MAMMOTH CONDITIONS REPORT | When the beach weather’s so very nice it certainly can be difficult to think snow… Understood. Even around Mammoth Lakes GREEN is the predominant color these days. Regardless, there’s snow in them hills and the clock is ticking – only 11 days and counting to get some lift-served turns in California.
The snowpack is thinning and the bare spots are growing fast… Yet there’s still a lot of snow up high and it has been corning up nicely. And, to accommodate for the soft, sticky afternoon conditions, Mammoth has shifted it’s hours of operation to 7:30am-2:00pm.
Have a season pass? I say use it. The weather’s great, snow’s great and there’s no better exercise than skiing, snowboarding, telemarking, etc.
The PROS:
- The snow’s softening early. Get on the hill early, get off early, have half the day to do whatever else you please.
- On-piste conditions are great – the snow here tends to be less sticky.
- Off-piste conditions on the upper mountain have been holding up really well – still more corny than mashy.
- There are big ol’ misshaped bumps/moguls all over. Given how soft the snow’s been you can “smash” through ‘em just about however you like.
- Some runs are closed early in the day due to race camps. These can be great runs to hit up once the gates have been pulled and the CLOSED signs come down.
- Mid-week the upper Gondola is closed which makes for an added challenge if you want to take runs off the top. Making the hike from Cornice Bowl to Climax is almost worth it though – the snow up there is corny, deep and not overly sticky.
- It’s eerily quite out there these days.
The CONS:
- Chair 2/Stump Alley is done for the season. It’s all good, anything down that low is too sticky anyhow.
- Even though Broadway remains nice and wide it’s starting to look pretty thin.
- Hangman’s? Done.
- After 11am any flat slope, especially down low around Main, is slow-going. Bottom of St. Anton after Noon is a slog.
- Access to some favorite spots is getting tricky, i.e. West Bowl.
- Lift tickets are still $69 (that’s w/o a My Mammoth discount, which is available to anyone that knows how to breath), which seems a bit high. Anyone want to throw in their 2 cents here?
PARK REPORT:
- Chair 6 has still been spinning which is a bit of a surprise.
- Superpipe is long gone.
- Main Park and that’s about all – 4 jibs and 1 jump.
- Get it while you still can… Nothing like a lil bit o’ spring jibbin’.
- Bottom jump’s nice right now. Wax them boards and you’ll be able to sesh it ‘til a bit later in the day.
The STATS:
- New Snow: No. Category to be removed shortly.
- Base: Shrinking faster
- Weather: A few clouds here and there, a light, occasional breeze… Otherwise we’re looking at some pretty consistent highs of 60-70. The lazy dayz of spring are here.
- Conditions: A lot of soft, spring corn. Getting pretty sticky below the top of Chair 1 in the afternoon.
- Lifts: Lift line-up for mid-week – 1, 3, 6, and 23.
- Runs: The list of ride-able runs is shrinking.
Bottom line: Remember, only 11 more days of lift served skiing and snowboarding. After that, unless you have some long-distance travel plans lined up, you’ll have to wait ‘til October or later before doing this again. Get out there and enjoy it while you still can.