Eastern Sierra, CA, Report: 113mph Winds, Lenticular Clouds, & Crazy Long Chute In The Sun

Miles Clark | Post Tag for BackcountryBackcountry

Report from May 13, 2025

Yesterday was insanely windy in the Eastern Sierra, CA.

Mammoth Mountain saw winds up to 113mph and didn’t open for the day.

We brainstormed all morning on where to ski and ended up heading to the “Trailer Park Chutes.”

Spaceship. image: snowbrains

These chutes don’t look like much from below, but man, they are long and fun.

The program was fun:

  • Hike up dirt and rock for 40 mins
  • Boot up 1st snow patch
  • Hike up rock and dirt for a few minutes
  • Hike up 2nd snow patch
  • Hike up dirt for 1 minute
  • Hike up 3rd snow patch
  • Get blasted by wind the whole way
Lee & Garrett are fast. image: snowbrains

The wind gusts were knocking us over and one even picked up Garrett and threw him.

We decided to stop climbing just below the ridgeline to avoid getting blown away.

80mph gusts?

Spaceship. image: snowbrains

Maybe…

The skiing was damn fun in the first truly corn snow of the trip so far.

The line is so long!

Strip. image: snowbrains

We walked the dirts in between the snow patches and slogged through the sage brush back to the car feeling happy.

I was pretty darn tired.

The weather has been tough here this spring but hope remains.

Thanks, California!

Photos

Fox in recovery mode after 10 ski mountaineering days in a row… image: snowbrains
Esha. image: snowbrains
Trailer Park Chutes. image: snowbrains
Straight up trail. image: snowbrains
Game ready! image: snowbrains
Lee & Garrett. image: snowbrains
Headed up in the wind. image: snowbrains
Find Waldo. image: snowbrains
Rocks and stuff. image: snowbrains
Almost to snow. image: snowbrains
White strip of death. image: snowbrains
Synchronized hiking. image: snowbrains
Lee & Garrett are fast. image: snowbrains
Whitecaps. image: snowbrains
Lenticular clouds. image: snowbrains
Layers. image: snowbrains
Ledges. image: snowbrains
Ships prow. image: snowbrains
Lake, 14,000′ peaks, whitecaps, spaceships. image: snowbrains
Incredible vistas. image: snowbrains
Valley. image: snowbrains
Spectacular. image: snowbrains
Headed down. image: snowbrains
Lots of air. image: snowbrains
Shredding! image: snowbrains
Posted by Miles Clark |

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