It seems that everywhere but California is enjoying some nice soft early season snow sliding.  Out of an act of desperation (and perhaps in hunt of a Christmas tree for the upcoming holidays) it was off to Brokeoff to prospect some trees as well as some tree skiing.  It turns out that Lassen National park seems to be harboring more snow than anything that’s to be found around Tahoe.

Approach to the North side of Brokeoff Mountain

The base on the North side of Brokeoff is currently a solid foot and a half to two feet deep.  With the last little storm cycle there was promises of up to a foot of new snow…promises that did not come into fruition.  Unfortunately with rising temperatures there was a rain crust all the way to the summit (elevation 9,235 feet), a great disappointment when a few degrees difference meant the difference between blower pow and skittery crust.

Skinning up toward Brokeoff

Overall Brokeoff proved to harbor much more snow than expected, and with no snow in the near future, it seems Lassen National Park might be about as good as things are going to get for a while.

Here’s a few more photos from on and around Brokeoff:

Artisticly tilted Nature Shot

Shasta off in the distance, looking white

Hero Shot

Final push to the top

And some brahpage as a cooldown!