Winter’s first storm has blown through the bay area, dropping snow on the resorts in the Lake Tahoe area this morning. I heard that Squaw has ten inches of snow already. It’s quite a relief given the lack of rain/snow for the past four years. We need a lot of inches to refill the reservoirs and rebuild the snowpack devastated by drought here in sunny California.

Skiing is one of my favorite activities to photograph, especially getting into the untracked backcountry where snow muffles every step. Friends of mine have waxed poetic about legendary skis days with feet of powder on Thanksgiving in the Lake Tahoe area. I can only dream of a November like that; hopefully this El Niño year delivers the goods!

I’m hoping to get some great images in the snow with happy skiers shredding it and anything Christmas related. Until then, check out these shots I did last year when I was trying out down ‘puffy’ jackets. Sierra Designs makes some great products (I still use my first down sleeping bag, a Cloudripper 600 fill), but I finally concluded that if it is cold enough for down it shouldn’t be raining. Let me know what you think!

Stayin' Warm