Lover's Leap in March? And LL Guidebook?

I've got an opportunity to go to Carson City March 14-28, and was looking at Lover's Leap. Two questions:

1. Is March a reasonable time to plan to climb at the Leap? An internet search yields mixed opinions.
2. What's the best guidebook to get if I do go?

It will have lots of snow.  Sugarloaf and woodfords canyon would be your best options. MP for woodfords and supertopo for sugarloaf.

Tahoe area has ~140% of normal snow level for this time of the year, with much more on its way. Barring a historic heat wave you won't be able to get to any climbing without trudging through a lot of snow. I would say if you want to enjoy some nice California climbing in March and have a few days I would go south to Bishop... If you only have day trips maybe Sugarloaf or Emeralds.

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/106359636/woodfords-canyon

Look into south facing crags - fortress and deadwood. Mostly good quality single pitch cracks.

There are also lower elevation crags and bouldering areas near Carson city and Reno.

If you have a week go down to bishop.

Lovers Leap and Donner Summit are the only two "destination" climbing areas within an hour or so of Carson City, imo. Unfortunately, they'll most likely both be snowed in through March. There are, however, a few options that are of very high quality that may be good to go. The closest to Carson City would be Woodfords Canyon. It's predominantly a traditional area and has routes up to 4 pitches in length, with a lot of single pitch climbs, too. Sugarloaf is another great choice. It's about an hour and a half from Carson City and offers single and multipitch climbs in a variety of grades. Then there's the Emeralds. This is a quality sports climbing area with numerous crags and (mostly) sunny exposure. I'm partial to Woodfords Canyon, but your choice really hinges on what type of climbing experience you're after. Woodfords=traditional, adventure-y crack climbing, Sugarloaf=traditional climbing on Yosemite-esque granite with some (harder) sports climbs thrown in, Emeralds=fun sports climbing with easy access and a range of grades. Hope this helps! Have fun!

Thanks everyone for your responses. I was mostly planning on going because it would have been cheap to go (relative of a friend with housing/car to borrow in the area), but it's expensive enough that I don't think I'm going to go if it's not going to be a stellar experience. I'd rather save my money and the same situation will probably be available this summer when the weather will be better for the destination-y crags in the area.

Definitely delay to summer if climbing is your #1 reason for going there. Skiing is epic right now, though, and will be in March.

Though I drove through Bishop and the whole Owens Valley yesterday and it was below freezing all the way to Lancaster. It was 3 degrees when I left Mammoth!

Looks like nobody bothered to answer your second question. The only guidebooks I know of are Chris McNamara's South Lake Tahoe Climbing (Supertopo) and Mike Carville's Rock Climbing Lake Tahoe (Falcon; OP but inexpensively available used).

Paul Morrison wrote: Looks like nobody bothered to answer your second question. The only guidebooks I know of are Chris McNamara's South Lake Tahoe Climbing (Supertopo) and Mike Carville's Rock Climbing Lake Tahoe (Falcon; OP but inexpensively available used).

There’s a new guidebook for North Lake Tahoe by Josh Hornaki (I think that’s how you spell his las name), it’s super good.

wcayler wrote:

There’s a new guidebook for North Lake Tahoe by Josh Hornaki (I think that’s how you spell his las name), it’s super good.

I happen to be looking at it on my mantel. It's Josh *Horniak. But I can confirm, one of the best guidebooks I've seen, for any area. 

Jordy Clements wrote:

I happen to be looking at it on my mantel. It's Josh *Horniak. But I can confirm, one of the best guidebooks I've seen, for any area. 

Maybe so, but the original question referred to Lover's Leap, which isn't included in this book, according to the TOC posted online.

Woodfords is not for everybody. Thank god!

You’ll generally work harder on the approach and climb less pitches there but the setting is 5*****. The climbing is jam intensive, yet varied. More of an alpinesque J Tree.

Short answer is that it’s not a destination crag, not due to lack of quality, but because acquainting yourself with the scattered, sometimes convoluted topography coupled with getting gassed on the sandy approach means it’s a crag that takes more time than getting an insta boner on Corrugation Corner. Looking back, that sentence wasn’t exactly brief.

Sugarloaf is great too, probably an hour further drive.

As of this morning 3/9/19. More snow on the way. But Eeyores finally came in this year!!! 

Any more updates on conditions?