Thanks to those avid snow-seekers known as “skiers,” you can see December’s huge snowstorms blanket the western United States all over again. The folks at Skiing Interactive Daily have compiled time-lapse satellite imagery from December 12–23, which shows the impressive buildup of snow at several of the West’s major ski areas.

Click here, wait for the page to load (be patient), press “play,” and be amazed.

The action for Mono Lake began on December 15 … pay close attention to the “Mammoth” tab as the snowpack calculation skyrockets. And remember, what happened at Mammoth happened at Mono Lake too! As we near the end of a dry January, it’s fun to look back at the big storms … and pray for more to come.

The Mono Lake Committee’s Outreach Staff, along with the Outdoor Experiences Program Manager, are gathering in the Los Angeles area to start a two-week visit to local schools and community based organizations in preparation for the 2011 Outdoor Experiences season here at Mono Lake.

Outdoor Experiences students from Urban Semillas enjoy time at Mono Lake last summer. Photo by Rosa Brey.

Every year, the OE staff visits these groups, presents a slide show, and does a “question and answer” period for the groups so that leaders, teachers, participants, and students (more…)

After 28 years of annual gull research on Mono Lake’s islands, you might wonder if there are any unanswered questions still out there. After reading PRBO’s 2010 report on the gull research (you can download the report here), the answer is clearly “yes”—and some of those questions were answered this year.

First, the results from the counts done every year. The 2010 California Gull population at Mono Lake was (more…)

The Mono Lake Committee has recently signed up as a member of eBay’s Giving Works program. Now, anyone selling an item on eBay can choose to donate any portion of the final sale price to the Mono Lake Committee: you can do a good deed and get rid of your old junk at the same time! You can learn more about how the program works, and easily make a donation to the Committee at our new eBay page.

Caelen McQuilkin pulls a lucky winner in the 2009 Free Drawing. Photo by Elin Ljung.

Right now, Julia, the Committee’s Project Specialist is busily gathering prizes for the 2011 Free Drawing—one of the Mono Lake Committee’s favorite fundraisers. Favorite fundraiser?

Here’s why: Come summer, over 100,000 people will have a chance to see the list of prizes—through the mail and in our store—and will have a chance to enter the drawing. We even get letters from Mono Lake Committee members asking when they can buy tickets. Then, in November, we get to draw the names of the lucky prize winners!

We put a lot of care into selecting those prizes, and we need your help: do you have something you can donate to the Free Drawing?

Great prizes include things you may not be using, like a timeshare stay or perhaps a round-trip airline ticket. Or perhaps you work for a company that makes annual donations … could your company donate a computer, iPad, iPod, or other snazzy goods or services to the Free Drawing?

If you can help, contact Julia at (760) 647-6595. And thank you!

The complete list of all the Mono Lake Committee’s 2011 Field Seminars is now available online here.

Take a look at the offerings, read up on the expert instructors, and plan your summer schedule. Then be ready to sign up at 9:00am on Tuesday, February 1!

Any questions? Call (760) 647-6595.

The Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore will be closed Tuesday, January 18th for our annual inventory. We will be open all other days next week from 9:00am to 5:00pm. We apologize for any inconvenience.

When winter descends on the Mono Basin, the rest of the world seems to disappear. The fog closes in, the roads are more difficult to navigate, and the only sounds outside are the chirping of birds and the hum of the snowplow. Many visitors and members can’t visit Mono Lake in the winter because of the weather and the long drive. Here is a sample of life during winter in the Mono Basin:

Part of the Mono Lake Committee staff's winter job description is snow removal! Here, drifting snowflakes obscure our open sign during a big storm last winter. Photo by Rosanne Catron.

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We are now accepting applications for the 2011 summer season! Please visit the jobs page for detailed job descriptions and information on how to apply.

Mono Lake Committee Staff Summer 2010

Late afternoon sunshine lights up Mono Lake's islands. Photo by Elin Ljung.

It was a remarkable December for precipitation, as well as snowfall at the higher elevations. Following a rainy October and a snowy November, December 2010 brought most areas of the Mono Basin and Owens Valley very close to seasonal average precipitation and snowfall—with the majority of the wet season left to go! (more…)