Mammoth July 4, 2006

I did not ski July 3 so Andrew and I could do a hike out of Tuolumne Meadows. We hiked the trail down the river to the bridge at Tuolumne Falls, then up the other side of the river to the Tioga Road, about 8 miles total in 5 1/2 hours.

On July 4 I started like Saturday/Sunday with Cornice, met Mammoth Forum people at 9AM, then hit 23 (Drop Out, Wipe Out and Drop Out 3), but left at 10:15 and headed into town for the parade and to pick up Andrew. The 5 runs to the bottom over the weekend had now been reduced to 3 of much more sketchy cover, so it made sense to stay on the upper gondola and 23 where skiing was still good.

I got back on the hill about 12:30, skied Climax to catch one of the last rides up 23 before its 1PM close. The gondola ran until 2PM to give people time to attend the parade and still make the top of the mountain closing festivities. On the 1:30 I ran into Patrick, we did one more on Climax and of course got to ride a snowball target gondola after that.

Once the gondola stopped discharging skiers after 2PM a snowball fight raged for about half an hour. There were numerous skiers and boarders in costume and the end of the season (for most but not all of us :wink was toasted with beer and champagne. Threatening clouds broke up the festivities by 2:45 and I took my final run down Climax and St. Anton.

A couple of weeks a go I asked the question : what am I doing in the east? Now I have seen theses great pics and the fun you guys had ; I have a new existantial question: Why am I working? :?: :?: Give me a clue :idea: because sometimes I don't know.

Lucky Luke":2exhcni1 said:

A couple of weeks a go I asked the question : what am I doing in the east?

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And I'll say it again: where there's a will, there's a way. Six months of job hunting, and a one-way Penske rental truck, and my family did it. All it takes is a conscious decision to make it happen.

Admin":2bykzl91 said:

And I'll say it again: where there's a will, there's a way. Six months of job hunting, and a one-way Penske rental truck, and my family did it. All it takes is a conscious decision to make it happen.

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Mark, you didn't answered the new question: why I am working? Is that means I just need the Penske truck and I can cut the 6 months of job searching? :?:

Lucky Luke":33kuufqa said:

Mark, you didn't answered the new question: why I am working? Is that means I just need the Penske truck and I can cut the 6 months of job searching? :?:

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OK, then...what are you waiting for? :wink:

Talking about "Why Am I working?", I'm sure that if it hadn't been for work, Lucky Luke and my friend Natalie would have made the trip to California with me.

Lucky could leave on a trip in late May (I couldn't), in late June it was the other way around. :roll:

Hutash's champagne on the top was a great way and that final run on Climax to finish Mammoth's season.

Now I need to get back to work to help pay for this trip.

It?s amazing to see snow like that in July( Picture # 1) .There must be one heck of a snow pack to last that long exposed to all that sun even with the elevation. At times looks better than the east mid winter, :wink: which is why I don?t usually look at the western postings. Too hard to take.

I was telling Patrick that coverage and surface conditions on July 4 resembled my day at Mad River on March 17, 2003. July 1&2 were somewhat better.

Maximum base depth, measured in the trees near the beginner chair #11 by the Main Lodge was 18 feet in mid-April this season. This area finally lost all of its snow last week. Average max base depth there is 11 feet. Snowfall and blow-in on the upper mountain is estimated by locals to add at least 1/3 to those numbers. It takes a lot of hot weather to melt out 25-30 feet of snow. The altitude (more overnight freezing) and steep north exposure of some of those runs also slow the meltdown process.

Mammoth does have a nearly unique combination of factors that produce the long late seasons. It is 2,000 feet higher than most Sierra areas, thus it rarely rains and the snow preserves better. Areas in the Rockies with comparable altitude have lower water content snow that does not accumulate as high a base, even at Alta/Snowbird. The most comparable areas in late season are Mt. Bachelor and the Whistler/Blackcomb alpine.