Current Mammoth Mountain Conditions: WOW! I hate to say it, but… Today was practically perfect. Sunny, cool and just the right amount of wind – enough to buff up many runs, not so much that it’s a nuisance.
Were you here this week-end? You should’ve called in sick, today would’ve been worth it – life is too short to miss out on days like this. Granted, I can see how you would’ve been fooled, given the healthy dose of wind we had yesterday. Yesterday pretty much every lift ride was an “all-hands-on-deck/bar” kind of day (with most lifts shutting down early). On top of that a heavy cloud bank hung over the mountain for most of the day.
The clouds eventually rolled in today as well, but not until approx. 2 PM. And, with all lifts spinning, it was apparent that today’s gusts had nothing on the blows delivered yesterday.
And now? Well, if you’ve had a look into any of the recent weather forecast models for California you know that we may not be seeing the sun again for a few. I hope you enjoyed it while it was here; I know did.
THE CONDITIONS
The PROS:
- Sun, blue skies and cool temps = great snow up high, good times all-around.
- If you like windbuff (and you know I do), you’re in luck. This has actually been a great season for the hero-ific snow (I may have just invented that term).
- Honestly, I’m not sure what conditions were like on the lower mountain; I really didn’t have time to check it out, and there was no reason to not be up top.
- The Dropout Chutes, top-to-bottom were about as good as they’ve been all season.
- Nearly all groomers that I sampled were prime. This we can attribute to our great grooming fleet and cool temps.
- Sections of Climax were $$$ too.
- It’s Mid-week, which means you don’t have to swivel your head so much.
The CONS:
- Not many Cons but I’ll indulge you…
- Today was a lot better than yesterday. My apologies to those that had to split.
- If you’re not very adept at seeking out the windbuff you’ll likely find some funky “moon-turf.” On days like today it’s not that hard to find windbuff, just look for the other skiers/snowboarders getting barreled.
- Often Dave’s is one of the best runs for wind-buff; not so much today. Depending on the direction of the wind some spots are always better than others.
- Yes, ridge-tops are still scoured. The last storm we had around Tuesday/Wednesday of last week really did a number on things. Yet, as you can see from the above POV video, for many zones this only means missing a few dozen feet of vertical.
PARK REPORT:
- The parks have been great. Nearly all parks have had a make-over in the past week, Forest Trail seeing extra attention most recently.
- Yesterday’s wind was enough to keep you grounded for nearly any size jump. Today’s wind was really only an issue for the 60-footers in Main.
- Don’t miss out on the latest South Park Video Update, shot Saturday morning.
The STATS:
- New Snow: Nothing new since last Wednesday. We’re pretty much guaranteed to see snow this week… How much will it be when all’s said and done?
- Base: approx. 4’.
- Weather: Temps and wind have been all over the place lately. Heading into the week it looks as though we’ll be seeing a good bit of wind, hopefully followed by a good bit of snow.
- Conditions: Packed powder, machine groomed, and windbuff!!
- Lifts: All lifts except for Chair 20.
- Runs: Once again, the entire mountain is open, with the exception of some of our ol’ lonely Double-Black Diamond friends, i.e. Hangman’s Hollow, Top of the World, Huevos Grande and MJB’s.
Bottom line: Sometimes the best days are the ones when you least expect it – like today.