Mammoth 5/6-5/11

Jonny D

Jonny D

New member
Well the 6-the 8 will be the same as What Tony wrote, while the 9,10, and 11 are the new stuff.

WOW.
Who would have thought it was May? The week that i was there saw 30-36 inches of new snow, 3 powder days (2 bluebird, 1 snowy) , a couple of foggy days and a clear day.

Needless to say, two guys who found Pow in May went NUTS.

9th (Monday) was snowy, top closed so spent the day riding the trees off of the Stump Alley. Bootop - Kneedeep, totally awesome. Saw two grown men (who were friends I think) almost get into a fist fight, proving that there really is no such thing as a friend on a powder day.

10th(Tuesday) Bluebird. Got in line early, which was a good thing since the place was paked with people playing hookey. Did a couple of lines of the lower quads before joining the fray in the gondola line. Got to the top, and while it was getting ripped up in a hurry, there were still first tracks to be had. During the day hit most of the lines off the top, Hangmans, MJB's Cornice, Wipeout Cutes, Scottys, 'Noids & Phillipes. (Those last two are STEEP). Second half of the day was spend launching off the cornice in scottys, and generally going bananas.

11th (Wed) after 3 powder days, this 6th and last day of the trip saw my quads totally wrecked, while the ego still needed some stroking. Unfortunatley, the legs won, and so had to stick to the groomers. Bluebird and amazing, top to bottom. Cornice had been groomed and had great snow, so did a bunch of runs there. Bunch more on Stump Alley and Boulevard. The hot - tub and happy hour at the inn, and called it a trip.

Toook lots of pics and some video, hope to get that posted in the next couple of days.

And Many thanks to T.C : Without his advice for travel, I wouldn't have made it, and I only lasted the full 6 days because i heeded his tips about how to ski the mountain. I only regret not calling him when i was there !

EDIT: Tony posted a link to the vid from May 7, they also did one of May 10 in star chute:
http://www.adventurefilmworks.com/Frontcountry.htm
 
Can wait to see the pics.

I will probably know by Friday if I get to go my own personal trip.
 
Unbefreakin beliveable videos! Some of the best i've ever seen. Keep making flicks like those and we'll all be saying Warren who? I'm going to see the new Adventure Film Works movie!

((*
*))NHPH
 
you guys see the squaw valley one that is so sick, awsome videos, i now watched every video, totally sick! =D> I like the one when he throws the dog
 
This report would have been just another good week at Jonny D's originally scheduled time in April. But for May it was off the charts. The 31 inches is a record for May snowfall, and Jonny D. got the blue sky powder day out of both storms. Since I got one of them, and another one back in April, I'm not complaining!
 
Will see how a week in June will rate? Definetaly better than Killington. But will it be as good as Blackcomb in 1988? Only time will tell. :D
 
I would guess that Mammoth this June would be better than Blackcomb in May, but not as good as during the late April WSSF in most seasons.
 
While I have no substantial evidence to base my next statement on, (except my own anecdotal experience at mammoth last week) :

I imagine that this year in particular, The skiing in june will be great. Not that I would expect pow like I had, but more that there should be good coverage on the upper mountain, maybe less wind, and probably more sun. Don't know what the odds of getting rain at that elevation in June would be.... that's my one concern...

So take that with a grain of salt, but more than anything I was just blown away by the qunatity of terrain, it's challenge (Phillipe's is steep!) and it's "laissez-faire" attitude.

Also I think that I will be done the video of my trip over the weekend so you guys can see what it was like (it was NOT like the "Star Chute" video I linked to above... I don't have the reckless abandon that required...)
 
Can't wait to see the video.

The June 88 Blackcomb (first year with summer skiing) had amazing skiing. Some powder days and belong freezing, some hot days, and a rainy day with all of 7th heaven open + Saudan Couloir as long we exited toward Rendez-Vous + the new t-bar on Horseman glacier.

It was my first trip out west and the experience was definately as good as any ski trip I had at that time regardless of the month.
 
The accurate Whistler comparison would probably be to late May/early June in a big year like 1999. 1988 was about average, so I'm somewhat impressed that south-facing 7th Heaven had adequate cover in June. When Adam was at camp late June 2002 he could ski down to the top of Solar Coaster each afternoon, but they still had to use the bus to get to 7th Heaven on the way up in the morning.

I would assume that the sunny exposure of 7th Heaven + Saudan Couloir would limit the decent skiable hours there in May/June more than on Horstman Glacier or at Mammoth.
 
Tony Crocker":3dkx6zdb said:
1988 was about average, so I'm somewhat impressed that south-facing 7th Heaven had adequate cover in June. When Adam was at camp late June 2002 he could ski down to the top of Solar Coaster each afternoon, but they still had to use the bus to get to 7th Heaven on the way up in the morning.

I would assume that the sunny exposure of 7th Heaven + Saudan Couloir would limit the decent skiable hours there in May/June more than on Horstman Glacier or at Mammoth.
Click to expand...

I might be mistaken, but I believe it was Blackcomb first year of all-year skiing (they didn't close at all the first year). I don't recall the hours being different. I believe the ski day ended at 4pm.

I have the days at home. I skied the 3, 4 and 6 + 11, 12, 14.

Snow coverage was great above tree-line in 7th heaven, it got average toward the bottom of the lift. Snow went halfway down the Solar Coaster lift. Ski-in and out toward 7th lift from Rendez-Vous (top of SolarC) was fine. Skiers would download via the Solar and bottom lift (can't remember the name right now).

The first two days were what I would call winter days.

3rd: Light powder on top and glacier. Heavy wet powder on 7th Heaven.

4th: Light powder below freezing everywhere. The previous day wet snow frooze to a nice hard edgeable surface covered with a few inches of light powder. An epic day. Skied 7th heaven all day. Deserted mountain. Lakeside Bowl was probably the highlight of that day and the woods near the old t-bar line. :shock:

6th: Sun was out and it was warmer. The bottom of 7th heaven (just before the lift) look like eastern spring conditions (bare spot on the last few yards). I believe this is the day we decided to try Saudan Couloir, it's was great but we had to be sure to make a traverse across to get out of the bowl.

11th: A wish come true. Skiing my birthday in the rain/snow on Horseman glacier. A mountain to myself. My memory is a bit fogging as the visibilty that day. Don't recall what I skied.

12th-14th. Sunny days. Spend these days more on the glacier than 7th heaven. If I remember correctly, the conditions were getting marginal toward the bottom of the ski. I was also pretty much skiing alone, my friend was working two-jobs to be able to pay the rent and his summer in the Southern Alps starting the following week.
 
I spent a buch of time editing together this video of my trip:

http://www.big8digital.com/jon/

Still can't believe that was MAY. \:D/


EDIT: The guy on the snowboard is my buddy John. He did most of the filming and picture-taking so that's why there are more shots of me. You'll also notice the clip at the end where the dude drops the cliff in the background is found in the May 7th video by AdventrueFilmWorks. Tony linked to it in his Mammoth post from May.
 
Having fun with my new computer (I can see these big videos at home now), WOW great job on the video!!!

Great to see Mammoth other than on my pics.
 
Thanks! I spent a summer editing music videos a few years back.

I was wondering if it was so big that nobody would watch it :)

Great to see Mammoth other than on my pics.
Click to expand...

Likewise: it's nice to see a different perspective than what I got to see!
 
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