Little Ice Age allegedly ended in the exact year that the Industrial Revolution started: just a coincidence?

Dan Walters: Alarmist article bemoans alleged lack of snow in the Sierra

But today's glaciers – including Lyell – are not vestiges of the monoliths that scoured and polished the Sierra so long ago. They were born during a more recent cooling episode known as the Little Ice Age, which began around 1350. "It was a well-documented event," Stock said. "The Vikings were literally run off of Greenland by advancing ice."

Then, around 1850, the Little Ice Age ended. "That is the year most historians point to as the start of the Industrial Revolution," Stock said. "That signifies the start of the mass consumption of fossil fuels."

Critics of global warming say glaciers have been retreating for more than a century and climate change is caused by natural forces, such as increased sun spot activity. But Stock cites scientific studies that point to a new culprit: rising carbon dioxide levels.

Feb. 2008: Monster winter in the Sierra

It's been a monster winter in the Sierra.

Witness Heavenly, which received 167 inches of snow in January, marking the most snowfall in a single month since the resort began keeping snowfall data more than 30 years ago.

"We're in one of those epic snow cycles that the Sierra mountain range is famous for," said Blaise Carrig, Heavenly's chief operating officer.

"We beat the next closest month by 20 inches. There is no destination in the U.S. that has the kind of snow we have right now," he boasted.