Bloody Couloir / Convict Lake Area
Convict Lake / Laurel Mountain (near Mammoth Lakes) · near Mammoth Lakes · Eastern Sierra
Backcountry Skiing
At a glance
- Vertical
- 2500
- Best season
- April–June · Spring ski-mountaineering · A famous, aesthetic, committing line
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit. Inyo National Forest. Access from the Convict Lake / Laurel Mountain area near Mammoth. Bloody Couloir is a famous steep line — expert ski-mountaineering, sometimes requiring a bit of 'dirt walking' to approach early season.
Worth knowing
- Gear you must bring
- Beacon · Probe · Shovel · Skins · Ski crampons · Ice axe · Boot crampons · Helmet
- Gear worth bringing
- Airbag pack · Whippet · Second tool
Guides, rentals and operators
- Guides
- Blackbird Mountain Guides · Sierra Mountain Guides
Backcountry Skiing detail
- Nickname
- The Mammoth-Area Classic Steeps
- Directions note
- Access via Laurel Lakes Rd (4WD, snow-dependent) off Sherwin Creek Rd — most park low and skin
- Ates
- extreme
- Tour types
- ski-mountaineering
- Summit
- 11812
- Approach
- Moderate to long — some approach walking to the base, then a steep bootpack up the couloir
- First timer with guide
- No
- Guide recommended
- Yes
- Avi zone
- Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center · esavalanche.org
- Signature lines
- Bloody Couloir (Bloody Mountain) · Laurel Mountain lines · Convict Lake bowl skiing
- Intl tip
- Convict Lake is minutes off Hwy 395 near Mammoth Lakes — the resort (skiing guide), the wild hot tubs (swimming guide), and the whole Mammoth basecamp are right here. Convict Lake Resort's restaurant is a fine-dining surprise in the mountains. The lake itself is a summer fishing and paddling gem.
The guide
The Convict Lake and Laurel Mountain area, just south of Mammoth Lakes, holds some of the Eastern Sierra's most famous and aest…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Bloody Couloir / Convict Lake Area — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.581, -118.856