I'll be doing our annual avalanche presentation at Big Pine Sports on December 17th, 2018 at 7pm. It's free to attend and there will be food and drinks, good deals and some giveaways!

I'll discuss the start to our winter and current avalanche conditions. I'm thinking that I'll also review an accident or two that has occurred on the Skyline. There is always a lot to learn when reviewing accidents.

We picked up a trace of snow last night as the "closed low pressure system" spins off to our southwest feeding a little moisture north into our region. We might see a few more flurries today but no measurable snowfall. We'll see a ridge of high pressure build through the weekend bringing nice weather. Then we have a couple of storms lined up for next week, one Tuesday and one Wednesday. They don't look huge but should give us a nice little snow refresh.

We found stable snow during our travels in the Twin Creeks yesterday. We were in low angled northeast facing terrain between 9200 & 9900' in elevation. There was only a small amount of sugar snow near the ground and it appears to be gaining strength. This is good news but keep in mind that there are many areas in the upper elevation high north slopes that are still holding weak sugar snow from earlier this season. These slopes should be avoided at this time. If all goes well and we continue to get decent snow storms, this weak sugar snow near the ground will heal up and not plague us.