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 a great job of managing resources to see that optimal coverage was restored. Aside from the occasion “run-in” with loose rock/pumice, the snow has been above and beyond expectation (actually, even the presence of loose rock has become expected). And today, the sun maintained comfortable temps while a light West wind did an excellent job of “churning” the snow, virtually keeping it fresh all day long for many runs across the mountain.
As for holiday weekend lift lines and traffic? Where were they? The new RFID lift gates are certainly earning their stripes because it is apparent that guests are cycling through lift lines more efficiently than ever before. And, with many trail connectors and alternate traffic routes in place we are no longer seeing congestion on many of the trails and interchanges as we did at times in December.
Granted, it’s still not the fluffy stuff… But with enough terrain open and lifts in operation to give several thousand ski and snowboard enthusiasts plenty of breathing room and more good turns than they can handle in a day, we should all consider ourselves pretty lucky.
THE CONDITIONS
The PROS:
- MLK Week-end: lift-lines and traffic kept to a minimum.
- A consistent cool West wind is keeping the snow fresh.
- Enough runs open that it would be a challenge to ski ‘em all in one day.
- A lot of runs were in top-notch form today – perhaps the biggest stand-out, Andy’s Double Gold.
- All base areas still open, all services available.
- Lots of smiling faces.
The CONS:
- Some of the beginner zones around Canyon were getting a little congested. Don’t forget, Juniper offers a lot of terrain for those looking for runs to build confidence on.
- We’ve gone over this before: encountering lose, small rocks is pretty much innevitable.
- Mountain Ops has done such a great job with the snowmaking and grooming it’s hard to think of any other downsides to the conditions or overall operation of the Mountain.
PARK REPORT:
- They’ve added a new 40’ table jump to Main park.
- A few jibs have been pulled out of Main to make room for snowmaking equipment.
- Super Pipe still holding strong; it’s not that far off ‘til this pipe may need to be re-built – get up here and enjoy it while you can.
- Art Park on Round Robin is back! The art work is great, the jibs are not quite the massive, advanced features they were a year ago.
- While the wind may do service to the snow in general, it was definitely running a bit of “interference” on the medium-large jumps at Main Park today.
The STATS:
- New Snow: What is that?
- Base: 1′-3′
- Weather: Temps may dip into the teens in the coming nights. Is that some precip. headed our way? I think I’ll go ahead and hold my breath.
- 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 – well done!
- 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 shot section that connects you from Chair 5 to the Face of 3)
Bottom line: Precip. in the forecast? Please channel your excitement into the form of a SNOW-DANCE!