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Yesterday's rain/freeze event knocked Jay down to 54% open today. Jay still leads the U.S. in season-to-date snowfall but conditions obviously suck now. It's not going to snow a flake at Mammoth for at least the next 10 days, but I'm confident it will still be 100% open with excellent...

New this season on one tower each of Mammoth's chairs 1&2: This is of course a suggestion not a mandate, and there was no obvious increase in use on those lifts. We all recall a few years ago when the more intimidating triple chairs 22 and 23 finally got retrofit safety bars. Chair 25 from...

https://www.peakrankings.com/content/le-massif-de-charlevoix-shuts-down-in-resort-wide-strike?srsltid=AfmBOopcVcNsDUm5uHhkRu71DV3plibMmXX4d-yfiHScHh5oefeTdOYq

I can't resist linking the highlight day of Adam's 11-year-old season. Reviewing that TR, I listed 15 runs off the top and chair 22, which I probably exceeded only on May 18, 2013.

Friday was clear, started cold at 12F, warmed to low 20’s midday. The upslope wind was still confined to the top. Mammoth typically does superb and extensive grooming for day 2 after new snow. We were skiing by 8:40 with two quick runs on Stump Alley corduroy. We skied Broadway past the...

2005-06 was also Mammoth's record high attendance season before Alterra took over and no longer will release them. There is debate whether that might have been exceeded in 2022-23. The argument in favor is that Mammoth had 5 feet of snow by November 9 and closed August 6. The argument against...

We drove Tuesday afternoon, hit Sherwin Grade around sunset. Cloud bank below White Mountains: About 10 minutes later, view of Mammoth, Minarets and another cloud bank: SoCal was far from the only one on a school holiday week at Mammoth. The town was very busy at dinnertime, and when we...

Brundage base of 5,840 is high for its region. I'd assume rain issues like this December are very rare. Schweitzer is still only half open with its base at only 4,000.

I finally got around to checking out airfares to next August's eclipse in Spain. We fly home from Madrid and airfares are about $950 one way. The good news is that we got it for 47,600 miles + $50. Incoming will probably be to Bilbao, with a car rental until the AstroTrails tour starts in...

Cottonwood Canyons are climbing out of their hole with 40-44 inches so far in the New Year. It was a big hole, as still barely half of ski terrain is open; perhaps that will improve with control work. And less than half that much fell elsewhere in Utah with relatively high rain/snow line...

JimK and his son could join a group to ski the scenic Petit Envers through the scenic icefalls as I did with NASJA in 2004. I suspect much of his entourage is non-skiers, which is no doubt the reason for resisting some of ChrisC's and my suggestions. Liz and I skied the Classic Route a few...

Japan lift service is marginal in terms of pitch for that much snow, as I found out my last day in Niseko in 2011. The steady "lake effect" of average 5+ inches every day is what you want in Japan, and exactly what I got on my second trip with Liz in 2016.

I've spent a lot of time on Google Earth today with Stuart's post on China and South Korea. Thus I've looked up these NY ski areas. Woods Valley is another 500 footer, but at 6-1 ratio. I'm not buying that you get much deep powder on that. Hopefully there's lots of grooming of the flats...

lift served was at Mt. Baldy, Mar. 21, 1991. 22,000 vertical untracked. Thunder Mt. is 1,000 vertical but the chair is 2.4 - 1 ratio, so there is plenty of room for good powder fall lines even if you spread out a lot. In the afternoon the steep lower runs, also ~1,000 vertical were opened...

Among consensus top 3 for scenery in the Alps (with Zermatt, though Liz among many would also cite the Dolomites). For skiing both deserve no more than 3 days under likely conditions. FYI 3 ski days in the Jungfrau will get you that Jungfraujoch train up to 11,000+ feet for 1/3 the price a...

No more than 500 vertical per my Google Earth file. Length to vertical ratio is 4-1, adequate for powder skiing unless it's really deep. Don't skiers ever get bogged down at Snow Ridge and McCauley, which have similar dimensions in the bull's eye of Ontario Lake effect? I'm not trashing NY...

Purgatory is 48% open on 32 inches season-to-date snowfall. Price sounds fair to me!

Specifics of Mammoth this week (socal's trip and ours upcoming) are moved here.

Inertia. I get it. I have 7 days lifetime at June vs. 479 at Mammoth.

Jimk needs to be heeding the advice ChrisC is posting now. Wherever Jimk goes, he also should hire guides for the first couple of days at least.