NASJA West had a Mammoth trip for a few days this week, so I couldn't resist going up there for a couple of days. Adam has also been there since Dec. 26, though he will be leaving shortly after this weekend.
I stayed in Adam's ski house, but the other NASJA members were hosted by Snowcreek, which has been one of Mammoth's nicer accommodations since it was launched in the late 1970's. http://www.ci.mammoth-lakes.ca.us/docum ... 202007.PDF We had a meeting in the Snowcreek Bistro/Athletic Club after skiing Wednesday. The original developer Tom Dempsey envisioned a separate ski area rising from the Snowcreek base into the Sherwins.
The out of town journalists got quite a view of Mammoth. Not only the 11+ foot base from the December storm but 2 days of clear skies and no wind. The lower mountain was extensively groomed for effortless cruising. The upper mountain had been fairly well skier packed after the last storm Jan. 2. That storm was very cold and resulted in a marathon drive home for the holiday skiers, snowing from Lone Pine to Palmdale. Snow on the upper steeps was still quite soft but a bit more irregular than usual as there had not been the usual wind to buff it or blow in sifted snow.
On Wednesday 5 of us skied with a Mammoth Host, doing some upper runs: Cornice, Rockgarden (but Adam skied from the top of Huevos), Dave's in the morning. Here's Adam on Dave's with Sun Valley based photographer Karl Weatherly shooting just below me.
Last morning run on 22 Adam and I skied Avalanche 2 on the way to lunch at the Mill. After lunch we skied Wipe Out, then back to chair 14 and Monument returning to the front side.
On Thursday just Adam and I were skiing with Karl, so we stepped it up some. First gondola run Adam on Climax:
Then Hangman's and over to chair 23. Karl finishing the steep section of Drop Out 2:
We also skied Wipe Out 2 and Paranoid 3 before noon lunch at McCoy mid-station. After lunch and a quick lap on Climax we thought Karl would appreciate a trip out to Hole-in-the-Wall. Adam led the navigation as he had been there last year. I've skied it twice before but also tried and missed 3 other times. Here's view behind Dave's Run of the the Mammoth Lakes:
The traverse through the forest to the cliff band overlooking Twin Lakes and Tamarack Lodge gives few clues and the fall line can easily sucker you below Hole-in-the-Wall. Adam stayed very high on the traverse and we arrived at the cliffs above the chute in the last picture below. But we easily skied down the forest a bit to this view:
With the high snowpack this year Adam was able to ski a steep but sheltered line far skier's right into the Hole.
Karl and I skied the more conventional line. It's sun exposed with variable snow, but had been skier packed since Monday. I skied first, then shot Karl skiing through the Hole from below:
I had stashed a car at Tamarack early in the morning. As we were about to leave we noticed a paraglider near this chute looker's right of Hole-in-the-Wall:
I will link to Karl's pictures from these 2 days eventually. But I'm leaving for Palau and Japan early Saturday morning, returning Feb. 1.
I stayed in Adam's ski house, but the other NASJA members were hosted by Snowcreek, which has been one of Mammoth's nicer accommodations since it was launched in the late 1970's. http://www.ci.mammoth-lakes.ca.us/docum ... 202007.PDF We had a meeting in the Snowcreek Bistro/Athletic Club after skiing Wednesday. The original developer Tom Dempsey envisioned a separate ski area rising from the Snowcreek base into the Sherwins.
The out of town journalists got quite a view of Mammoth. Not only the 11+ foot base from the December storm but 2 days of clear skies and no wind. The lower mountain was extensively groomed for effortless cruising. The upper mountain had been fairly well skier packed after the last storm Jan. 2. That storm was very cold and resulted in a marathon drive home for the holiday skiers, snowing from Lone Pine to Palmdale. Snow on the upper steeps was still quite soft but a bit more irregular than usual as there had not been the usual wind to buff it or blow in sifted snow.
On Wednesday 5 of us skied with a Mammoth Host, doing some upper runs: Cornice, Rockgarden (but Adam skied from the top of Huevos), Dave's in the morning. Here's Adam on Dave's with Sun Valley based photographer Karl Weatherly shooting just below me.
Last morning run on 22 Adam and I skied Avalanche 2 on the way to lunch at the Mill. After lunch we skied Wipe Out, then back to chair 14 and Monument returning to the front side.
On Thursday just Adam and I were skiing with Karl, so we stepped it up some. First gondola run Adam on Climax:
Then Hangman's and over to chair 23. Karl finishing the steep section of Drop Out 2:
We also skied Wipe Out 2 and Paranoid 3 before noon lunch at McCoy mid-station. After lunch and a quick lap on Climax we thought Karl would appreciate a trip out to Hole-in-the-Wall. Adam led the navigation as he had been there last year. I've skied it twice before but also tried and missed 3 other times. Here's view behind Dave's Run of the the Mammoth Lakes:
The traverse through the forest to the cliff band overlooking Twin Lakes and Tamarack Lodge gives few clues and the fall line can easily sucker you below Hole-in-the-Wall. Adam stayed very high on the traverse and we arrived at the cliffs above the chute in the last picture below. But we easily skied down the forest a bit to this view:
With the high snowpack this year Adam was able to ski a steep but sheltered line far skier's right into the Hole.
Karl and I skied the more conventional line. It's sun exposed with variable snow, but had been skier packed since Monday. I skied first, then shot Karl skiing through the Hole from below:
I had stashed a car at Tamarack early in the morning. As we were about to leave we noticed a paraglider near this chute looker's right of Hole-in-the-Wall:
I will link to Karl's pictures from these 2 days eventually. But I'm leaving for Palau and Japan early Saturday morning, returning Feb. 1.
