"It was early April and I hadn't gone to play in the snow all winter, so I treated myself to a few days off from work and made the long drive from Santa Barbara to Mammoth Lakes. I managed to squeeze in a day of cross-country and a day of downhill, but perhaps of most interest to this community, a day of what I'll describe as "light mountaineering." I'd been planning to hike the long ridge line from Minaret Summit to San Joaquin Mountain for a while and, well, it just seemed way more fun to do it when it was covered in snow! I drove to Mammoth Main Lodge early Monday morning. Weather was pre" - San Joaquin Mountain, klotito, Apr 9, 2018

"Booted up from the Granite Chief chairlift on its opening day in what's so far been a low-snow season... eyed dropping in the main chute but the coverage looked a bit iffy. Next time." - Granite Chief, scott, Jan 21, 2018

"Castle Peak & Andesite Peak – Snow shoeing Hiked from the trailhead in boots until we got to Castle Pass. Put on snow shoes and ascended to the top. 1:30 to the top. Enjoyed the views and was hoping for more snow to cover the area. Hiked to Castle Pass for lunch and then on to Andesite ridge to the pass. Total time walking was 2:45. Due to the lack of snow, the trailhead parking lot, which is normally closed due to snow, had cars parked on both sides of the narrow road. This made it difficult to get out with the car. We have not had a storm in awhile and this one of the few areas wit" - Castle Peak, mj3920, Jan 13, 2018

"I took the Rocky Canyon Route. It was pretty steep hiking the whole way. The forecast showed strong winds moving in for the day but they weren't too bad until I hit the treeline, then they were horrendous! My legs were feeling every bit of the elevation gain and started cramping up around the same time I hit the treeline. The freezing 60 MPH crosswind made getting to the top that much harder, I could barely keep my balance trying to hop around the car sized boulders. I finally summited and took a rest behind the wind break to try and warm up. Up top it was howling!! I only stayed up top" - Pyramid Peak, Sledhead29, Oct 19, 2017

"Was lucky enough to snag a permit for a one day hike for one person online after being forced to turn around before the summit due to snow and strong winds two weeks ago. This time the weather was perfect with just a little wind on the summit. Also had the benefit in that it was only two days past the full moon so had a well lit trail for my 2:00 a.m. start. The most difficult section had to be the 1.9 miles from Trail Crest to the summit. Longest two miles of my life." - Mount Whitney, laphil, Oct 8, 2017