Roger Romani, Author at SnowBrains

Cold Water Immersion Safety Information

With the last of the snow melting in the Sierra and across the country, skiers and snowboarders are taking to the water: surfing, paddling, swimming, cliff jumping, boating, or just plain floating. After a season of sending and getting rowdy in the snow, we usually think of summer water sports as fun, safe substitutes for our winter activities, and to […]

Roger Romani | May 29, 2020

0 Comments

VIDEO: “Powder” Skiing In California Last Week!

View this post on Instagram It was a little crunchy under the 4″ of new snow… But it was skiing, on a “real” big mountain line, on “powder,” in October, in California! . Thanks for being down to start ski season a bit early @spaceycasey93 and @jamie.lefkowitz ! Swipe left for Casey’s angle from across the lake. . […]

Conditions Report

Roger Romani | October 11, 2019

0 Comments

Mt. Shasta, CA Report: Shasta’s Going Off Right Now – Come and Get It!

Report from June 23rd, 2019 Come one, come all, to one of the great centers of California backcountry summer skiing: Mt. Shasta, CA. People certainly got the memo that Shasta has been going off. I rolled up to the usually sleepy and very rural Brewer Creek trailhead (still impassible to cars to the actual trailhead due to snow) on Saturday […]

Conditions Report

Roger Romani | June 25, 2019

0 Comments

Eastern Sierra, CA Backcountry Report: The Third Pillar Chute | Tioga Pass, CA

Report from June 3rd, 2019 The Eastside has been FIRING this week. Tioga Pass/120 opened to Yosemite’s east gate on Saturday. Miles and I heard about the opening driving back from a quick very long strike mission to Zebra Coulior on Emmerson, and knew we had to get up there. We car shuttled, leaving my car just east of the […]

Conditions Report

Roger Romani | June 4, 2019

0 Comments

Mammoth Mountain, CA Report: 718″ Of Snowfall This Season & This Place Is Looking Fat!

Report from June 3rd, 2019 Mammoth isn’t skiing like it usually is in June. In fact, if I’d just stepped out of a time machine and onto the mountain, my best guess would have been that I had just landed in mid-April. The snow was deep all the way to the base, and Chair 23 was ripping. We skied lap […]

Conditions Report

Roger Romani | June 4, 2019

0 Comments

STUDY: 30% of All Avalanche Fatalities in Western USA Occurred During an Atmospheric River

Research published by Benjamin Hatchet, Susan Burak, Jon Rutz, Nina Oakley, Edward Bair, and Michael Kaplan in the Journal of Hydrometerology suggests a strong link between Atmospheric River (AR) events and avalanche deaths. According to their research, 31% of avalanche fatalities between 1998 and 2014 occurred either during or shortly after an AR event. West Coast skiers got very […]

Avalanche

Roger Romani | February 17, 2019

0 Comments

Lake Tahoe Drowning Deaths Due to Cold Water Shock NOT Hypothermia

People die in Lake Tahoe’s waters every year. Cold water shock is one of the most common causes of death in the lake. Becoming quickly immersed in cold water can cause an involuntary gasp, difficulty breathing, rapid breathing or muscle failure, all of which can lead to drowning. Authorities urge lake users to wear live jackets, even if they don’t […]

Roger Romani | August 6, 2018

1 Comment

Trip Report: North Coulior of Thunderbolt Peak, CA | February 17th-19th, 2018

This is me. In this moment, I’m perched on a ledge about the size of a desk, on a ridge at about 13,900′, with thousands of feet of exposure on either side of me. I’m belaying my partner, Tyler Karow, as he’s about to set out over the next bump on the ridge to see if it’s the 5.9 summit […]