Mammoth, May 9-10, 2022

Tony Crocker

Administrator
Staff member
This trip was constrained by our schedule and that Patrick and Lonnie were going to be at Mammoth these days. Garry was in his RV at McGee Creek too, and we had dinner with him there Saturday night on the way up. Garry had skied Wednesday-Friday, was annoyed by the ongoing windy weather. The weekend days were the worst for that, with only Discovery chair 11 being open Saturday morning and all day Sunday due to wind gusts of 70mph. Garry did not ski Saturday and drove home Sunday with the ongoing adverse weather.

Lonnie and Patrick were at Palisades Saturday with excellent spring skiing, particularly on Granite Chief. It sounded similar to our day there June 2, 2017. They skied Sunday also, but weather shut down the mountain by 1PM.

Sunday Liz and I hiked a couple miles down Lower Rock Creek.
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We then drove over to nearby Swall Meadow.
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On Monday wind gusts moderated to 40mph, so Mammoth's lifts could operate. The cold front came through with flurries in town Saturday from about 5-7PM. That meant Monday's temperatures on the hill were 15-20F. Here's an early view up Saddle Bowl from top of chair 2.
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You would think there would be some decent wind deposited snow but it was very limited. On our first ride up chair 2 about 9:45 we could tell Stump Alley was solid frozen granular. So we started with Mambo, a mellower pitch with some loose snow on top. Then we went to Saddle Bowl, the upper half of which was a rare run without an icy surface all day. The flat section over towards 23 was rock solid all day, but Rusty's which faces direct morning sun had loosened a little.

Stump Alley remained frozen granular when we skied it about 10:30, so we repeated the Saddle Bowl/Rusty's route. Lonnie joined us at the bottom of Saddle Bowl and suggested a bottom-to-top gondola. Lonnie at the sign:
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Coverage is deep up here with stairs still buried

Liz declined that gondola, while Lonnie suggested Climax. Climax had an enticing veneer of perhaps 1cm of new snow.
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Looks can be deceiving. Every turn was on the underlying coral reef.

The apron at lower pitch "only sucked moderately" by comparison, as you could link some turns together but it was still a rough ride. View back up of a couple of skiers picking their way slowly down the upper steeps:
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Next I thought Upper Dry Creek might have blown in snow, but it did not. It was solid frozen moguls, an even worse run than Climax. We were ready for a break so we met Liz and Patrick for lunch at the Mill. Andrew was working chair 2 Monday and joined us on his break.

Even though it was completely sunny until 1PM the snow remained firm when we came out after lunch. At the top of chair 2 the clouds over the Minarets started to expand.
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Again we skied Saddle Bowl to Rusty's to minimize the ice. Lonnie wanted to ride the gondola up, which I favored so I could upgrade midlayer and gloves with the increasing cloudiness. Patrick came along but Liz passed. Lonnie wanted to ski Cornice this time. Patrick had skied it earlier, said there was only a short section of loose snow and wanted to try something different. I talked him out of Dave's and we skied upper Roadrunner to Scotty's. View of chair 23 from top of Scotty's:
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The middle third of Scotty's had enough blown in snow to avoid the subsurface and so was one of the better runs of the day. The upper part and all of St. Anton below were frozen granular.

For a final exploration Patrick and I skied face of 3 and Coyote to chair 5. Coyote had not been groomed and had moguls, though due to its SE exposure at least they had softened a little.

The top of Solitude was the iciest snow of the day; fortunately it's a moderate intermediate pitch. The Comeback Trail returning to chair 2 was in fairly decent shape both before lunch and on this final run. I skied 17,000 vertical Monday.

Again there were flurries in town in late afternoon, but it was also snowing when we woke up Tuesday. However the mountain reported no new snow as of 6:30AM. Thus we had a leisurely breakfast as no one was in a hurry to get out early with similar cold temperatures and no sun.

Liz and I had a concert at Disney Hall Tuesday evening so had to leave at 12:30. So finally I said if I was going to ski at all I needed to get moving. We packed up and Liz dropped me at Chair 2 about 10:30. Walking to the chair I was surprised to see 2-3 inches new snow and even more pleased not to hear scraping from the skiers on Stump Alley when riding the lift.

I skied to chair 1 via Fascination, which was steep enough that I hit bottom occasionally, but late enough in turns that I could still ski continuously. Mambo, Broadway and the upper 2/3 of Stump Alley had no contact with the frozen granular subsurface at all. This was fortunate as there was enough snow and wind that I needed goggles.

Lonnie finally arrived about 11:15. We skied Terry's, which was a mistake as the wind was coming from that direction and the new snow was too shallow. Andy's had been roped off for racing, but in the bad weather they gave it up so we hit that next. There were some deeper drifts there but variable so occasionally we would hit bottom.

Next we went up 3 to ski Saddle Bowl which we knew would be good. Partway down I realized that Gremlin's might have some extra deposition. Despite marginal visibility Gremlin's was the best snow of the day and I never hit a subsurface until well past chair 23 on lower St. Anton.

It was now 12:15 so I rode 1 and 3 and skied Saddle Bowl again, but then down to 2 via upper Forest Trail and lower Mambo to meet Liz and head home. I skied 10,400 vertical Tuesday.

Mammoth reported 3-4 inches new by midday Tuesday and no more than that by Wednesday morning. However Lonnie and Patrick said some areas around Dave's and Scotty's probably had at least 8-10 inches and skied quite well when the top opened Wednesday. Lonnie came home Wednesday night but Patrick will be at Mammoth through Friday.
 
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Not sure I would have even bothered to stay after 2-3 runs on that Monday snow surface based on your description...

Though it looks like they should be open for a while longer this spring given the decent snow depth in spite of the bizarre snow season in the Sierras.
 
Not sure I would have even bothered to stay after 2-3 runs on that Monday snow surface based on your description...
Both Lonnie and Patrick said these were the worst surface conditions they have ever seen at Mammoth. I have considerably more experience (429 days) but it was possibly in the bottom 5. Our situation was complicated by needing to leave by 12:30 Tuesday to make that concert. Furthermore, Tuesday was predicted to be worse than Monday with the same temperatures but thick overcast and fog. Mammoth reported no new snow as of 6:30AM Tuesday and had not updated that report by the time we got out at 10:30, so the vastly improved conditions were a pleasant surprise.

These conditions are very rare at Mammoth. Temperatures that low in May are nearly always accompanied by new snow and the day before the storm arrives is one I usually avoid.

The cold weather and new snow has arrested the spring meltdown, so I expect we will make one more trip, this time based on a short term weather forecast. I believe Mammoth will stick with the Memorial Day close, but coverage will be better than last year.
 
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