Laurel Mountain 11,812′

 

I waited for years to ski the steep south facing Mendenall Couloir above Convict Lake, even though the access couldn’t be easier and this ski descent would come up often in conversation. It just looks sketchy. You won’t want warm conditions to wet slide. And you won’t be able to guess how any new snow will cling to the previous crust. I’m sure new snow on crust will just slide as soon as the sun comes out, if it didn’t already slide during the storm. So like any big exposed south facing ski descent, you want to let the line stabilize after new snow but not turn to windboard. I don’t live nearby, so there goes my “feel” from just driving by and skiing nearby. You won’t want to wait for corn, because the snow will melt out in the center bulge and reveal a slab of snow to butt slide over somehow.

 

I’ve heard there is no pro available in the rock. So I went up to ski the Mendenhall in-between both of those scenarios in April 2011. We got No pow, a little corn and had minimal butt Slide at the bulge. I have one friend who nailed it in super cold deep pow. He lives right there and knows what he is doing in general. Still, that sounds sketchy. Good news is you can climb the peak on the East flank and avoid most danger. You can also drop the Pinner Couloir as a 3rd option.

 

The Pinner Couloir is an anomaly, and nearly entirely visible from Mini Morrison and Mono Jim Peak right across the way. These are just some of the alternatives you’ll love if conditions are not right to ski the Mendenhall couloir on Laurel Mountain. Grab the Greenberg/Mingori backcountry skiing guidebook from our store and you are all set to live near Convict Lake for an entire winter, and ski one amazing thing after another within a short drive to Mammoth Lakes.

 

You can ski the Pinner in pow for sure. It’s probably better than waiting for corn snow in this amazing terrain feature. Sure it faces south, but the high rock walls don’t allow much melt freeze in there. And real warming just sends rollerballs down wrecking the skiing. Although it looks crazy steep and narrow in pictures from across Convict Lake, the angle is only 35 degrees on average and fairly wide.  I’ve heard of all kinds of crazy conditions, both amazing and terrible in the Pinner Couloir. So go and tell us how it is by replying to this post! You could ski both Mendenhall first and then hop back in your track to ski the Pinner on a really cold day with stable newish snow for about a 7000′.