With the foot of snow reported Tuesday night I headed for Mammoth Wednesday. I was further pleased to hear that the top did not open Wednesday due to thick fog.
Here's the view driving into Mammoth on 395 from the SE Thursday morning.
This is the sketchy side of the mountain, though not obvious from this distance. Notice the clear skies. It was a delightful morning, in upper teens with zero wind, even on top. After lunch there were light winds from the SW and some overcast.
I arrived at Chair 2 parking at 8:30AM only to find the top was already open, so I headed up there with no warmup. Thursday was the first day of the season that Climax was open. Views up and down it from the gondola.
There was adequate spacing between those rocks, but the dense snow had a day to settle and I stunk up the joint on that first run. Possible excuses:
1) I had arrived home at 5AM Monday from Micronesia. On Sunday/Monday I slept 4 out of 48 hours.
2) I was up again 5AM Wednesday to take Liz to the airport.
3) I had other things to do, so didn't get away until after 4PM, so
4) I was tired and slept in Bishop at 4,000 feet instead of Mammoth at 8,000.
It was necessary to get up some speed to cut through that dense new snow. I had better luck on the more open upper skier's left of Climax and then went to Chair 23, heading for Paranoid 2, usually some of the better powder at Mammoth. After slipping through a bony entry the upper half was good but there was some avy debris about halfway down.
Looking back up from the bottom of the Paranoids.
I went up 1 and 23 for another lap on P1. That snow was slabby and by the end of that run I was sucking wind and you could stick a fork in my quads. I should have skied P3, the narrower slot at right in the pic above.
At any rate I needed to retreat to the groomers for awhile, first swapping out my Head Jimis for the more forgiving and versatile Blizzard Bonafides. I decided to cruise over to Canyon and Eagle Lodges, which had just opened earlier in the week. Here's Roller Coaster, where they are just starting to blow snow to build South Park features.
Roller Coaster was the only run going down 4, with a branch to lower Downhill to get to Canyon. The latter run was irregular, maybe not quite enough snow to groom intensely yet. They were blowing snow on upper Downhill under Chair 16. I rode 8 and skied Bridges (interestingly the smoothest groomer over there) to Eagle, then back to Canyon and up 16.
The dichotomy of conditions within Mammoth now is startling. The Canyon/Eagle area is a skeletal trail network of manmade trails. The Chair 9 and 22 areas above that need another 2-3 foot dump to open. Here's the view of Lincoln from Solitude off Chair 5.
And here's the top of Gold Hill the next morning looking toward the Chair 9 base.
Returning to lunch at the Mill via Wall Street, the snow improved to the mostly softer natural base typical of the Main Lodge area. After a lunch break I was ready to explore some more interesting terrain. Chair 5, Dave's and Climax are the transitional zone in terms of snow coverage. Snow quality is good but the skiable lines are much more confined than usual. I took 3 runs on 5. Sanctuary and Sliver had great windbuff/windsift. The rocks looked too numerous to ski Face of 5, Triangle or Dry Creek fluidly.
I skied over to 3, then to 23 for one more shot at the top. Riding 23:
Profile view of Wipe Out side of 23.
The group of people is patrollers doing sled practice.
I realized that I should be looking for windbuff/windsift rather than thick powder leftovers. Wipe Out 1 delivered on that score, soft and smooth nearly all the way down, would have been good enough for me to ski nonstop on a livelier day.
I rode 23 again and headed off the back. To my surprise the usually windswept upper backside had just one band of rocks to get through, then it was wide open mostly fresh snow.
The wind must have blown in an unusual way during the recent storm. Chair 14 probably had the softest powder that morning, which I later confirmed with locals who had been there.
I took one more run on 14, then rode 13 up and skied to Main Lodge and the corporate offices. I arranged to stay at the Mammoth Mt. Inn Thursday night using the gift card I got for renewing on the first day last spring. The card also paid for all my meals on this short trip.
I caught the last Chair 6 to get back to the car at Chair 2. Total for the day was 25,900 vertical with 2K of powder, quite a good first day of the season, particularly after the tough start.
I slept in Friday until 7:45, not a problem when you're across the street from the Main Lodge. I packed up and got on the hill after breakfast at 9:15. I had to ski a few groomers to warm up, but it was overcast and windy from the NW. Thus I thought I needed to get up top before the projected next wave of weather closed it down, starting with the steep groomer on Cornice. The overnight wind had done its thing and skier's right Climax was easier than the previous day.
There was a windsifted gully leading towards McCoy station and I came across a feature I had never skied before.
I've probably been here before, but of course that slot is usually well buried.
Next gondola I went to Dave's: lots of wind over there and snow decent but not as good as the Chair 23 runs.
I made my back to Chair 23 and skied Drop Outs 1 and 3, which were both in smooth windbuff mode all the way into St. Anton. Overview of the Drop Out side of 23.
Garry Klassen likes Mammoth in this mode. The rocks keep the riffraff away so the snow stays soft and smooth.
I then took top to bottom runs from 23 on Wipe Out 2 and the Hump. In those runs the upper snow was great but more irregular lower down, but better if you cut over to lower Scotty's.
I was done with the top, and so skied a couple runs on Chair 12, then back to Main and up 1 and 3. At this point, about 1:10PM, it started snowing and the top shut down soon after. West Bowl had excellent blown in snow, like the chair 5 runs the day before. I also skied past the sulfur vent to Coyote, then worked my way back to the Mammoth Mt. Inn. I called it a day at 1:45 with 21,300 vertical and finished off the gift card at the Yodler with a late lunch before driving home.
If you're within range, I'd recommend getting up to Mammoth soon while the skiing is good. Parts of the mountain are going to deteriorate with low tide conditions once the thundering hordes arrive Dec. 26 if it doesn't snow some more.
Here's the view driving into Mammoth on 395 from the SE Thursday morning.
This is the sketchy side of the mountain, though not obvious from this distance. Notice the clear skies. It was a delightful morning, in upper teens with zero wind, even on top. After lunch there were light winds from the SW and some overcast.
I arrived at Chair 2 parking at 8:30AM only to find the top was already open, so I headed up there with no warmup. Thursday was the first day of the season that Climax was open. Views up and down it from the gondola.
There was adequate spacing between those rocks, but the dense snow had a day to settle and I stunk up the joint on that first run. Possible excuses:
1) I had arrived home at 5AM Monday from Micronesia. On Sunday/Monday I slept 4 out of 48 hours.
2) I was up again 5AM Wednesday to take Liz to the airport.
3) I had other things to do, so didn't get away until after 4PM, so
4) I was tired and slept in Bishop at 4,000 feet instead of Mammoth at 8,000.
It was necessary to get up some speed to cut through that dense new snow. I had better luck on the more open upper skier's left of Climax and then went to Chair 23, heading for Paranoid 2, usually some of the better powder at Mammoth. After slipping through a bony entry the upper half was good but there was some avy debris about halfway down.
Looking back up from the bottom of the Paranoids.
I went up 1 and 23 for another lap on P1. That snow was slabby and by the end of that run I was sucking wind and you could stick a fork in my quads. I should have skied P3, the narrower slot at right in the pic above.
At any rate I needed to retreat to the groomers for awhile, first swapping out my Head Jimis for the more forgiving and versatile Blizzard Bonafides. I decided to cruise over to Canyon and Eagle Lodges, which had just opened earlier in the week. Here's Roller Coaster, where they are just starting to blow snow to build South Park features.
Roller Coaster was the only run going down 4, with a branch to lower Downhill to get to Canyon. The latter run was irregular, maybe not quite enough snow to groom intensely yet. They were blowing snow on upper Downhill under Chair 16. I rode 8 and skied Bridges (interestingly the smoothest groomer over there) to Eagle, then back to Canyon and up 16.
The dichotomy of conditions within Mammoth now is startling. The Canyon/Eagle area is a skeletal trail network of manmade trails. The Chair 9 and 22 areas above that need another 2-3 foot dump to open. Here's the view of Lincoln from Solitude off Chair 5.
And here's the top of Gold Hill the next morning looking toward the Chair 9 base.
Returning to lunch at the Mill via Wall Street, the snow improved to the mostly softer natural base typical of the Main Lodge area. After a lunch break I was ready to explore some more interesting terrain. Chair 5, Dave's and Climax are the transitional zone in terms of snow coverage. Snow quality is good but the skiable lines are much more confined than usual. I took 3 runs on 5. Sanctuary and Sliver had great windbuff/windsift. The rocks looked too numerous to ski Face of 5, Triangle or Dry Creek fluidly.
I skied over to 3, then to 23 for one more shot at the top. Riding 23:
Profile view of Wipe Out side of 23.
The group of people is patrollers doing sled practice.
I realized that I should be looking for windbuff/windsift rather than thick powder leftovers. Wipe Out 1 delivered on that score, soft and smooth nearly all the way down, would have been good enough for me to ski nonstop on a livelier day.
I rode 23 again and headed off the back. To my surprise the usually windswept upper backside had just one band of rocks to get through, then it was wide open mostly fresh snow.
The wind must have blown in an unusual way during the recent storm. Chair 14 probably had the softest powder that morning, which I later confirmed with locals who had been there.
I took one more run on 14, then rode 13 up and skied to Main Lodge and the corporate offices. I arranged to stay at the Mammoth Mt. Inn Thursday night using the gift card I got for renewing on the first day last spring. The card also paid for all my meals on this short trip.
I caught the last Chair 6 to get back to the car at Chair 2. Total for the day was 25,900 vertical with 2K of powder, quite a good first day of the season, particularly after the tough start.
I slept in Friday until 7:45, not a problem when you're across the street from the Main Lodge. I packed up and got on the hill after breakfast at 9:15. I had to ski a few groomers to warm up, but it was overcast and windy from the NW. Thus I thought I needed to get up top before the projected next wave of weather closed it down, starting with the steep groomer on Cornice. The overnight wind had done its thing and skier's right Climax was easier than the previous day.
There was a windsifted gully leading towards McCoy station and I came across a feature I had never skied before.
I've probably been here before, but of course that slot is usually well buried.
Next gondola I went to Dave's: lots of wind over there and snow decent but not as good as the Chair 23 runs.
I made my back to Chair 23 and skied Drop Outs 1 and 3, which were both in smooth windbuff mode all the way into St. Anton. Overview of the Drop Out side of 23.
Garry Klassen likes Mammoth in this mode. The rocks keep the riffraff away so the snow stays soft and smooth.
I then took top to bottom runs from 23 on Wipe Out 2 and the Hump. In those runs the upper snow was great but more irregular lower down, but better if you cut over to lower Scotty's.
I was done with the top, and so skied a couple runs on Chair 12, then back to Main and up 1 and 3. At this point, about 1:10PM, it started snowing and the top shut down soon after. West Bowl had excellent blown in snow, like the chair 5 runs the day before. I also skied past the sulfur vent to Coyote, then worked my way back to the Mammoth Mt. Inn. I called it a day at 1:45 with 21,300 vertical and finished off the gift card at the Yodler with a late lunch before driving home.
If you're within range, I'd recommend getting up to Mammoth soon while the skiing is good. Parts of the mountain are going to deteriorate with low tide conditions once the thundering hordes arrive Dec. 26 if it doesn't snow some more.
