Virginia Lakes / Dunderberg Peak
Conway Summit (Hwy 395, north of Lee Vining) · near Lee Vining / Bridgeport · Eastern Sierra
Backcountry Skiing
At a glance
- Vertical
- 3000
- Best season
- April–June · A spring ski-mountaineering zone once Virginia Lakes Road melts out
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit. Humboldt-Toiyabe / Inyo National Forest. Access via Virginia Lakes Road off Conway Summit (Hwy 395) — a spring zone, gated by snow until the road opens (typically by the trout-season opener in late April). High-alpine, above treeline.
Worth knowing
- Gear you must bring
- Beacon · Probe · Shovel · Skins · Ski crampons · Ice axe · Boot crampons · Helmet
- Gear worth bringing
- Airbag pack · Rope for glaciated/steep sections · Whippet
Guides, rentals and operators
- Guides
- Blackbird Mountain Guides · International Alpine Guides
Backcountry Skiing detail
- Nickname
- The Spring Couloir Playground
- Directions note
- Virginia Lakes Rd closes in winter — park at the Conway Summit area on US-395 and skin in
- Ates
- complex
- Tour types
- ski-mountaineering · day-tour
- Summit
- 12374
- Approach
- Varies by objective · Road opens in spring (usually by fishing opener) · High-alpine access near 10,000ft
- First timer with guide
- No
- Guide recommended
- Yes
- Avi zone
- Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center · esavalanche.org
- Signature lines
- Green Creek Couloir (Dunderberg) · Dunderberg south chutes · Black Mountain bowls & chutes
- Intl tip
- Virginia Lakes is off Conway Summit between Bridgeport and Lee Vining — Mono Lake's tufa towers and the ghost town of Bodie are nearby. Lee Vining (Whoa Nellie Deli at the Tioga gas station is a legend) and Bridgeport are the base towns. This zone pairs with the whole Hwy 395 spring corn circuit.
The guide
The Virginia Lakes zone at Conway Summit is one of the Eastern Sierra's great spring ski-mountaineering playgrounds — an alpine…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Virginia Lakes / Dunderberg Peak — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.047, -119.262