Thompson Peak, Spring Conditions

Winter has clearly made a return to the Sierra recently but for a week in late March we experienced blue skies, calm winds, warm temps, and corn snow. True spring conditions.

This was a new tour for me and we would definitely choose a different line on the approach next time (probably our descent line), but it is always a nice feeling to find yourself on a peak you haven’t been to before and one that does not get skied very often. This is Thompson Peak (9,340 ft), right on the edge of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The snow was a bit soft near the summit where the sun exposure was the most direct in the morning, but we experienced better corn conditions further down, as we descended. With certain parts of the mountain melted out we were happy to find a line of continuous snow that went from the summit all the way back down to the highway.