report

Well, I ain’t gonna lie… it wasn’t pretty. Yet, before I go any further, I would like to say that any day I’m on skis is a good day. But … Read More

MLK Weekend at Mammoth in a nutshell: great snow, great weather, virtually no crowds. Even with a bit of a temperature inversion through much of the week Mountain Ops did … Read More

Saved again by snow-making… and, yes, Mother Nature. True, we are waiting for the real stuff to fall from above, yet I’m very grateful that we’ve been consistently seeing temps … Read More

The beauty of Mammoth’s Main Park: Hot Laps. Kaya Turski takes advantage of the hot pace afforded by Chair 6 as she preps for the upcoming X Games in Aspen, CO. FREESKIER Magazine’s 2011 Skier of the Year, Kaya Turski has made Mammoth her winter time home (even on this down-year) for good reason. The Unbound Park Crew time and time again has assembled one of the world’s best venues for training, allowing pros and ams to push their game to the next level.

What’s it like lapping one of the world’s best parks with one of the world’s best skiers? Inspiring. Kaya is driven, pushing the progressive edge of the sport with a style that always turns heads.

Let’s cut to the skinny… Or perhaps, thin is the word that we’re going for. Yes, unfortunately, truth be told, our beloved man-made coverage is in fact receding. I’m confident … Read More

Where did we leave off? Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years and everything in-between has come and gone and so have the crowds. And apparently nobody brought snow with them on their … Read More

On just about any given day, to watch the action in Mammoth Mountain’s Main Terrain Park is like watching a live version of the latest ski/snowboard film. Mammoth’s reputation for crafting some of the world’s finest terrain park features has lured some of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders.

Take skiers Parker White, Sean Logan and snowboarder Lonnie Kauk for example. While I’d wager each would prefer to be taking powder shots over park laps I know they’ve all been well entertained by the assortment of park features around the mountain. As Lonnie put it, “I love this place, it’s like the ultimate amusement park.”

Think these guys have talent? What I managed to shoot of these guys in a matter of a few laps yesterday would take the rest of us a lifetime to pull together (with only a fraction of the control  and style).

Enjoy!

Phrase of the Day: Traffic Control. ‘Tis the season… is it not? We basically have one grocery store in Mammoth Lakes (Vons) and when I stopped there last evening for … Read More

Hey, when you’re on a roll… keep blowing snow. All I have to say is everybody around here best be mighty grateful for the cold weather that we’ve been having. … Read More

“Unbelievable…” was the thought going through my head as I hopped on my first chair of the day. Why? Let’s see… The last time Mammoth had measureable precipitation was November 20^th – nearly a month ago! And here’s the unbelievable part: when surveying some parts of the mountain you wouldn’t have the slightest clue. I knew that Mammoth had its certified snowmaking badge, but I didn’t know that they were this good. Little Eagle and Canyon opened for the first time today, perhaps nearly doubling an already impressive amount of skiable terrain. And we’re not talking some sketchy white ribbons of death: the latest trails to open are legit, blanketing runs wall to wall, top to bottom. Granted, it’s man-made snow (there’s really no way around that), but I’m not taking it for granted because it sure has been a whole lotta fun.

Base of Little Eagle. Impressive... all this with basically no natural snow.

Cloverleaf, from the base of Canyon Lodge, looking good.

THE CONDITIONS

The PROS:

• Skiable terrain has nearly doubled w/ the opening of two more base areas.
• Two new access points to the Mountain (Canyon and Little Eagle); no need to drive all the way up to Chair 2 Lot or Main.
• With the opening of Canyon and Little Eagle that means 4 more lifts are now in operation (that does not include the Village Gondi, which now too is spinning).
• Swell off of Chair 8 and Downhill from Chair 16 are now open – both make for some great cruising.
• Temps are still cold which translates to better snow and more confident morning turns.
• Random whales (mounds of man-made snow) are scattered about the Mountain; they’re fun to get creative on.

Downhill looking wide and inviting. Lincoln (in the background) looks good from afar, but is far from being ready.

The CONS:

• It’s man-made snow – not much can be done about that.
• It doesn’t take too long for the morning cords to get buffed out. Yet, even though my edges aren’t that sharp (I haven’t been big on tuning edges since my racing days) the loosened pockets of mid-late day soft snow are a good time.
• The parts of the mountain w/o snowmaking… they’re feeling neglected.
• Still not sure when Mother-Nature is gonna dish some “you-know-what” our way.

Super Pipe. Think it looks good? Guess what? You're right.

PARK REPORT:

• The Park is holding strong with enough features to keep the faithful well entertained.
• Don’t miss Sean Logan in the video posted above.
• Nothing new added to Main and Forest Trail Terrain Parks in the past 48 hours.
• I think Park Crew is currently focussing efforts on South Park and/or an Art park… we’ll see soon.

Snowmaking efforts have now shifted to the Face of 3.

The STATS:

• New Snow: Nope, but we might get a dusting today (Thurs.).
• Base: 1′-2′
• Weather: Hoping for a couple inches this Thurs. Cold temps now, yet it looks as though they may trend up slightly.
• Conditions: Man-made, groomed daily.
• Lifts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, Panorama Gondi (top and bottom), Village Gondi.
• Runs: Sesame Street, East and West | St. Moritz | Broadway | Mambo | Silver Tip |Stump Alley | Powder Bowl | Ralphies | Saddle Bowl | Andy’s Double Gold | Cornice Bowl| Fascination | Wall | Easy Rider | Rollercoaster | Swell | Pumpkin | Bridges | Downhill/Cloverleaf | Chickadee | Holiday | School Yard

Bottom line: what we have is impressively good and it’s impressive how much of it there is.

NOTE: It’s looking good for having the new Chair 5 running and the Face of 3 open by the week-end.