Just curious if anyone (Tony) has any thoughts on what the conditions will be like up at Mammoth this weekend. Looking cool/cold with highs at mid mountain around the low to mid 30s with a bunch of wind. Maybe a little snow too. I'm just wondering if anything off trail will be skiable. I'll be up either way but if it's groomers only I want to make plans for Sunday/Monday that don't include skiing.
Memorial Day weekend at Mammoth
- Thread starter socal
- Start date
I just arrived here. Supposedly it's been good, sunny with light winds to retard the slush. Minor storm activity has not been getting this far south. I will be skiing with tseeb tomorrow.
Temperatures today were in the 40's, but the upper mountain was overcast all day. Winds were light in the morning, stronger in the afternoon.
We started from chair 2 about 8:30AM and took the first 3 laps on Stump Alley, which was in ideal corn stage early. Next to face of 3 which was still on the firm side, so back down to 2. Broadway at ~10AM was about like Stump at 8:30. We hit Cornice about 10:30, very hard snow at entry with some snow pellets blasting in your face, OK on the lower half. Becky and tseeb lower down on Cornice.
Tseeb has not been to Mammoth in awhile, so I was hoping to find some interesting ungroomed terrain. But after that Cornice run it was clear that was not going to be up top for awhile. We got a couple of good runs in Gravy Chute.
The line skier's left through the scattered trees was best. Groomed Fascination below it was excellent corn ~11AM.
Last run before 11:30 lunch at the Mill was off the back of 3 to Face of 5.
At this point the snow was still a bit crunchy skier's left of the lift but good skier's right. After lunch Sliver and Triangle softened up nicely.
After lunch Becky left and tseeb and I took a shot at Climax. I made the error of heading skier's right to the usually less trafficked part. This had all been churned when it was powder a week ago, was now set up, and to be honest totally sucked.
Tseeb bouncing through the crud on Climax.
Next time up top we took Roadrunner around to Scotty's. The wind had picked up so we had to crouch to keep moving on Roadrunner. Groomed Scotty's had excellent snow ~1:30PM but we could see that the ungroomed either side was old churned powder like Climax. Tseeb near the bottom of Scotty's.
Up top one more time we saw that skier's left of Climax had been skier packed some through the narrow chute at the bottom. So we did that at 2:30, and it was fine as long as you stayed in the skier packed lines. Tseeb in that chute.
Tseeb and I skied 27,350 vertical and closed the place down at 3PM in anticipation of tomorrow being much less pleasant.
We started from chair 2 about 8:30AM and took the first 3 laps on Stump Alley, which was in ideal corn stage early. Next to face of 3 which was still on the firm side, so back down to 2. Broadway at ~10AM was about like Stump at 8:30. We hit Cornice about 10:30, very hard snow at entry with some snow pellets blasting in your face, OK on the lower half. Becky and tseeb lower down on Cornice.
Tseeb has not been to Mammoth in awhile, so I was hoping to find some interesting ungroomed terrain. But after that Cornice run it was clear that was not going to be up top for awhile. We got a couple of good runs in Gravy Chute.
The line skier's left through the scattered trees was best. Groomed Fascination below it was excellent corn ~11AM.
Last run before 11:30 lunch at the Mill was off the back of 3 to Face of 5.
At this point the snow was still a bit crunchy skier's left of the lift but good skier's right. After lunch Sliver and Triangle softened up nicely.
After lunch Becky left and tseeb and I took a shot at Climax. I made the error of heading skier's right to the usually less trafficked part. This had all been churned when it was powder a week ago, was now set up, and to be honest totally sucked.
Tseeb bouncing through the crud on Climax.
Next time up top we took Roadrunner around to Scotty's. The wind had picked up so we had to crouch to keep moving on Roadrunner. Groomed Scotty's had excellent snow ~1:30PM but we could see that the ungroomed either side was old churned powder like Climax. Tseeb near the bottom of Scotty's.
Up top one more time we saw that skier's left of Climax had been skier packed some through the narrow chute at the bottom. So we did that at 2:30, and it was fine as long as you stayed in the skier packed lines. Tseeb in that chute.
Tseeb and I skied 27,350 vertical and closed the place down at 3PM in anticipation of tomorrow being much less pleasant.
That is an accurate description of the top today. But the the snow softened at lower elevations, so ungroomed skiing on chairs 1, 3 and 5 was decent. Tomorrow looks to be more difficult with a drop in temperatures. They are calling for 1-2 inches snow by Sunday morning. Monday is supposed to be clear and 50F, so that will be the best day to ski. Tomorrow would be the best "don't include skiing" day IMHO.socal":oldrs3bj said:
Tioga is plowed to the top of the pass. The unplowed part is all within Yosemite NP. That doesn't mean you can drive up there though.
Totally agree, definitely better places to be today. To be fair though, its pretty unseasonably cold here today. last two Saturdays of memorial day weekend have been really nice.
And you'd have to agree that booking flights and lodging for a group of 10 for memorial day weekend in slc just doesn't make sense.
And you'd have to agree that booking flights and lodging for a group of 10 for memorial day weekend in slc just doesn't make sense.
Chair 1 ran from about 10AM to 1PM. The ride on chair 2 was brutal with wind in your face most of the time. Chair 1 was better, wind more erratic but since it was a crosswind no surprise it had to close when wind got stronger. Tseeb and I did 16,000 today before quitting ~1:15. All groomers except Roger's Ridge and a traverse from Gold Rush to the lower part of Avy 3.
It started snowing in town by 7PM, with gusty winds even down here.
It started snowing in town by 7PM, with gusty winds even down here.
tseeb
Well-known member
I'll eventually post some pictures and comments from today. These pictures are all from Friday, which was the better day. I brightened the pictures of Tony Crocker on Scotty's a little, but did not auto-correct them as it made it look much brighter than it actually was.
I heard Squaw was icy and only groomers were skiable on Friday. Today's report on unofficial Squaw follows:
"Squaw was, well, awful today. Windy, coldy, icy, and snowy all day. Almost June, huh? Almost June my ass! La Nina is a vicious, spiteful little girl.
“If there is a worst day of the year, I think it was today” – Parker
It’s currently 39F at the base of Squaw, it’s windy, and you know those snow pellets that blast you in the face and sting like wasps? Yeah, those have been happening all day."
When we quit at Mammoth, it had started to snow, but it did not continue as I headed towards 395. I had time to stop and eat at Whoa Nellie Deli. I was going to order the famous fish tacos, but the cashier recommended the carnitas tacos and they were excellent. It was warm enough, and the view of Mono Lake is so good, that I ate outside, but had to move to the sun as it started getting cold in the shade. I continued to Reno, arriving at 5:45 in heavy rain, which was perfect timing to pickup my wife. We thought about having dinner in Reno, but it was good we went directly to Truckee, as there were some flakes mixed in the rain leaving Reno. It was snowing heavily a few miles up the road, but only was sticking to the road on a couple of bridges before we got to Truckee, where there was snow on the roads and chains were required to continue over Donner Pass. When we checked in the desk clerk said it had started snowing about 3 pm. My friend who lives a couple of miles north of Truckee reported 8" by 7 pm so tomorrow should be good at Squaw. They canceled Lake Cushing crossing scheduled for tomorrow and have re-scheduled for July 3, which means they will probably be re-opening.
I heard Squaw was icy and only groomers were skiable on Friday. Today's report on unofficial Squaw follows:
"Squaw was, well, awful today. Windy, coldy, icy, and snowy all day. Almost June, huh? Almost June my ass! La Nina is a vicious, spiteful little girl.
“If there is a worst day of the year, I think it was today” – Parker
It’s currently 39F at the base of Squaw, it’s windy, and you know those snow pellets that blast you in the face and sting like wasps? Yeah, those have been happening all day."
When we quit at Mammoth, it had started to snow, but it did not continue as I headed towards 395. I had time to stop and eat at Whoa Nellie Deli. I was going to order the famous fish tacos, but the cashier recommended the carnitas tacos and they were excellent. It was warm enough, and the view of Mono Lake is so good, that I ate outside, but had to move to the sun as it started getting cold in the shade. I continued to Reno, arriving at 5:45 in heavy rain, which was perfect timing to pickup my wife. We thought about having dinner in Reno, but it was good we went directly to Truckee, as there were some flakes mixed in the rain leaving Reno. It was snowing heavily a few miles up the road, but only was sticking to the road on a couple of bridges before we got to Truckee, where there was snow on the roads and chains were required to continue over Donner Pass. When we checked in the desk clerk said it had started snowing about 3 pm. My friend who lives a couple of miles north of Truckee reported 8" by 7 pm so tomorrow should be good at Squaw. They canceled Lake Cushing crossing scheduled for tomorrow and have re-scheduled for July 3, which means they will probably be re-opening.
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tseeb
Well-known member
This is going to be a quick post, as Squaw reports 6" at 6200 feet and 12" at 8200. They don't open until 9 and better get the top open today as we are supposed to go back to San Jose this evening.
The skiing at Squaw on Sat. sounded like it improved. See http://unofficialnetworks.com/category/locations/squaw/
Posting pictures from Sat.
The skiing at Squaw on Sat. sounded like it improved. See http://unofficialnetworks.com/category/locations/squaw/
Posting pictures from Sat.
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I made the error of sleeping until 8AM Sunday. I thought the predicted 2 inches wouldn't be nearly enough. I got up there ~9:15, so crappy parking at stop E well below the chair 2/10 lots. I got one run of leftovers on chair 5 before heading over to the 10AM Mammoth Forum meeting. The top had just opened so at least I got decent fresh snow runs on Climax and Paranoid 2 before the cloud lowered and temporarily closed the top. Yes, it's May 29.
I thought 5 had very good skiing midday even if it wasn't powder anymore.
Very little contact with any hard subsurfaces there. Another clearing spell ~1:15, so I skied Drop Out and Wipe Out 2 then. I quit at 2:30 to go to the Mammoth Forum potluck.
I still managed 19,450 vertical, estimate 4K of varied powder.
Adam's ski house is full and there are many late night partiers there. So he didn't wake up until 10:30 this morning. I saw him leaving lunch at midstation at noon; presumably he and his friends skied the top for the next 2 hours until the weather shut it down for good. Weather was unusual for Mammoth today, very little wind. Yet it alternated a few times between mostly clear and snowing moderately with fog on top.
Today was another try for the Scarpa Mistraele boots and the Verdicts. I had the boots heat formed at Mammoth Mountaineering when I got in Thursday night. Skiing was fun from a technical standpoint as conditions were excellent for the Verdicts. But my feet were in agony from arch cramps during that first run on chair 5. They got relief while in walk mode meeting with the Forum people and riding the gondola up top. Comfort was OK on typical 1,000 vert runs but I'd be getting somewhat sore by the end of longer top to bottom runs. So I'll be going in to Mammoth Mountaineering once more before I head home.
I thought 5 had very good skiing midday even if it wasn't powder anymore.
Very little contact with any hard subsurfaces there. Another clearing spell ~1:15, so I skied Drop Out and Wipe Out 2 then. I quit at 2:30 to go to the Mammoth Forum potluck.
I still managed 19,450 vertical, estimate 4K of varied powder.
Adam's ski house is full and there are many late night partiers there. So he didn't wake up until 10:30 this morning. I saw him leaving lunch at midstation at noon; presumably he and his friends skied the top for the next 2 hours until the weather shut it down for good. Weather was unusual for Mammoth today, very little wind. Yet it alternated a few times between mostly clear and snowing moderately with fog on top.
Today was another try for the Scarpa Mistraele boots and the Verdicts. I had the boots heat formed at Mammoth Mountaineering when I got in Thursday night. Skiing was fun from a technical standpoint as conditions were excellent for the Verdicts. But my feet were in agony from arch cramps during that first run on chair 5. They got relief while in walk mode meeting with the Forum people and riding the gondola up top. Comfort was OK on typical 1,000 vert runs but I'd be getting somewhat sore by the end of longer top to bottom runs. So I'll be going in to Mammoth Mountaineering once more before I head home.
Monday was as predicted finally a day of full sun. But this was also a day when the wind was your friend. Not enough to shut anything down, but the spring transition was more like early April than late May. It was all winter conditions to start the day, and the upper steeps remained that way all day. The lower mountain softened up starting around noon but never reached the sticky or grabby stage. The wind also deposited a layer of sift on the aprons of the top runs and much of chair 5. Storm total was 4 inches at Main Lodge and up to 8 near the top.
I did not make the error of sleeping in a second time. Still when we arrived at the chair 2 lot at 8:15 there were maybe 10 spots left. After a couple of warmups I headed up top and noted that Dave's Run, closed Sunday, was now open. I arrived at the top of Dave's just before 9AM.
There were just a few tracks but the snow had settled some and there was occasional contact with the hard subsurface. I took another lap and pushed farther on to the lower angle Roma's at far skier's right of Dave's. View from below on the traverse back toward 5.
A view of Huevos Grande from the same spot.
From the zigzag turns the skiers were making I could tell that the hard snow was exposed on the steep upper part. Adam went through there about half an hour later and had the same report.
Next time up top I moved to the more filled in slopes of chair 23. Drop Out 2 had only occasional hard spots even in its steeps, and once through the rocks it was all smooth packed powder and windsift. On Wipe Out 2 and the Hump the soft snow extended nearly to the top. Several people enjoying the windsift here.
Next run I headed out to Paranoid. I inspected Philippe's, saw firm moguls in there and opted for a soft and smooth run down Paranoid 3.
I met Adam, Andrew and Becky at mid for lunch about 11:40. Then Adam and I went up the gondola to inspect Varmint's Nest. Adam skiing that.
There was a mix of new and hard exposed snow at 40+ degrees. You know it's going to be tough when you see Adam making jump turns instead of ripping it up. I probably should not have followed, but it could be many years before Varmint's is skiable again. I wound up sideslipping all the way to those rocks before skiing more consistent snow below.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the better snow on chair 23, including smooth but variable windpack on Monument. By 2PM most people had left to drive home to SoCal. Those remaining up top were mostly hitting the deepest windsift below Wipe Out 2 and the Hump.
I finished up with Fascination and Gravy Chute on chair 1, then up 3 to Coyote. 31,000 vertical and a couple of other milestones: 1.2 million for the season now, 6 million lifetime at Mammoth. 12 runs off the top of Mammoth probably ties a record also.
I'll easily concede the prior 3 days to the Utards. But I'll take this one any day over a 2 hour liftline plus a hike up the Cirque for 4 runs.
I did not make the error of sleeping in a second time. Still when we arrived at the chair 2 lot at 8:15 there were maybe 10 spots left. After a couple of warmups I headed up top and noted that Dave's Run, closed Sunday, was now open. I arrived at the top of Dave's just before 9AM.
There were just a few tracks but the snow had settled some and there was occasional contact with the hard subsurface. I took another lap and pushed farther on to the lower angle Roma's at far skier's right of Dave's. View from below on the traverse back toward 5.
A view of Huevos Grande from the same spot.
From the zigzag turns the skiers were making I could tell that the hard snow was exposed on the steep upper part. Adam went through there about half an hour later and had the same report.
Next time up top I moved to the more filled in slopes of chair 23. Drop Out 2 had only occasional hard spots even in its steeps, and once through the rocks it was all smooth packed powder and windsift. On Wipe Out 2 and the Hump the soft snow extended nearly to the top. Several people enjoying the windsift here.
Next run I headed out to Paranoid. I inspected Philippe's, saw firm moguls in there and opted for a soft and smooth run down Paranoid 3.
I met Adam, Andrew and Becky at mid for lunch about 11:40. Then Adam and I went up the gondola to inspect Varmint's Nest. Adam skiing that.
There was a mix of new and hard exposed snow at 40+ degrees. You know it's going to be tough when you see Adam making jump turns instead of ripping it up. I probably should not have followed, but it could be many years before Varmint's is skiable again. I wound up sideslipping all the way to those rocks before skiing more consistent snow below.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the better snow on chair 23, including smooth but variable windpack on Monument. By 2PM most people had left to drive home to SoCal. Those remaining up top were mostly hitting the deepest windsift below Wipe Out 2 and the Hump.
I finished up with Fascination and Gravy Chute on chair 1, then up 3 to Coyote. 31,000 vertical and a couple of other milestones: 1.2 million for the season now, 6 million lifetime at Mammoth. 12 runs off the top of Mammoth probably ties a record also.
I'll easily concede the prior 3 days to the Utards. But I'll take this one any day over a 2 hour liftline plus a hike up the Cirque for 4 runs.
Discussion of Snowbird May 30 is moved to the Snowbird May 30 thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9689
Knowing Monday was going to be a big day, I arranged to stay in Mammoth one more night. After Memorial Day Mammoth is much quieter so lift operations are cut back. As noted before gondola maintenance starts the next day so it will be ready for mountain bike season.
Chair 23 is open daily during the Gondola maintenance period running to June 17, so most top runs are accessible without a hike except Dave's and Climax (short walk to Hangman's). More restrictive is the closure of chair 2, which removes its convenient parking base and also puts the chair 5 terrain beyond lift access. A year ago we made a lot of noise about this on Mammoth Forum, so chair 2 will operate June weekends until its snow melts away at the base. Last year that was one weekend, I'd guess 2 or 3 this year.
Weather was sunny and windy, similar to Monday but a bit warmer. Nonetheless the snow softening process is still more like April than May. They did not need to use salt today. All lower runs were still firm at 9AM, with partially NE-facing Mambo and Powder Bowl softening first. The steepest mid-section of Broadway was still firm at 10AM. Back of 3, Gremlin's, upper St. Anton still had winter snow, as did most of the top. However the widespread windsift of Monday was mostly gone. On the Wipe Out side of chair 23 snow was still a bit stiff when I left at noon, but everything on the Drop Out side got enough morning sun to ski beautifully from 10:30AM onwards.
With crowds gone, this is some of the best groomer skiing you can have. When it turns to corn it remains smooth instead of forming snow clumps and the beginning of moguls with traffic. Here's Andrew enjoying Cornice.
Andrew has become more comfortable on a snowboard and is finally ahead of where he was skiing when he gave it up completely due to chronic boot pain 3 years ago. The background of the above pic is nondescript because he got most of the way down Cornice before I saw him. On intermediate terrain he'll go off the groomed more often than when he skied as the board gives him most of the advantages of a fat ski.
Becky higher up on Cornice at lower right with Hangman's and Varmint's Nest in background.
View from Drop Out towards chair 3.
A fast morning, 20,300 vertical. The AT boot saga continues. One of the carry straps started to detach, so Mammoth Mountaineering is sending it back to Scarpa as a warranty claim (the boots have been skied only 3 days). That was another reason to stay until Tuesday so they could call Scarpa. I'll have new liners waiting to be heat formed when I return to Mammoth in 2 weeks.
Knowing Monday was going to be a big day, I arranged to stay in Mammoth one more night. After Memorial Day Mammoth is much quieter so lift operations are cut back. As noted before gondola maintenance starts the next day so it will be ready for mountain bike season.
Chair 23 is open daily during the Gondola maintenance period running to June 17, so most top runs are accessible without a hike except Dave's and Climax (short walk to Hangman's). More restrictive is the closure of chair 2, which removes its convenient parking base and also puts the chair 5 terrain beyond lift access. A year ago we made a lot of noise about this on Mammoth Forum, so chair 2 will operate June weekends until its snow melts away at the base. Last year that was one weekend, I'd guess 2 or 3 this year.
Weather was sunny and windy, similar to Monday but a bit warmer. Nonetheless the snow softening process is still more like April than May. They did not need to use salt today. All lower runs were still firm at 9AM, with partially NE-facing Mambo and Powder Bowl softening first. The steepest mid-section of Broadway was still firm at 10AM. Back of 3, Gremlin's, upper St. Anton still had winter snow, as did most of the top. However the widespread windsift of Monday was mostly gone. On the Wipe Out side of chair 23 snow was still a bit stiff when I left at noon, but everything on the Drop Out side got enough morning sun to ski beautifully from 10:30AM onwards.
With crowds gone, this is some of the best groomer skiing you can have. When it turns to corn it remains smooth instead of forming snow clumps and the beginning of moguls with traffic. Here's Andrew enjoying Cornice.
Andrew has become more comfortable on a snowboard and is finally ahead of where he was skiing when he gave it up completely due to chronic boot pain 3 years ago. The background of the above pic is nondescript because he got most of the way down Cornice before I saw him. On intermediate terrain he'll go off the groomed more often than when he skied as the board gives him most of the advantages of a fat ski.
Becky higher up on Cornice at lower right with Hangman's and Varmint's Nest in background.
View from Drop Out towards chair 3.
A fast morning, 20,300 vertical. The AT boot saga continues. One of the carry straps started to detach, so Mammoth Mountaineering is sending it back to Scarpa as a warranty claim (the boots have been skied only 3 days). That was another reason to stay until Tuesday so they could call Scarpa. I'll have new liners waiting to be heat formed when I return to Mammoth in 2 weeks.