This was the third big powder day I've had at Mammoth on April 9. 1999 was in a class by itself ( http://www.skisocal.org/review/4/9/99/d ... -rating-10). 1994 had more snow but the top was closed for wind. That's what I expected this time, particularly with another desert rainstorm driving up Firday night. The snowbanks in town look like a normal year due to several warm spells, and driving up to the hill Saturday it looked like dust on crust.
It was a different story higher up. Despite intermittent flurries the top opened at 9AM after being closed Friday :-D . Reported new snow was 9 inches but the storm had been very windy, so some areas had blown-off hardpack while others were over a foot deep. After one deliberate run in thick powder on Climax and Dry Creek I went to the car and grabbed the Chubbs for the rest of the day.
I got 4 runs on Chair 23, with the last on Paranoid being the highlight. Due to the deep coverage I then skied a couple of runs (Varmint's Nest, Heuvos Grande from the top) that I had not done since the 1980's. From there I skied down Chair 9, back up and traversed way out Dragon's Back to get some fresh in the trees. After 3 runs on Chair 22 it was 12:45 and I needed a break after 20,600 vertical, half of it powder of varying quality.
I took it slower in the afternoon, except for a day end adventure. I decided to ski the last run OB off the back of Dave's Run down to Twin Lakes and have Richard pick me up at Tamarack Lodge. This was mostly untracked but it faces directly south and was quite heavy by 3:30PM. My objective was to ski through the natural bridge Hole-in-the-Wall, which I had done in 1994 and 1996. The area above the cliffs is forested and hard to navigate, so I followed some powder tracks that led to the lake but unfortunately below the Hole. Still one of the top days of this season: 29,900, 13K of powder.
Sunday the strategy was exact opposite of Saturday's quest for freshies. Any snow that was unconsolidated was very set up, and after the clouds and wind abated in late morning, well-baked. So it made sense to stick to the groomers or popular skier-packed lines. Just to give a plug to Mammoth's management: they didn't groom much upper mountain terrain Friday night, but they groomed a whole lot Saturday night. The only steep runs I skied were Climax, Dave's, Drop Out 2 and one of the Avalanche Chutes as my quads were really cooked from Saturday. But overall I skied another 30,700 and I will break my season record my next day out, possibly this Saturday at Baldy.
Although it wasn't that warm this weekend (10-15 degrees on top early AM, 30's midday), I would say that about 60% of Mammoth softened to spring conditions Sunday. It also snowed 15 inches April 3, but it was 65 degrees on April 6, which accounted for the unexpected hardpack in a few upper mountain locations.
It was a different story higher up. Despite intermittent flurries the top opened at 9AM after being closed Friday :-D . Reported new snow was 9 inches but the storm had been very windy, so some areas had blown-off hardpack while others were over a foot deep. After one deliberate run in thick powder on Climax and Dry Creek I went to the car and grabbed the Chubbs for the rest of the day.
I got 4 runs on Chair 23, with the last on Paranoid being the highlight. Due to the deep coverage I then skied a couple of runs (Varmint's Nest, Heuvos Grande from the top) that I had not done since the 1980's. From there I skied down Chair 9, back up and traversed way out Dragon's Back to get some fresh in the trees. After 3 runs on Chair 22 it was 12:45 and I needed a break after 20,600 vertical, half of it powder of varying quality.
I took it slower in the afternoon, except for a day end adventure. I decided to ski the last run OB off the back of Dave's Run down to Twin Lakes and have Richard pick me up at Tamarack Lodge. This was mostly untracked but it faces directly south and was quite heavy by 3:30PM. My objective was to ski through the natural bridge Hole-in-the-Wall, which I had done in 1994 and 1996. The area above the cliffs is forested and hard to navigate, so I followed some powder tracks that led to the lake but unfortunately below the Hole. Still one of the top days of this season: 29,900, 13K of powder.
Sunday the strategy was exact opposite of Saturday's quest for freshies. Any snow that was unconsolidated was very set up, and after the clouds and wind abated in late morning, well-baked. So it made sense to stick to the groomers or popular skier-packed lines. Just to give a plug to Mammoth's management: they didn't groom much upper mountain terrain Friday night, but they groomed a whole lot Saturday night. The only steep runs I skied were Climax, Dave's, Drop Out 2 and one of the Avalanche Chutes as my quads were really cooked from Saturday. But overall I skied another 30,700 and I will break my season record my next day out, possibly this Saturday at Baldy.
Although it wasn't that warm this weekend (10-15 degrees on top early AM, 30's midday), I would say that about 60% of Mammoth softened to spring conditions Sunday. It also snowed 15 inches April 3, but it was 65 degrees on April 6, which accounted for the unexpected hardpack in a few upper mountain locations.
