Bishop Conditions

Hey, 

Flying into LA on Sunday and had planned to head to Bishop area for a week. I know there has been some pretty bad weather last few days. 

Is Bishop all completely snowed out now and if so how long before its climbable / driveable? Is Red Rock the better option for the first week?

Any help would be much appreciated. Im in a van so can be flexible 

I'm not in Bishop currently so can't give a firsthand report, but I suspect you should be OK. The snow line has been pretty high during this event (i.e. it has been warm), so there shouldn't be enough snow to shut down the Buttermilks. Bishop has gotten about an inch of rain, which generally isn't enough to cause major issues with the roads, etc.  Sun is expected to come out Saturday, which should have most things dried out by the start of your trip next week.

Follow Bishop Climbing Rangers on instagram for the "official" conditions report. I'd expect they'll have another conditions report out for this weekend.

Weather looks really good for Bishop next week too. Be prepared for crowds though! This is a very popular week there. This is advantageous though if you want to climb the classic Buttermilks highballs - lots of people means lots of pads.

Red Rock has also gotten about an inch of rain over the last 48 hours. Continued showers possible through Saturday. For wet sandstone reasons, Red Rock could still be out of commission for the first few days of your trip.

Thats helpful! thanks - I will keep an eye on things. That Bishop Climbing rangers account is very useful so appreciate that

ewran kend wrote:

Good bishops monitor long open diagonals. If a bishop is staring into an opponent's pawn chain (biting on granite, as the phrase goes) or locked behind one of your own pawns, it is bad. Keep in mind that bishops don't have to be good all the time. Sometimes one of your pawns could be super important and your bishop needs to do a job and defend it. But usually you want to post bishops on long diagonals, free of pawns, where they can patrol multiple key squares.

Weird how we [rightly] have concerns of AI killing us all - luckily it just isn't there yet.

Partial clearing today and can confirm a few inches of snow at Buttermilk elevations and generally thoroughly soaked rock at the tablelands and gorge. 

JCMwrote:

I'm not in Bishop currently so can't give a firsthand report, but I suspect you should be OK. The snow line has been pretty high during this event (i.e. it has been warm), so there shouldn't be enough snow to shut down the Buttermilks. Bishop has gotten about an inch of rain, which generally isn't enough to cause major issues with the roads, etc.  Sun is expected to come out Saturday, which should have most things dried out by the start of your trip next week.

Follow Bishop Climbing Rangers on instagram for the "official" conditions report. I'd expect they'll have another conditions report out for this weekend.

Weather looks really good for Bishop next week too. Be prepared for crowds though! This is a very popular week there. This is advantageous though if you want to climb the classic Buttermilks highballs - lots of people means lots of pads.

Red Rock has also gotten about an inch of rain over the last 48 hours. Continued showers possible through Saturday. For wet sandstone reasons, Red Rock could still be out of commission for the first few days of your trip.

I stand somewhat corrected:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DSvVjXwkgn-/?img_index=3

Looks like the Milks got a fair amount of snow. May take a few days for that to dry out. Sunny parts of the Happiest are probably good to go by early next week though, and the Buttermilks a few days after that.