Alex and I rocketed to Bishop from San Diego on friday night. We drove as far as my Subaru could make it into the Buttermilks before the snow got too deep. We Bivied next to the car and started cross country skiing towards the base of Basin Mountain around 715am. We got up into the East gully and snowboarded/skied down, reaching the car at about 430pm. It was effin glorious! We started under light cloud cover but once we gained about 2500 feet of elevation above the car, the entire Owen's River Valley lay beneath us, blanketed by clouds. It was cold in the shade of Basin Mountain's towering East faces, but it doesn't have to be fun to be fun. Punishment equals glory.