During the winter of 2023, parts of North America saw staggering amounts of snowfall. It seems that almost everywhere you looked, people were grabbing their fat planks and heading for the hills. Few places, however, saw snow like California. The Sierra Nevada mountains were ground zero for some of the deepest snow totals on Earth, with Donner Pass clocking 730″ (60 ft, 10 in) of snowfall along Interstate 80. Keep in mind this is not the totals from the mountain peaks, just the summit of the pass. Insanity.
Donner Pass sits near the Cali-Nevada border, with resorts like Palisades Tahoe and Sugar Bowl in close proximity. The lake effect that’s observed from Lake Tahoe can produce big storms, but the snow is often heavy, full of moisture and settles quickly. It’s what you might know as Sierra cement. Last year, reports began pouring in that cold circulating air had come to produce some of the driest powder ever seen in the area. An anomaly of cold smoke in the Sierra’s.
Luckily for us, the crew at Matchstick Productions (MSP) was there to capture the occasion. Mark Abma, Xander Guldman and Dennis Ranalter were on sight and got to harvest some of the deepest farming we’ve ever witnessed. While many of us are waiting for that next big storm to drop much-needed blankets on our local resorts, relive the glory days of last year with this legendary crew in this legendary place.
From YouTube
Last winter Mark Abma, Xander Guldman and Dennis Ranalter found themselves snowed in atop Donner Pass for what turned out to be one of the deepest storms of the year! Safe to say, the crew took full advantage of the opportunity, skiing some of the deepest and driest powder snow that we have ever seen.
Want to see more from MSP? Watch “The Land of Giants” online today!
