Since there was no snow in the local mountains I drove on the preceding weekend to the Sierra Nevada to scout for a suitable place. After spending a night in a storm near Deadman Pass it was obvious where one would need emergency shelters. Six brave souls signed up and ventured without tents to spend the night on the San Joaquin ridge north of Mammoth. These were Mark and Jennifer Bailey, Steve Tuszynski, Ken Deemer, John Armstrong, and myself with K9 Tatanka. We met at Mammoth Mtn, skied up the road to Minaret Vista and continued to climb along the San Joaquin ridge. In contrast to the previous weekend spring weather was here. The view from the ridge was superb: To the east were the White Mtns, to the west Banner, Ritter and the Minarets, and the Southern sky was full of Bishop waves (stacked lenticular clouds). The snow depth exceeded the length of my avalanche probe (>8'). Off the ridge, among some whitebark pines, we made our basecamp at about the 10,000' level. Three igloos began to grow out of the snow. Mark and Jennifer built a cozy one-bedroom apartment, John and I decided on a 6' palace, and Steve and Ken worked on an individual style with top ventilation. Hour after hour went by with cutting blocks, stacking them, closing the gaps, digging out an entrance and leveling the interior. By late afternoon the homes were done but we were exhausted.

Many thanks to Mark for assisting with this trip.

Reiner Stenzel