same township.

Mike Schwartz
www.thebackcountry.net
mike@thebackcountry.net

Negative, road to Fallen Leaf Lake is not plowed. I wonder why, in past years, we have been able to drive all the way to the fire station at the far end of the lake? Maybe the Fallen Leaf guy and the Rubicon tool are plotting against us backcountry enthusiasts?

ok, tahoe mtn. rd. goes from 89 to n. upper truckee, which if u r coming from the north/west shore, is how you'd probably go. lake tahoe blvd. turns into n. upper truckee at the 90 degree turn. yeah, south shore roads are pretty screwy. it did seem a little sketchy out of the trees at the top of echo so we too stayed in the N.E. trees towards angora lakes on the way down. smiles aplenty. is there a (safe) way to get on the flagpole/echo/angora ridgetop from the echo lakes access/sno-park off of hwy. 50???

I know that's how people go to Flagpole, but I haven't gone up there. I've also heard skiers go from the same start as Echo, and just veer left.

Angora Lake road was plowed for housing construction work a few times in past years. Otherwise it's a long way to skin for such a short woods ski. But that's how you get no tracks I guess. People snomobile that road, and maybe they'll tow you if you see them.

Mike Schwartz
www.thebackcountry.net
mike@thebackcountry.net

skied echo bowl sunday late morning and monday late afternoon. was money corn sunday late a.m. but i was too late monday after work and the snow was starting to crust up. a few (3) tracks on sunday and a couple more on monday (besides my own). the flats are getting real thin. i hiked w/ boards on back for 10 minutes and then it was skinnable damn near the whole way up. of course its coming down pretty good right now at the base of echo (wednesday a.m.) so coverage is only getting better. also, the road to fallen leaf is (was) clear. anybody skied angora peak this year???

skied a couple laps on the lower echo peak ridge after work thursday. we tried to get to waterhouse but turned around before even starting up luther pass due to bad visibility and road conditions. it was just puking out so we opted for echo since it's close to home and we were running out of daylight. coverage was great throughout the flat approach and there was about a foot of fresh fluff on top of a soft rain crust. didn't have time to gain the upper n.e. trees but even down low was probably the best may powder i've ever skied. went back early sat. morning to walk the dog and the coverage down low is getting real thin again on the approach. lots of wet slides all over echo and angora bowls by sat. afternoon.

skied echo bowl after work (5/14). decent snow for that late in the day. wet slides everywhere where there's some considerable pitch. some nice visuals of noisy slides over some cliffbands while i was de-skinning. coverage is nothing in the flats, ok-marginal up to the bottom of the 1st ridgeline, and great the rest of the way. echo bowl and the n.e. trees should hold snow for quite awhile.