It turned out that Tuesday July 4 was the busiest day because Mammoth offered free skiing to anyone with a January lift ticket. The chair 2 lot filled by 7:30. We arrived at 8:05 and had to park about 15 cars up the road toward Main Lodge. By late morning the road was continuously parked nearly to the last bus stop near chair 4. Lines on the mountain remained similar to Sunday/Monday. There were fewer sightseers though. Around noon on Sunday/Monday the line for scenic riders at the lower gondola base was out the door.
There was a slight breeze on Tuesday, which improved the snow and kept it more supportable late morning and midday even though temps still reached the low 70's. This was the last day for chair 23, so Adam, Ben and Patrick spent most of their time there. Liz and I skied some lower runs before the snow got sticky. The race course runs Andy's Double Gold and Fascination were best early. At the gondola here's Liz with a pair of the better holiday costumes.
Here's another one at the top of Cornice.
That strip at the bottom got thin and dirty late on July 4 and 5 and will need frequent replenishment to maintain ski access to Cornice.
Here's the view from chair 23.
Wipe Out 1 was great on July 2 and 3, but the gravel had greatly expanded by the 4th.
I was content to ski Drop Out 1&3 and Wipe Out 3, which was just starting to show some gravel in its choke. Scotty's was wide open.
I was out of synch with Patrick, who got some summer scenery pics on Drop Out.
Patrick also saw Cowboy Ted with some friends at the top of Climax.
We skied with Lonnie and Cowboy Ted last spring.
I took the gondola to Climax again, then skied my final runs on chair 23 on Drop Out 1 and Scotty's. After another gondola/Climax I finished with 21,100 vertical. At 1PM it was clear this was the end for chair 2.
We met Patrick for dinner and it was no problem running into him at 9AM Wednesday with holiday crowds gone and only chairs 1, 3 and the gondola open. So what's still open past July 4 in terms of terrain? On the lower mountain there are groomed strips on upper Stump, upper Mambo and Forest Trail to St. Moritz. These will last to the upcoming weekend at best, as we're in another heat wave now. The race course runs Andy's, Fascination and Powder Bowl skied very well with minimal midweek traffic, though I think it will take some work to keep those going past the weekend of July 8-9 either. Broadway and hopefully St. Anton should make it to July 15-16 as in 1995.
Chair 23 is scheduled to run weekends and Drop Outs 1 and 3 have a good shot of lasting the entire month. On my last run I traversed to Drop Out 3, which had ideal corn in well spaced bumps with so few skiers.
Midweek, Drop Out 1 requires hiking.
Cornice I know from my "streak" visits in 2005 and 2011 will last all summer, though it will take a lot of work to maintain a snow strip from the gondola to it. Hangman's is roped off now, but we saw a patroller airing the rocks in its choke.
Climax will be the least effort way off the top as long as the mountain remains open. The lower part of Sign Line skier's left of Climax is confined now. Patrick there:
Farther skier's right on Climax should retain skiable lines until closing.
Liz is at lower left and Patrick at lower right.
I finished with 15,300 vertical when the mountain closed at noon. Rumor has it that closing day will be August 6. We are going back to raft the Tuolumne July 31-Aug. 1, so we will see what's left that last week.
Patrick skied at least one more day on July 6. He hiked over a lot of scree to check out Dave's, Gravy Chute and the Paranoids. Lots of pics here: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.corcor ... 8458174603
There was a slight breeze on Tuesday, which improved the snow and kept it more supportable late morning and midday even though temps still reached the low 70's. This was the last day for chair 23, so Adam, Ben and Patrick spent most of their time there. Liz and I skied some lower runs before the snow got sticky. The race course runs Andy's Double Gold and Fascination were best early. At the gondola here's Liz with a pair of the better holiday costumes.
Here's another one at the top of Cornice.
That strip at the bottom got thin and dirty late on July 4 and 5 and will need frequent replenishment to maintain ski access to Cornice.
Here's the view from chair 23.
Wipe Out 1 was great on July 2 and 3, but the gravel had greatly expanded by the 4th.
I was content to ski Drop Out 1&3 and Wipe Out 3, which was just starting to show some gravel in its choke. Scotty's was wide open.
I was out of synch with Patrick, who got some summer scenery pics on Drop Out.
Patrick also saw Cowboy Ted with some friends at the top of Climax.
We skied with Lonnie and Cowboy Ted last spring.
I took the gondola to Climax again, then skied my final runs on chair 23 on Drop Out 1 and Scotty's. After another gondola/Climax I finished with 21,100 vertical. At 1PM it was clear this was the end for chair 2.
We met Patrick for dinner and it was no problem running into him at 9AM Wednesday with holiday crowds gone and only chairs 1, 3 and the gondola open. So what's still open past July 4 in terms of terrain? On the lower mountain there are groomed strips on upper Stump, upper Mambo and Forest Trail to St. Moritz. These will last to the upcoming weekend at best, as we're in another heat wave now. The race course runs Andy's, Fascination and Powder Bowl skied very well with minimal midweek traffic, though I think it will take some work to keep those going past the weekend of July 8-9 either. Broadway and hopefully St. Anton should make it to July 15-16 as in 1995.
Chair 23 is scheduled to run weekends and Drop Outs 1 and 3 have a good shot of lasting the entire month. On my last run I traversed to Drop Out 3, which had ideal corn in well spaced bumps with so few skiers.
Midweek, Drop Out 1 requires hiking.
Cornice I know from my "streak" visits in 2005 and 2011 will last all summer, though it will take a lot of work to maintain a snow strip from the gondola to it. Hangman's is roped off now, but we saw a patroller airing the rocks in its choke.
Climax will be the least effort way off the top as long as the mountain remains open. The lower part of Sign Line skier's left of Climax is confined now. Patrick there:
Farther skier's right on Climax should retain skiable lines until closing.
Liz is at lower left and Patrick at lower right.
I finished with 15,300 vertical when the mountain closed at noon. Rumor has it that closing day will be August 6. We are going back to raft the Tuolumne July 31-Aug. 1, so we will see what's left that last week.
Patrick skied at least one more day on July 6. He hiked over a lot of scree to check out Dave's, Gravy Chute and the Paranoids. Lots of pics here: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.corcor ... 8458174603
