14 Feb 2025 - Conditions Report: General Update on Eastern Sierra

The Eastern Sierra skyline from Bishop City Park at 1500 on 14 February 2025. Note the relative dryness already present down in the Owens Valley versus the mountains.

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Conditions Report:

Current As Of: 14 February 2025*

The Mountains

The Eastern Sierra has recently experienced significant snowfall on Thursday, 13 February, enhancing conditions for winter enthusiasts. In the past 36 hours, Mammoth Mountain received 3 to 6 feet of snow, leading to a temporary closure for avalanche mitigation. The resort is expected to resume operations on Saturday. See here for the latest resort conditions.

This fresh powder offers excellent opportunities for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing (psst...get your rentals here at Eastside Sports and score discounts). However, the substantial snowfall has also highly elevated avalanche risks. A recent avalanche during avalanche mitigation work at Mammoth Mountain resulted in serious injuries to a ski patroller during slope preparations. It's crucial to consult the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center (ESAC) for current avalanche advisories and make your own risk assessments/decisions before venturing into the backcountry. 

The Boulders & Other Rocks

For bouldering enthusiasts, the Tablelands areas, including the Happy and Sad boulders, are getting to be largely dry and accessible after 24 hours of dry sunny weather today and multiple days of dry weather to come. In contrast, the Buttermilks and Druids accumulated a couple feet of snow on Thursday and are still melting out. So while some of the rock may be dry, the dirt unimproved road out there, especially Buttermilk Rd, is generally not drivable as of right now. If you hike out there, be prepared to set up in snow around the base. Give a few days or a week at least and, even after that, visitors should exercise caution and be prepared for snowy and potentially muddy approaches with chains, 4-wheel drive, etc.

For the sport/trad climbers out there, Pine Creek Canyon accumulated some snow so the approaches will 100% require tramping through lots of snow but the rock at the sunny crags will probably be good to go again in a few days if hearty enough to get to it. The Owens River Gorge will have conditions similar to the Tablelands and is climbable, but it inherently has more shade and there will be lingering snow and ice in those shady spots. This is especially true for the steep Central Gorge approach gully as well as the Upper Gorge approach too. The Central Gorge approach gully is north facing and the shady terrain will hold snow/ice for a few days. It is safest to just use the Lower Gorge approach on the road. Also, be careful on any river crossings since the recent precipitation naturally results in higher water levels on the river. 

Road Conditions

For the official up-to-date road conditions, use the Caltrans QuickMap website at quickmap.dot.ca.gov or download the app to your smartphone. You can also call the Road Condition Hotline at 1-800-427-ROAD (7623).

For the local scoop on the bouldering areas and elsewhere, feel free to call us at 760-873-7520 and we'll share what we know!

*All conditions reports are subject to change, increasingly so with each passing day since the observation(s) were made. They are provided as a tool to assist your adventuring, not to replace your own risk management and decision-making. No information in any trip or conditions report published by Eastside Sports should be considered definitive in its information or directive in its recommendation.