Late TR: Mammoth, Feb. 14, 2017

Tony Crocker

Administrator
Staff member
Better late than never...I left for Canada two days after this trip and only got to post Feb. 13 in a timely fashion. But there are some noteworthy pictures and keep in mind that Mammoth has had 98 inches of snow since we were last there Feb. 14.

We started the day with Kirk, Larry and Mike, Epic Forum people with whom I had not skied before. We warmed up on chair 3 and then hit Dave''s Run.
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Later overview of Dave's and Rockgarden:
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The mellower Rockgarden (right side) is chronically windstripped. This year it's covered but there's a slick wind polished patch in the middle of it.

Traversing below Huevos, I had a view of a snowboarder who just dropped in.
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The top entry has not been open since 2011. It's still narrower than it looks from below with a notch entry through a vertical cornice.

We then took a few runs on chairs 5 and 9. The Dry Creek area is an example of current snowpack still below a few other big years.
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Those boulders left of the vertical cliff were totally buried in 1983. Only the top 1/4 of Mammoth is conspicuously deeper than in 1983, 1995 and 2011.

I took a couple of the Epic guys through Avy 1, then skied to the Mill for a short break. I went up to chair 23 to ski Wipe Out, then rode the gondola to the top. The entry to Climax under the gondola is unique this season.
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Normally there are huge boulders here and narrow mogul paths to get past them. This year they had to move some snow to prevent the gondola being obstructed, and the new entry is wide open and steep like Wipe Out and Drop Out.

Liz wanted me to show her the way to No Passos. This scenic entry avoided the Closed sign next to chair 14's unloading station.
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View down approaching No Passos (left) and Dos Passos (right):
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Liz dropping in:
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Some one below us on Roardrunner shot video of us at the bottom. Liz may post a clip of that sometime.

Returning to Main Lodge via chair 13 we get a good view of Mammoth's large halfpipe.
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Some people will get flak from their significant other if they go skiing on Valentines Day. :smileyvault-stirthepot: I am one of the lucky ones. :icon-mrgreen: Liz was excited to get to ski the rarely open No Passos. Our last day in Zermatt, when we were a bit too enthusiastic chasing the powder and had to hike/ski out from Gant after 5PM, was another memorable Valentine's Day.
 
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