It looks like it’s last call for riding in the high peaks. We just returned from a four day trip to the Sierras where it looked down right wintry. A massive storm front descended out of the Gulf of Alaska and plowed over the western U.S. late last week. The cold front made for some frigid tent camping and epic trail riding.

On Thursday night/Friday morning, the snow level dropped to 3,000-feet. We posted-up in Yuba Expeditions, watching snowflakes fall on Downieville and finally drove up to Packer Saddle for a mid-afternoon run in the snow. The Butcher Ranch trail was blanketed with about 2-inches of fresh powder adding a whole new element to the classic singletrack. By the time we reached the bottom of Butcher Ranch the snow was replaced with perfectly tacky soil. WTB-sponsored rider Jackie Baker and I were both riding Stout tires and laughing as we hit turns faster than ever possible in the typically dusty environment.

After Downieville, we took the DH bikes to Northstar-at-Tahoe and enjoyed the mountain bike park’s last weekend of operation for the year. The crowds were a bit bigger than usual, but the conditions were perfect. Riding WeirWolf Team DH tires, traction was superb through the snow, the sloppy snow run-off and the moisture-saturated sand. We ran into Sven Martin photographing local world cup DH pros Ryan Condrashoff, Brad Benedict, Amado Stachenfeld and Mike Haderer. Ryan and Brad were both riding WeirWolf tires and roosting poor Sven with mud, snow and rocks! The photos of those guys tearing up Tahoe should be in an upcoming issue of Decline Magazine, keep your eyes peeled. Theo from All Out Productions was also up there filming and showing off the trailer for his new film Stars and Bars.

We finished the long weekend back at Downieville with an unplanned, epic adventure ride. Jackie and I packed enough food and water for a solid two-hour trail ride and dropped down from Packer Saddle toward Gold Valley. We made a few wrong turns and a couple questionable decisions and climbed toward Graeagle and the “A Tree”. From there we followed some mountain bike tire tracks down a trail that seemed half goat path and half water run off. With no map (this trail isn’t on any maps anyway) we hoped for the best and descended blindly into a deep valley. Fortunately the goat path linked to the Lavazolla Trail and finally brought us back to Downieville just before dark. By the time we rolled into town we had been riding for more than six hours and resorted to eating snow to stay hydrated—a typical Downieville adventure!