Mammoth 2021-2022 snow mandate thread.

[thefrush]

Any mag/bro deals on lift tickets? Will be skiing sometime in late April for at least two days before or after a trip to SD. Driving in from Montana with a buddy. I have an Ikon and buddy has no pass. Any help on tickets would go a long way to the fuel costs. If gas keep going up just may have to bag the whole thing anyway. Thanks mags.

PM sent.

[Long duc dong]

We were up last week, skiing Tues-Friday.

I'm bummed I missed seeing any of you guys. I meant to take a look at this thread, but I was too spent at the end of each day and ended up crashing pretty early. We'll connect one of these days.

We drove up Tuesday morning and skied Tuesday afternoon, pretty much heading right to the top. We got in 2 Climax laps before things shut down. It was fun, it's always nice to ski 8 inches of pow, but it was VERY crusty underneath. It was also a bit of a whiteout by the time I got there. The trick was to keep cutting skier's right, and ski underneath the Balls/Huevos area. It was still crusty underneath, but at least it wasn't crusty bumps. It was still nice to ski some pow, I haven't gotten much this year!

Wednesday we started with about 6 chair 9 laps, which were really fun. Then we went to the top, which was not great, still too crusty, and then to Broadway for some Gravy Chute laps. Gravy Chute was fun, in an interesting way. There were crusty bumps and some slushy spots. Challenging and weird, but still fun.

Thursday we once again started the same way on 9. Chair 9 is really fun in the morning as it softens up, it's great to start with those long, soft groomers. We then ended up doing laps on the face of 22, which had softened up and was slushy and fun. I doubt the avi chutes would have gotten soft, but the stuff under the lift and to the skier's right of the lift was a blast.

Friday we pretty much did the same thing as Thursday, start with chair 9 laps then ski the face of 22 when it gets slushy. As with Thursday, the face of 22 was really fun once the spring conditions set in.

It's easy to get in habits at Mammoth. In normal years I ski mostly the top, lots of Climax, Dave's, Paranoids and Dropout/Wipeout laps, with some Hangman's and the very occasional Philippe's mixed in. When the top is socked in I'll ski the avi chutes and sometimes Gravy Chute. But I rarely ski the face of 22, even though that terrain is really fun. This was a reminder that sometimes in the spring when it's not warm enough for the avi chutes to soften that face terrain can have great spring slush.

Here is a quick video of one of my laps on Climax on Tuesday. You can definitely hear some of the crust. Still, in a season like this I'll take any pow turn I can get.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb5qX8tlakO/

[Ottime]

Headed to the resort tomorrow. Will be in town for the week. Mostly likely just lapping slush. I did bring my tour gear, as I might tour Carson Pass with a buddy on the way home. In good shape at sea level, and have not really toured the past few years, so I'm a little kooky. Looks it would need very early start times with not very cold overnight lows. So maybe just some resort slush.

[comish]

Headed to the resort tomorrow. Will be in town for the week. Mostly likely just lapping slush. I did bring my tour gear, as I might tour Carson Pass with a buddy on the way home. In good shape at sea level, and have not really toured the past few years, so I'm a little kooky. Looks it would need very early start times with not very cold overnight lows. So maybe just some resort slush.

It's freezing solid on the mtn, at least it did the Thurs - Sunday nights. I would say starting around 10am was pretty good. You could start earlier if you started by Canyon/Eagle. If starting at Main 10 till about 1pm was perfect. Not much slush as long as you follow the sun / manage elevation.

[GKWood]

I think he was talking about early starts for touring.

When I was touring at Virginia Lakes on Sunday our 9am start was still earlier than needed for South Peak, so we chilled on the top for about an hour and dropped in by noon-ish (11.7k, NE face). It was still somewhat weird/firm at the top, partly due to wind-affected stuff; the bottom half was actually skiing better, (I thought it'd be manky by then; in hindsight it was more N facing so kinda makes sense).

So, early starts have not really been necessary until now, but Wed-Fri will be significantly warmer (plus Virginia Lakes has pretty much no approach).

At the resort, Cloud Nine was pretty much good to go at 9am on Saturday. I really enjoyed lapping Haven't the Foggiest for the first hour or two (empty slopes and nicely softened up).

[Long duc dong]

Headed to the resort tomorrow. Will be in town for the week. Mostly likely just lapping slush. I did bring my tour gear, as I might tour Carson Pass with a buddy on the way home. In good shape at sea level, and have not really toured the past few years, so I'm a little kooky. Looks it would need very early start times with not very cold overnight lows. So maybe just some resort slush.

I've been gone for a few days, but late last week chair 9 starting around 10 am then the face runs on chair 22 was the best I found. The face runs would take a bit longer to soften up, so I would start with some chair 9 laps.

[thefrush]

A buddy of mine bought a 4-day pass earlier this season and only used it for two of the days. He's hoping to get a little bit back for the unused days, so if there's anyone interested send me a PM and we can work out a mag deal.

[Ottime]

Been here two days and getting great snow all day long but still have not timed the 22 face runs right yet. The wind the past two days has been nice keeping it from feeling too warm or softening too early. Been starting in the 9 zone mostly, but Monday morning Stump Alley was insanely good at 9:20. It was still skiing well at the end of the day. My ass is tired. Be out tomorrow.

[Fofo]

https://www.mammothmountain.com/discover/remember

Today is the anniversary of the incident at the fumarole on Christmas Bowl.

[GKWood]

Got 4 runs on Chair 9 in before my 9.30am meeting; always a good way to start the day! 11 minutes from top of chair 9 to sitting in front of my computer at a condo near the Eagle Lodge base.
Some flatter/shaded sections still a bit firm but the steeper east facing was skiing great and pretty much un-skied. Very quiet out there this morning.

[Ottime]

Great day out there. Had my first run down Goldhill around 9:10. Found good skiing till closing bell. Timed Lincoln a bit better today, and probably should have stuck around a bit longer. I did 4 laps on 22. The Faces, and skiers left and right of the lift. But to be honest my favorite lap was Haven't the Foggiest to Back for More. If 25 had been running, it would have been even better, but Repeat 22 is not so bad. Top never really got soft again today.

BTW, if any one is out on the hill, I'm in all blue. And will be on Wildcats tomorrow.

[Long duc dong]

Great day out there. Had my first run down Goldhill around 9:10. Found good skiing till closing bell. Timed Lincoln a bit better today, and probably should have stuck around a bit longer. I did 4 laps on 22. The Faces, and skiers left and right of the lift. But to be honest my favorite lap was Haven't the Foggiest to Back for More. If 25 had been running, it would have been even better, but Repeat 22 is not so bad. Top never really got soft again today.

BTW, if any one is out on the hill, I'm in all blue. And will be on Wildcats tomorrow.

Glad you got the face runs. The face of 22 is really fun when the upper mountain is not quite getting spring like. Sometimes I have to remind myself that they are oriented in a different direction from the avi chutes.

The top really didn't soften up while I was there last week. Other than the Tuesday dust-on-crust powder day I basically only took one lap up top on Wednesday and Thursday to check things out. I found it unpleasant and bailed. Friday I didn't even bother, just hit 22 after 9 laps.

Unless there is more snow I don't see the top being good until it gets soft. I guess the wind COULD work some magic, but with how firm and crusty the base layer is up top I would be surprised.

The long range forecast is not really pointing towards more snow, but you never know.

If things go well the rest of this week and early next I might be up there late next week and next weekend, probably Fri-Sat-Sun or maybe Thurs-Fri-Sat. After that I will hopefully be good for one more trip in late April/early May.

[GKWood]

Great day out there. Had my first run down Goldhill around 9:10. Found good skiing till closing bell. Timed Lincoln a bit better today, and probably should have stuck around a bit longer. I did 4 laps on 22. The Faces, and skiers left and right of the lift. But to be honest my favorite lap was Haven't the Foggiest to Back for More. If 25 had been running, it would have been even better, but Repeat 22 is not so bad. Top never really got soft again today.

BTW, if any one is out on the hill, I'm in all blue. And will be on Wildcats tomorrow.

I'm surprised the top still didn't soften with those temps. I had some decent conditions last week up there, but it was more transitional snow.

Will be back out there this morning, blue jacket grey pants, Enforcers. Unfortunately gotta bail again at 9.20 (those 9.30 meetings -.-).

[Fofo]

A few days ago we looked at our calendars and figured that we didn't have much happening in the first part of the week, so we loaded up the car and went to Mammoth! Sorry I missed these messages to meet with others. Ottime, I think it was Tuesday when I saw a family having lunch in the trees just off Mambo, close to chair 2, it was until later that I realized that might have been you, since you've mentioned that's what you like to do for lunch.

Snow farming is in full effect:




I was saddened by the lack of bikinis, but there was a guy wearing only a Speedo, on tele. And there was also this glorious suit! The helmet was fully sequined, and he was clearly having a great time:




Ski patrol was also more relaxed:




Chilling at the end of the day at the parking lot:




We are planning on being back for Easter weekend, some areas around Canyon were already really thin, we'll see how they are by then. If anyone is doing the pond skim, let me know, it'll be fun to go watch you do it!

[GKWood]

Another solid morning at Mammoth in the books. Started off with the usual suspects off of 9. Gold rush was skied out pretty fast compared to the previous days due to the Friday "crowds" (still very quiet) but Haven't the Foggiest held up well. Ran into Ottime again and we had a great time searching for (and finding) those goldilocks spring conditions all over the mountain. Good spinning some laps with you Ottime!

[Ottime]

^^^^Great skiing with you today and Wednesday morning.

Fofo - I'm rolling solo this trip, so no family. And we do post up, but usually somewhere with a better view than Mambo.

I really can't say enough with how impressed I am with Mammoth. I first skied the place during a Maggot Mini probably 15 years ago. I think in early May, just out of Main. And I rarely missed a year after that, of getting out to the east side during spring. Four winters ago, we decided to visit for a week in winter and were really impressed. We have been coming every winter since. The mountain just skis so well in winter and we loved the expanse of the terrain. But man, this week I was able to ski great snow from bell to bell just following the sun and moving up the mountain as the day progresses. Tahoe can have a short window this time of year unless we get a hard freeze.

Cranked out a touch over 200k of vert this week. Friday was for sure the warmest, and the top softened both Thursday and Friday. Lookers right chutes off 23 were especially on fire Friday afternoon. Did more runs off Lincoln than I've ever had. I think Viva is skiing the best down the face. Skied Avi 1 four time; could not figure out the entrance into Avi 2, but it looked really nice in there. Morning hot laps on 9 help boost that vertical, but those groomers are some much fucking fun. The runs down the face of 5 are in great shape. Some of the bumps off Canyon chair were quite nice if you got them the right time of the day, as are those bumps off Swell down to chair 22. Even had fun on the backside. I got untracked corn groomer down Bridges three afternoons in a row at 4pm. Climax was serviceable and Dave's never impressed this trip. Last spring we had wintery chalk over there and this year it seemed to always be semi refrozen slush bumps.

Blah. blah, blah - that hill fucking rocks.

And a note. I was switching back and forth between 189 Wren 98 and 190 Wildcat 108 during the week. Today I was parked at the Mill so started on the Wrens but then switched out to a 191 Wren 114 (like the 2014 circa). At first I was a little reluctant thinking's it is too big and demanding of a ski for spring. Not as nimble as the other skis. And holy shit, that ski was like a missile on the groomers. It just tracked where you pointed it, and blasted through the slush. It felt so stable. And easy. Even more interesting is that it felt easier in the steeps and especially areas of semi rotten snow. It was a bigger work out, but I just wanted to write this down so I remember. Bring out the big boards when it really softens up.

Hope to be back around Memorial Day. For skiing or biking.

[heckacali]

Need some beta on Mammoth as it has been decades since I've been there.

Truckee family taking our 24 ft class C RV for it's inaugural trip down the east side to Bishop and Benton hot springs this week for the kiddo's spring break.

I'm thinking some combination of Thurs/Friday/sat to ski mammoth.

Need a place to park the rig overnight near town or the mtn.

Seems there is one RV parking place open now (mammoth lakes RV park) @ $100/night to be in a basic parking lot 15 mins from town from what I've read.

Any other options? Does the MTN allow RV parking this late in the season? Something cheap and close out of town and more natural also welcome and preferred.

PM any info if it needs to be on the DL.
Thanks

[Ottime]

The snow is melted out closer to 395 on the Scenic Loop. Forest land there. Looked like an RV or Vanlife park when I drove up the road last Monday morning. If you don't need facilities, it is a lot cheaper (free) to stay in the woods. It is about a 10 minute drive from the forest land to the Mill parking lot.

My advice is to ski Thurs/Fri more than Saturday. No lift lines. Park at the Mill by 8:15 and you can back up to the snow. Goldfish seems to be on a slight delay opening (8:35ish), but you can take that up and ski off the back. Head straight off the chair and follow the signs to Canyon Lodge, and this will bring you to Haven't The Foggiest. Ski fall line until it hits a cat track, turn right and ski to Chair 9. Lap Chair 9 until it gets slushy. Goldhill, Haven't the Foggiest and Back For More were all great in the mornings this past week. They face east. Other option is take Goldrush to High Five and ski one lap on Solitude before heading toward Chair 9. It also gets early morning sunshine.

Eventually take Back For More, but head left at Repeat 22 and head over toward Canyon. Swell should be in good shape. Ski the Canyon lift side for softer snow and the Chair 8 side for firmer, depending on how things are softening. As the day warms, take Chair 22. You can also ski Haven't the Foggiest and Back for More off the top of 22. Take a left after the snow fences to get down toward the top of 25 and the runs begin there. This portion is ungroomed, so it need to be pretty soft, but was corning up great around 11AM.

It took me a few days totem the front of 22, but it was softening around 11-noon, depending on aspect. Around this time the face of Chair 5 and Chair 3 will be softening.

When it is still groomer hours up high, a really fun run is Saddle Bowl to St Antons, connecting with Gremlins Gulch for a nice longer groomer to Main lodge. St Anton is where you will likely hit your top speeds. Chair 12 groomers can be fun if you need a rest from high speed chairs. The backside was getting soft in the afternoon. Lapping 14 is also a good way to rest and the groomers and bumps were fun last week for a few laps.

Chair 23 was skiing much better than the Gondola top runs this past week. Cornice and Scottys groomers were best around mid day, getting scraped and bumped by late in the day. Cornice was far worse as it gets much more traffic. Another fun groomer off 23 is Skyline to Scottys to St Anton. As things softened up, late in the day, Wipeout Chutes were some of the best steeps on the hill. Dropout side was more bumped and more slush.

Still worth taking the Gondola to the top at least once. Climax and Daves never were my favorite runs last week, but no un fun. Just either variable snow, or soft oddly shaped bumps.

Somehow, Stump Alley was skiing great all day last week, and time I went down. As the top closed down, if you are going to the bell, lap Chair 3 or Chair 5, until you can't. I prefer Chair 3 to end the day, as the runout to the Mill under 5 is pretty flat and quite sticky at the end of the day, and Stump was a blast crushing slush to the car.

Need to eat out? Elixer is excellent. My new favorite place in Mammoth. Healthy eats (I think it is vegetarian, but it was super tasty). Also like Noon-Ly over by Vons. Pho style soups and noodle bowls.

Have fun.

[heckacali]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to share Ottime!!
Lots to digest there.
Finding the right time and spot on the mtn isn't the highest priority with a 12 and 10 yo in tow and going there for the first time. We will be cruising and sight seeing but I'll try to apply your beta to get the best snow (if I can figure out where I am)

[Fofo]

As far as other basic information, I think that since you'll be driving an RV, arriving early at the Mill parking lot is your better option for parking (and it's my favorite parking spot too, as Ottime mentioned, you can ski back to your car).

There are free mountain tours daily (I don't know if they're still doing them during the week at this time of the year or only on weekends, might as well check in first if you are interested). Participants need to be intermediate (the tour is mostly in blue runs), and your kids may not be interested because it lasts a couple hours, but we took it recently as something to do and we thought that it was a great idea for getting your bearings around the mountain, now when we go elsewhere for the first time we find out if they have these kind of tours available:
https://www.mammothmountain.com/wint...ain-area-tours

Other food places to try:
The Mammoth Smoke Shack -- I really like their burritos for a quick breakfast
Gojira Ramen & Sushi -- Good ramen! If you get the spicy one, take out the spicy ball as soon as you receive it and add to your taste, otherwise it may be too much.
Dos Alas Cubarican Cafe -- Great location (even if it's a little bit away from the main part of town), and the food is fantastic! Kinda smallish, so if it's at all near the weekend, reservations would be a good idea.
Bleu Market & Kitchen -- They have a prepared food area if you just want to pick up some food. Also, their to go dishes are great because you get enough food for two meals (you get bread, baked potatoes, sides, and the main dish).
For pizza, there are plenty of places around town, but we like Giovanni's for your standard pizza, and Campo for fancy (but delicious) pizza.
For beer, Distant Brewing is great, and Mammoth Brewing Company is a staple.

[hutash]

Mammoth RV park is right on the edge of town...5 minute walk at most. It has a pool and showers, so might be worth it. We used to stay there with the kids, buy it was way cheaper then. Tons of places to park and camp and RV once outside of town limits. You need a fire permit for camp fires if you want one and they are free online.

[heckacali]

All rad beta.
Thanks mags.

[hutash]

I hope this storm tomorrow produces something. I have skied better conditions in June.

Weird mix of slush and hard pack with no distinct pattern. Two runs next to each other had markedly different conditions. Attitude was certainly in play, but not as distinctly as usual. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. Could be great if we get a good amount of snow, or it could be dust on crust, or completely shut down by wind. We shall see.

[406]

First time skiing June Mtn today, with the 6 & 4 yo. Place is perfect for the kids.

[hutash]

Didn't it close today?

it is a great family mountain. We skied there many years when the kids were young, and I still like to go occasionally. It can be an awesome mou train when conditions are just right, but on an average day it is just a to-do mountain.