SierraDescents | 2015
July 7, 2015
Enlightenment vs. The Marionette
If you suspect the world is racing toward Hell in a Handbasket in some vague but fundamentally new way, Joseph Heath agrees with you, and he has a remarkably coherent explanation (more)
July 3, 2015
A Walk Around the Block
The question is: where do you start? The hills may be calling, but if you've never picked up the phone, or if you've been slowed or injured or otherwise just waylaid by life, (more)
July 1, 2015
What I’m Doing (And Not Doing)
Here's sunset on Coronado Island, just off San Diego. Having spent the past weekend wandering about, I have the say the place is very impressive—almost as nice as Santa (more)
June 13, 2015
Surviving the Gloom
Among the many challenges residents of Southern California face, perhaps none is so dire as the loss of the very thing that defines our existence. I am speaking, of course, of (more)
June 9, 2015
The BPA Saga Continues…
With something somewhere between disgust and resignation, I must report to you that BPA, the ambiguously-toxic (or is it safe?) wonder chemical found throughout our plastics and (more)
June 6, 2015
2005: Origins
SierraDescents officially started in November 2005 (when the first post appeared), but I tend to think the site began during the 2004-2005 winter, when I was extensively climbing (more)
May 26, 2015
The Winter Wrap: 2015
What happened? I think I can safely speak on behalf of most Californians when I say 2014-2015 was not the winter we were hoping for. Coming fresh on the heels of last year's (more)
May 8, 2015
Say No To Summer Alert!
On the strength of an out-of-nowhere May storm that has dropped 12-18" of fresh snow and is still going, Mammoth Mountain has cancelled their planned closure this weekend. I (more)
May 5, 2015
Steep Skiing: Uphill Ski Strategies Part II
The downhill ski works. You do the move, and it's practically universal: hard snow, soft snow, low angle, high angle, damn the consequences, it works. It's simple, it's (more)
May 2, 2015
Mammoth in May
Here was my thought: what if I could pretend I was skiing in August, instead of May? Today's conditions would be pretty spectacular, I reasoned, if we were skiing in August, and (more)
