Inversion....

For the past several days the clouds have settled into the Lake Tahoe basin due to inverted temperatures. Thankfully it has been sunny in the mountains, making for incredible views like the ones we got today skiing on the South side of Jakes Peak. After we broke through the cloud layer the views got better and better. Here's my buddy Oscar enjoying the climb and the crazy sea of clouds where the lake usually is.

Since I rarely appear in photos on this blog here's a gratuitous shot of me at the top of Jakes with Emerald Bay and South lake Tahoe hidden in the clouds far below.

And again, I'm checking out the absolutely amazing view of the clouds up against Maggies Peaks and Mt. Tallac with the barren and dramatic peaks of Desolation Wilderness in the background.

And again in black and white, truly amazing views. Amazingly enough we were the only two people hiking around out there today, its too bad no one else got to enjoy the views and great skiing today.

With the warm temperatures and rain that we've had recently our snow has been vanishing at an alarming pace. This was very evident today on our descent. In the short video below you'll see how little snow there actually was. The snow that does remain on the south and east facing slopes in the backcountry is very good, however, and totally worth the effort. I even got to employ the good ol' fashioned technique of bush skiing and walking to connect the patches of snow.

South Jakes inversion corn 1/11/10 from Jeremy Benson on Vimeo.

Fortunately, there is significant snow in the forecast. Unfortunately for me, I'll be in Oregon attending design meetings for Columbia Sportswear. While I truly enjoy meeting and talking to the designers of my outerwear it will be hard to drag myself away from the powder...