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 cool enough to still make snow. In fact, this past Saturday it was cold enough that the Mountain was making snow from 9000’ and up, all day long. And, thanks to the recent man-made snow “showers” nearly all dry patches have been repaired and all around snow quality has greatly improved.
Even in light of the dry season (and this is probably the driest start to a ski-season I’ve ever seen) I am glad that I am here. Hey, there’s no denying, I would love to be chasing storms with the best of ‘em: Japan’s choking on the white and fluffy, Alaska is still digging out from a couple dozen feet. Ummm, but that just ain’t in the cards for me (credit cards, that is). So, given the cards the we’ve been dealt, I’m grateful to be holding it down right here in Mammoth. The sun’s shining, my friends are here, the snow’s great and there’s more terrain open than I’m really able to cover in a day – not bad, not bad at all.
THE CONDITIONS
The PROS:
- MLK Week-end: Volcom Peanut Butter & Rail Jam, Handsome Furs Concert, and debut of the 2012 Art Park.
- Snow-guns are refreshing the slopes as I type.
- Mid-week is an excellent time to be here: no lift lines, you don’t have to ride w/ your head on a swivel.
- Snow quality is great right now: killer cords early on, churned-up sugar for much of the mountain throughout the rest of the day.
- All base areas still open, all services available.
The CONS:
- MLK Week-end: Even when the Mountain has all of its 3,500 acres of rideable terrain open things can get a little hectic around here; with more like 450 acres open this time around it may get a little silly. If you can swing it, mid-week is the time to be here.
- Even though the snow-making and cat crews have continued to impress there are still some loose rocks kicking about – at least it’s consistent as to where you’ll encounter this, making it easier to avoid “run ins” with the rocks.
- Powder boards are collecting dust, not powder.
PARK REPORT:
- Main Park is great. They made a grip of snow specifically for Main, giving jumps a nice “forgiving” feel.
- South Park has a nice mix of small and medium jumps and they’ve re-designed the bottom jib section.
- Super Pipe is great: sunny wall has great feel, shadowed wall has great shape.
- Art Park on Round Robin coming this week-end?
The STATS:
- New Snow: Does man-made snow count?
- Base: 1′-3′
- Weather: Temps are expected to cool off even more headed into the week-end and beyond = more snow-making = more great skiing.
- Conditions: Man-made, groomed daily.
- Lifts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 25 and Panorama Gondi (top & bottom), Village Gondi.
- Runs: 460 Acres now open.
- 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 | Lower Sleepy Hollow | Downhill | Cloverleaf | Chickadee | Holiday | Festival | South Park | Main Park | Forest Trail Park | Lupin | Avalanche | Ski-School yards at Main, Canyon & Juniper | World Cup | Little Bird | Round About | Round Robin | Solitude | Over Easy | Center Bowl | Patrolman’s | China Bowl (yes, this is open, but just one short section that connects you from Chair 5 to the Face of 3)
Bottom line: Today I ran into a friend down from South Lake… His take on Mammoth, “anyone that complains about conditions here is crazy, you guys don’t realize how good you have it compared to the rest of the state.”