Mammoth 11'053'. Get high not covid 20/21

[Eastern Sierra Skier]

It’s all about Work Life Balance.]

Are you looking, willing ,and able to do full time work each week? or something like that

Absolutely! I'm always looking, willing, and able to put in the work in order to make a few good turns. Example........


Yesterday (not Mammoth). Got Snow?

[Ottime]

You did say you were headed to bachelor. Damn they have snow up north.

[comish]

sure wind, but looking at the cams, except for the top 100', snow looks pretty soft/deep. I'd take that over looking at it from my desk on a cam.

Questions:

1) Where can I get a solid decently priced base grind in Mammoth. No base weld needed, just flatten bases
I prefer Kittredge, but Footloose also does a good job. Have heard the machine Kittredge has can do "better" race patterns? Not positive though.

2) Where can I get a good boot fitting for either Alpine or heavy pin touring / crossover boots?

My go-to has historically been Kevin (if there are still two, it's "old" Kevin) at Footloose. The dude get's off on my old skool Dobermann's and actually likes to grind and get creative. I have also had work done by Todd at Surefoot who is a good dude.

[hutash]

Pretty impressive slide for life. Not much effort to actually stop. I just hope he had to hike back up to get his gear.

Amazing day on the hill today considering they didn't open shit. Not sure why they didn't get 22 open, winds and views weren't bad on Lincoln. The best they did was open three for a short time.

Still, managed to find lots of good stashes with a moderate effort. Puking all evening, but now slowing down (although it shod pick up again.) I doubt they will get much open in the morning. Thinking about a June Mt day tomorrow???

[liv2ski]

To bad I didn't check in and see your post Hutash. Not sure I could of kept up to you but June would have been a great call today, but non of my crew wanted to go, so I skied Mammoth. I had a fun time skiing, but fuck those lines. Going to start out slow on Sunday and roll up around 11am, once people start leaving, so I can have a good afternoon. Sunday should be a great day of high speed ripping.

[Eastern Sierra Skier]

You did say you were headed to bachelor. Damn they have snow up north.

Batch was good. Sent you a PM. Check your messages when you get a chance.

[Fofo]

Hey liv2ski, yeah, Saturday lines are horrible, especially before lunch (the crowds seem to thin out a little bit after lunch), but Sunday afternoons are great!

Comish, I agree, Footloose has a great reputation, and we have been going there for years. However, Mrs. Fofo (Fofette?) wanted to get new boots last year, and she is now on her third pair. Three different fitters at Footloose have told her three different things with three different models recommended, and she is still in pain or with discomfort (I have to recognize that Footloose has been great about exchanging the boots that don't work for the newer recommendation). She does have a challenging foot for fittings, so someone with a more standard foot may have a more straightforward experience (for my current boots, I did get a good pair from the beginning and they have been great this last couple of years. Mike Thorpe at Sportsden in Salt Lake City, shoutout to him! Excellent, excellent service).

We may give Kittredge in Mammoth a try next time. Has anyone tried the Surefoot boots? They sound expensive, but so far I've only found a couple of magazine articles and Yelp reviews talking about how comfortable they are, but I don't trust those comments as much. Could you bring your own shell and just have their custom liner fitted?

[Long duc dong]

Hey liv2ski, yeah, Saturday lines are horrible, especially before lunch (the crowds seem to thin out a little bit after lunch), but Sunday afternoons are great!

Comish, I agree, Footloose has a great reputation, and we have been going there for years. However, Mrs. Fofo (Fofette?) wanted to get new boots last year, and she is now on her third pair. Three different fitters at Footloose have told her three different things with three different models recommended, and she is still in pain or with discomfort (I have to recognize that Footloose has been great about exchanging the boots that don't work for the newer recommendation). She does have a challenging foot for fittings, so someone with a more standard foot may have a more straightforward experience (for my current boots, I did get a good pair from the beginning and they have been great this last couple of years. Mike Thorpe at Sportsden in Salt Lake City, shoutout to him! Excellent, excellent service).

We may give Kittredge in Mammoth a try next time. Has anyone tried the Surefoot boots? They sound expensive, but so far I've only found a couple of magazine articles and Yelp reviews talking about how comfortable they are, but I don't trust those comments as much. Could you bring your own shell and just have their custom liner fitted?

Surefoot has worked very well for me.

I have been in Surefoot liners since the spring of 2002. I put about 200 days on my first set while still living in Tahoe, then about 250 days over my first 8 seasons skiing weekends and living down south. The liners were still okay at that point, but I needed new boots. I got a new pair of boots, I actually found some practically brand new Technica Icon Carbon boots which were exactly what I had before, got new injected liners in December 2011, and skied that boot/liner combination until Jan 2019, when the shell developed a crack. To be clear, this was NOT a Surefoot boot, so the crack had nothing to do with them. I would estimate I put about 250 days on that pair of boots/liners, and when I needed to replace them it was not do to the liners being done but a cracking of the shell. I got some boots AND liners at Surefoot in Jan 2019, Lange SX 130 boots with foam liners, and I absolutely love them. The only weird thing is that I have been in orange Tecnica boots since 1996 so it is strange to be in Lange boots!

I am a huge fan of what they do. I have been in Surefoot liners for about 19 years now, and I will continue to wear them. I think the guys in Mammoth did a great job and I love the fit and the performance. They are very willing to work through the tweeks to get everything right. My wife also has a pair, Lange boots from Surefoot and foam injected liners, and she loves them. She skis with me most of the time, I ski about 40 days in a typical season and she skis about 25, and she loves her boots, which is great for me! They have also made her a better skier, I would call her advanced but not expert, which is another plus.

It is a snug fit, I usually ski my first run of the year with my boots unbuckled, but I absolutely love the feel and performance. The foam liner is definitely worth it in my opinion. I don't even remember what it is like to ski in a stock liner now. They can customize the fit for you in terms of how tight the fit is, they will talk to you about your skiing and what kind of a fit you want. I have had a great experience with both the Surefoot guys in Squaw, granted that was more than 15 years ago, and the guys in Mammoth. Todd, the manager, is a really good guy.

Just my 2 cents. I have had a really great experience with the guys in Mammoth and so has my wife.

EDIT: My first two pairs of Surefoot liners were in boots I got in other places. I THINK they still will do that, although I'm not sure. If you need new boots anyway I would advise considering going through them.

[liv2ski]

LDD, if you have had Intuitions molded to your foot/boots, how did those compare with the Surefoot liners?

[SkiHick]

Hmm may have to consider surefoot now... I have WEIRD boxey feet and have always had fit issues despite many tweaks. Doesn't help that I prefer a tight racing boot style fit.

Still haven't tried intuitions yet though, I will probably go that route first.

[Long duc dong]

LDD, if you have had Intuitions molded to your foot/boots, how did those compare with the Surefoot liners?

I honestly have not.

Before Surefoot, and I got my first Surefoot liners in March of 2002, I was in a pair of zipfit liners, if you remember those. I got those done at Granite Chief in February 1999, I was working there at the time, so it has been a really long time since I was in something different. I liked the zipfit liners, although honestly this was all so long ago that I don't remember that fit all that well. I have been in Surefoot for so long that it is hard to remember a different fit.

[liv2ski]

Hmm may have to consider surefoot now... I have WEIRD boxey feet and have always had fit issues despite many tweaks. Doesn't help that I prefer a tight racing boot style fit.

Still haven't tried intuitions yet though, I will probably go that route first.

Initially I molded my Intuition Liners but later took them into Kittredge to do and what a difference. Same pair for the last 4-5 seasons are still 100% great.

[comish]

Hey liv2ski, yeah, Saturday lines are horrible, especially before lunch (the crowds seem to thin out a little bit after lunch), but Sunday afternoons are great!

Comish, I agree, Footloose has a great reputation, and we have been going there for years. However, Mrs. Fofo (Fofette?) wanted to get new boots last year, and she is now on her third pair. Three different fitters at Footloose have told her three different things with three different models recommended, and she is still in pain or with discomfort (I have to recognize that Footloose has been great about exchanging the boots that don't work for the newer recommendation). She does have a challenging foot for fittings, so someone with a more standard foot may have a more straightforward experience (for my current boots, I did get a good pair from the beginning and they have been great this last couple of years. Mike Thorpe at Sportsden in Salt Lake City, shoutout to him! Excellent, excellent service).

We may give Kittredge in Mammoth a try next time. Has anyone tried the Surefoot boots? They sound expensive, but so far I've only found a couple of magazine articles and Yelp reviews talking about how comfortable they are, but I don't trust those comments as much. Could you bring your own shell and just have their custom liner fitted?

It's about the guy. I only let Kevin at Footloose work on my boots. A significant portion of the rest cycle through, but Kevin has been there forever, with a short stint in Oregon. At least since I started going to Mammoth again back in '03. I'm actually not that big a fan of Footloose except for him. A bunch of the guys think they know what they are talking about and don't. See my argument in a past thread about mounting shift's. To be fair, Zach one of the new owners did call me to discuss and explain which was pretty cool and they likely have to assume most people walking in there are Jerry from SoCal and have no clue, but it always chafe's me when they are telling me something that is blatantly wrong.

Todd at Surefoot is a good dude, agreed. If you buy into the Surefoot system I would definitely have him doing the work. Best Mammoth friend has boots from him. He is a ripping skier as well.

[Idyllwild]

I heard good things about kittredge, however did not have a good experience there a few years ago. 200 bucks for them to trash a liner, trying make it fit, that was clearly the wrong choice/thickness/size that they selected for me. Fuck them- still bitter.

Edit: walked out with the stock liner I came in with and 200 bucks down the drain.

[comish]

Super fun weekend!

Saturday was crowded, but not insane. Got some, heavier than lately freshies in the morning. Post lunch they dropped the rope so you could access the bottom of 23. Hmmm We go check it out and get in position for 2nd chair. They announced it may or may not run , then we heard 14 was running. I'm guessing maybe 10 or 15 later they fired the chair up and we were off. Lifty stopped us for a bit as the 23 scrum was about the start, hence the gap between 1st and 2nd chair.



1st tracks down Drop 2 for me and my buddy went Drop 1. Surprisingly deep and soft! Super fun pow run. We see Mini Comish had come over via 14 and he jumped in line for a repeat line. He charged! First time I can legit say he was right there with us top to bottom on 23 for a pow run! Got a Noid in before 23 was done for the day. Skied the whole Comish crew home to the backyard and was super stoked.

We notice that the Gondi never opened and Mini Comish asks if he can skip ski team to ski pow on Sunday morning.

We roll out early Sunday and a silly cloud and NE wind is rolling over the crest. Hmmm, we roll the dice and head to 9. Score first tracks right under the chair. 3 laps later and Mini Comish was slaying the steep pow in the trees. After this run (1st tracks lookers right of the rocker buttress in the middle of screen) he declares that the best run of his short 12 yr life


After lunch my buddy texts that the G is gonna open. Score 3 laps up top before it's done for the day. Pretty sweet when you can still get completely fresh turns at 330PM on a Sunday. Mini Comish was babbling the whole way home. Great weekend!

[Long duc dong]

Stoked you guys got some Comish!

I heard that the snow was pretty solid, which is good. I'm hoping it fills in some of those Paranoids entrances.

I will be up for around 5 days next week, either driving up Sunday afternoon and skiing through Friday or driving up Monday early AM.

[Ottime]

My mini and I get there Monday next week through Thursday. Maybe a few runs at June early on Friday and then got to get him back home. Stoked if things got a little spackle. Looks like it will be spring by the time we arrive. Packing the sun block.

[Fofo]

We will also be going to Mammoth next week for about five days, but we'll arrive late in the week. I see that there's some possible snow in the forecast, hopefully the mountain will get some fresh snow!

Long duc dong, that's exactly the kind of feedback that I was hoping to get here! We may stop at Surefoot so that Fofette can get some boots that actually work for her. And the liner in my boots is starting to feel a little packed out. Hmm...

Comish, thanks, I'll keep in mind Kevin at Footloose for boots. And yeah, I can imagine it's a huge challenge in any retail store to hold on to the talented employees, and to accurately gauge the customer. Very often when I walk into a retail store (for ski or any other of my interests) I know what I need and I only need help locating it. And if I need to consult with someone, it's such a relief and a treasured moment when you find someone who actually knows their stuff and don't mind talking about it! A friend in Mammoth is a retired instructor, and he really knows his gear. I could listen to him talking about gear and technique all day long!

But I guess some customers don't care about the fine detail. They just need any pair of skis and some comfy boots (and preferably someone who will help them put them on, which I thought was just a joke! Until I saw it happen at Deer Valley) for their couple of days a year of their ski vacation. I mean, we are in this forum because we really, really like skiing. Talking about it, about how good it was and how good it will be. Seeing pictures and videos of skiing. The stoke of others having a good time on the snow. And dialing in our gear to exactly the way we like it.

[hutash]

It is not the shop, it is the boot fitter. I have been fit for a couple of boots by Preston at Kittridge, best fitter in the shop. Wife had horrible experience at Footloose, just didn't get a good fitter.

Spent Sunday at June, after dealing with the Mammoth crowds on Saturday. Turned out June got a few inches of lake effect snow. It was the lightest, driest snow I have had in the Sierra for some time. Really fun day.

[hoarhey]

good to hear...

This thread title makes me think of this Chemical brothers video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYXI344Siew

[Eastern Sierra Skier]

After a week of excellent skiing at Bachelor, a very fun mtn, I headed down from Reno yesterday and was on the hill just after noon and scored a great Sunday afternoon of skiing. Bluebird day, awesome skiing off 23, crowds lessening by the hour, with lots of skiers/riders adorned in rainbow colors.


Bridgeport, CA. With the price of gas seemingly rising daily I use the Gas Buddy app religiously with the goal of not having to pay these prices.

More evidence that Sunday afternoons are a good ski day were the lift lines post noon.......

Ch 5 12:45 p.m.

Ch 2 2:30 p.m.

The one notable caveat continues to be the Gondi line, (est 20-30 minutes) which I wasn't willing to wait in. With the policy of sending singles up alone, this is the result and I don't foresee that changing this season. My kid skied Big Sky a couple weeks ago and said they had the lift mazes broken into two lines. One where you rode alone or just with people in your party, the other where you were willing to ride with "strangers". I like the idea. I'm not a doctor and I'm sure we could get a ton of different opinions, but what has greater risk, standing in that line surrounded by other people for 30 minutes, or being in the gondola with mask on and windows open with another person for 12 minutes?


Climax at 1:00 p.m. looking good and skiing good judging from the tracks. Sadly, I didn't get there due to the aforementioned gondi lines. If those are your tracks on the far left, claim it! Then tell us how it was.


Hanger's, looking more doable than it has in a while.


Afternoon Wipeouts continue to be the place to be. Ch 23 line was very manageable. Never waited more than 10 minutes with wait times decreasing by the run. Every other single I approached was more than willing to ride with a partner. You can see the fracture line from the right to left side of the pic and the debris down low. Upper sections skied really well. Did see one screaming slider right down the gut of Wipeout that went top to bottom.


More Wipeouts. No matter where else I ski, I haven't found a mtn that skis consistently good as Mammoth does.


Watched two guys flash the ridge under the chairline of 23, then straightline the crack separating Dropout & Wipeout. His buddy had just gone and this guy was lining it up. Nice.


Wipeout 2 holding some silky snow up top. The rock on the skiers right had a pocket of soft snow in it that was perfect to throw a big slash in.


Wipeout 1. Far skiers right line next to the three rocks sticking out was sweet!


P2 entrance has gotten slightly better. Skiers right along the ridge skied well.


Looking up into Philippe's, some place I haven't been this season. Small but mandatory air on the exit into a landing that's much steeper than it looks in the pic.


Skied some funky avi debris that was actually pretty fun.


Deep in the tree's on ch 12 I still found a few fresh turns,

as well as some low angle pow. Not bad for 3:30 on a Sunday.


4:50 p.m. CL sundeck. Busiest I've seen the sundeck post skiing this season. I like the upper deck seating, great people watching with late afternoon sun.


Post ski & beer walk to the truck. Sums up an excellent Sunday afternoon session.


Unfortunately, my Mammoth Monday timing wasn't so good. Today went from Bluebird to Graybird quickly. I skied with the my girlfriend, a cautious intermediate skier down low in the morning, then bailed to the top at noon just as a wall of gray descended on the upper mtn. This is looking West off the top of ch 23. I skied one run in Wipeout in vertigo inducing flat light conditions. Not fun. Note to self-ski upper mtn when the suns out, then ski with GF when vis gets bad. Back out tomorrow and see what it brings. Cheers & skip work, go skiing.

[T-Boz]

We are doing a family trip to Mammoth 2nd week of April. Staying on the Canyons side. We are Truckee locals, usually ski Squaw. Kids are excited to try a new mountain. I have skied Mammoth 10 times or so over the years. Any tips on starting out of the Canyon area? What zones to to hit first and what to hit in the afternoon? IN terms of going around the whole mountain, not just the one side. Squaw, we have our usual morning zones and usual afternoon zones in the spring. I'm pretty familiar with mammoth but have never started out of the Canyons side, always the main lodge, gondola area. We would go up top and to the backside, etc. The kids are strong intermediate to experts, on Squaw mighty mites teams, they ski KT, Granite, Headwall, etc.

Also, the mother in laws coming. Any advice as to wear to do a short easy snowshoe hike? She's 65, Truckee local, can do easy hikes.

Also, we are familiar and know where most the hot springs are in the Owens Valley. Are there ones that are better for families? Usually it's just the wife and I.

[nickbokhoven]

T-Boz

Head up Canyon express. Depending on the conditions and lines, you can make a few laps down Canyon Express or Roller Coaster. As you go up Canyon, look to the left and eye the avy chutes. If it looks promising, ski halfway back down and jump on chair 22. From the top of Canyon Express, go down and to the skiers left to chair 5. Play off of here. When that gets old, you can go to chair 3. You are working your way now towards Main lodge. Depending on conditions, ski over to chair 23 and go to the top. Early groomers on cornice can be racer fast. If things are bulletproof, drop down to main and ski chair 1. If we get a late storm, chair 12 can be a place to play that will hold stashes longer. If no lines at the gondola, you can make laps top to bottom with kids which is always fun. Chairs 9 & 25 will probably be closing that week. There could be some decent corn but I would avoid it later in the day.

Have a great trip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ottime]

^^^ I would add plan one day for lunch at the Outpost and grilled cheese sandwiches at the bottom of 13/14.

Avoid Chair 2/10 mid morning.

Chair 9/25 get early sun if it is spring conditions. 9 can be fun to hot lap. Not steep, but you can get some speed.

When the top is good 23 to Paranoids to Gondi to Climax to 23 is a fun thing.

Chair 22/ Mt Lincoln has a lot of fun terrain that feels most like Squaw to me. Especially the lift line side.

From the top of 22 you can see the corrals at Chair 5, 2, and 10 - which can be helpful when determining where to go from there if you are working your way to Main.

You can get to Main from top of Chair 9 or Chair 3. Hard to see on the trail map, but coming off 9 head straight across bottom of Daves behind 5 and toward 3. There is a cat track that brings you around to Center Bowl on 3. Easiest way to get to Main when 2/10 have lines.

If you like a quite spot, we always enjoy a lap down Wall Street, Lost in the Woods or what might be a terrain park Jibs n More when there is snow to build one. Just short groomers with some fun pitch, but I never see anyone on them.

Chair 5 is fun. Quick ride, moderate pitch, often has decent snow. Lower Dry Creek is fun off 5 and can do well with just a few inches of fresh if we have a small late season snow.

Mammoth is a load pf fun. I love Squaw, and especially Silvy, but it is a pain to negotiate from zone to zone. Mammoth connects much better with what feels like actual runs connect zones.

Enjoy.

[Fofo]

And about the hot springs, I think that they're no longer a hidden gem, it's more like they're on everyone's list of "must do" things while in Mammoth. More often than not recently we have checked them out and left after seeing how busy they were. Pretty mellow scene, too, probably because of how popular they've become.

The last time we have seen nakedness in them was when we went in the shoulder season for some hikes in the Eastern Sierra and we stopped for a good soak after. A dude and a dudette got in the water, no clothes at all, relaxing their tired muscles in the hot water, enjoying the views of snow capped mountains around. It was glorious! (We were the only ones in the hot spring, we couldn't believe how lucky we were to have it for ourselves).