Eastern Sierra Couloirs
Bishop / Rock Creek / Convict Lake · near Bishop · Eastern Sierra
Backcountry Skiing
At a glance
- Vertical
- 5000
- Best season
- April–June (spring consolidation essential — do NOT attempt in unstable mid-winter conditions)
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Inyo National Forest — no permit for most couloir approaches. Some approaches require travel through wilderness areas (no overnight permit for day use). Coordinate with Bishop-based guide services for access specifics.
Worth knowing
- Gear you must bring
- Beacon · Probe · Shovel · Ski crampons · Boot crampons · Ice axe (mandatory) · Rope (50m recommended) · Helmet · Harness · Protection for potential belayed sections
- Gear worth bringing
- Airbag pack · Satellite communicator (no cell coverage in most couloir approaches)
Guides, rentals and operators
- Guides
- International Alpine Guides · Blackbird Mountain Guides · Sierra Mountain Center (Bishop)
Backcountry Skiing detail
- Nickname
- Bloody Couloir · Mt. Tom · Laurel Mountain
- Directions note
- Trailhead varies by objective — see individual lines
- Ates
- extreme
- Tour types
- ski-mountaineering
- Summit
- 13652
- Approach
- 6–12+ miles round trip depending on objective · 4,000–6,000ft elevation gain · Approach often on snowshoes before switching to ski gear
- First timer with guide
- No
- Guide recommended
- Yes
- Avi zone
- Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center · esavalanchecenter.org
- Signature lines
- Bloody Couloir (Mt. Tom, 13,652 ft) · Laurel Mountain / Laurel Canyon Couloir · Wheeler Crest Descents
- Intl tip
- Bishop is the Eastern Sierra's hub town — excellent gear shops (Eastside Sports, Wilson's Eastside Sports), world-class bouldering at the Buttermilks (covered in the climbing guide), and the Alabama Hills for sunset photography. A spring week based in Bishop that combines couloir skiing with Buttermilks bouldering and Alabama Hills exploration is one of California's great outdoor combinations.
The guide
The Eastern Sierra's great couloirs are the end of the line in California backcountry skiing — the objectives that experienced …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Eastern Sierra Couloirs — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.55, -118.8