7 Days and Counting | Mammoth Conditions Update

spring skiing snowboarding slush corn snow — Snow? See, up here there's lots of snow.

MAMMOTH CONDITIONS REPORT | The count is on – Less than a week to go before Mammoth’s lifts stop spinning… for skiing and snowboarding that is. With the end of one season another begins…

Memorial Day Weekend may be the last hurrah for skiing and snowboarding yet it also happens to be the season opener for Mammoth’s Bike Park. Last summer Mammoth’s Bike Park Crew busted out the shovels and snow blowers in an all out effort to release a handful of bike trails from many feet of snow so that they could deliver on promises of gravity-fed, mountain bike fun… That was in late June!

This time around Mother Nature decided to go easy on the MBP Trail Crew by 1) dishing out a light 2011/2012 winter and 2) turning up the heat in May. Point being, yes, the 2011/2012 ski/snowboard season is coming to an end with snow in relatively short supply. How short? There are a few picks below that should tell the tale

Broadway Express chair 1 spring snow skiing snowboarding — Broadway's still open. Question is... will it make it another 7 days?

The PROS:

The weather has been oh-so-pleasant.
Lately, prime-time has been from 8am-11am. Current hours of operation are 7:30am-2pm.
Big ol’ bumps and such that just shave and smash away. There’s really nothing quite like “splashing” your way down a run.
Soft snow everywhere.
It’s May and we’re still shredding it up… How many other ski areas are still open in North America?
Runs that get a big thumbs-up right now: Center Bowl, Cornice Bowl, Saddle Bowl and Dropout 3.

spring skiing and snowboarding corn snow this coverage late season — Still lots of snow on the upper mountain yet look closely and you can see where it's getting thin out there.

Chair 23 Dropout Chutes spring skiing and snowboarding slush bumps moguls — Dropout 3 has been popular this week.

The CONS:

By Noon the sticky factor starts to creep in quick.
Entrance to most runs off the top is getting tricky. Many spots are only accessible if you’re up for a down-climb.
Watch out, there are barely hidden rocks lurking all over.
Did I mention snow in the afternoon is getting sticky?
West Bowl is now officially “land-locked.” Many are still doing what it takes to get to the zipper line.
“White Ribbons of Death” are everywhere… Will Broadway make it to the finish line?

melting snow spring conditions corn skiing snowboarding — West Bowl is now "land-locked."

spring snow conditions skiing and snowboarding in california — Hero of the spring season? We would not be able to go 'til Memorial Day without the stuff.

PARK REPORT:

Chair 6 is still spinning.
Main Park is all that remains for public park. Will there be any park come this weekend?
Main Park is down to 1 jump (with 2 takeoffs) and 6 jibs.

California freeride ski and snowboard jump — Last jump standing - Bottom jump got plowed, this jump in the middle of the park got 2 take-offs.

Unbound Terrain park ski snowboard jumps and jibs — There are 5 jibs at the bottom of Main Park, 1 jib at the top.

The STATS:

New Snow: No, but…
Base: Runs are “dying” daily.
Weather: Highs in the 70s today but temps look to be trending down through the week. Have you had a look at the forecast for this weekend? Apparently it’s going to snow… Powder?
Conditions: A lot of soft, spring corn. Just about anything below 10K is getting really sticky by Noon.
Lifts: Lift line-up for mid-week – 1, 3, 6, and 23.
Runs: Hard to say what counts for being open and not these days.

Bottom line: Spring corn has been a treat lately; just hit it in the morning. And what’s this? One more storm to closeout the season that wasn’t? Should be interesting to see what transpires.