"Massive Rainbow Boa Attacks the West Coast." Let it snow!!!

Mammoth Conditions Report | Let’s see… Mt. Baker got throttled with well over 100”, Tahoe is getting pissed on and Mammoth… Well, Mammoth has been relatively mellow. Throughout the past 48 hours it’s been overcast, breezy at times, light rain/snow, yet not much more than that. I guess you might say we’re waiting for it to be our turn.

According to the Weather Man, starting tomorrow night, things should start to get pretty interesting. And so far the Weather Man has been spot on with his forecasts. The precursor to this weekend’s storm has been warm, gray and wet, as predicted.

Looking up towards the Mountain today I’ll admit, the scene was not inviting. Thus, be it my low expectations, my East Coast roots or actual, legitimately good conditions, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found out there today. And now, we look to the skies once again…

When the clouds peeled back the Chair 23 fun-meter went up. Note: The top of the Dropouts and Wipeout 1 have snow!

Crazy snow formations on trees at 10,000 feet.

THE CONDITIONS

The PROS:

• 2-4” of new snow. For as little as accumulated, it is impressive how well our base has been re-set. That’s the upside of a wet, warm storm.
• The best way to describe today’s snow: cream corn. Yes, it had elements of spring corn yet was quite creamy all at once.
• Due to the heavy nature of the new snow your boards were on top, all the way. With the snow being forgiving, trenching turns just about everywhere was surprisingly easy.
• Avy Chutes 1 & 2 were remarkable. It was incredibly easy to shave the snow away, each and every turn. I would’ve gladly made turns there all day long if not for wanting to see how the rest of the Mountain had fared.
• The groomers, even with their mix of mashed potatoes and corn, were crazy fun. Arcing turns on these runs was effortless. NOTE: having skis 90-100mm underfoot make for confident, stable turns in these conditions.
• I could hardly believe my eyes, but… The tops of the Dropout and Wipeout Chutes are white!
• Mid-week at Mammoth = Ghost town.

Best turns of the day, right here, in Avalanche Chute 2.

Alternate view of Chair 23 and the Top. Looks creamy, yes?

The CONS:

• Fresh snow and warm temps makes for the occasional phantom sticky spot, especially on the runs around Canyon.
• Today’s window for decent visibility was short. The Mountain was socked-in for most of the day.
• Chair 9 was closed today. Why? Weather hold or to save on operational costs?
• Top of Paranoids are still bare.

Spring time at Canyon... Just watch out for those phantom sticky spots

Andy's Double Gold, a great place for creamy corn.

PARK REPORT:

• I saw very few people hitting jumps today. Warm temps made for rather sticky in-runs.
• The Superpipe was a good time for sure. Yes, a bit sticky, but the walls had amazing feel.
• Slight re-shuffling of features for South Park and Forest Trail. Nice to see ‘em doing what they can to keep it fresh.

New rainbow box in South Park. Well, new placement, I should say.

The STATS:

• New Snow: 2-4” of wet snow in the past 48 hours.
• Base: approx. 4’.
• Weather: The scene here is currently warm, grey and calm. 24 hours from now we expect to be observing some far more winter-like conditions.
• Conditions: Wet powder, cream-of-corn, and a touch of glue.
• Lifts: All lifts except for Chairs 9, 20, 21 and 25.
• 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: The few inches of new snow we received did a remarkable job of re-setting our base. Question is, what has it re-set the base for? Looking to the skies…