Colorado, better late then never

[Marc_C]

Gee, thanks for the lesson captain obvious.

Yet it seems that you still don't want to accept it.

That being said, Bridger is not a destination resort. It's a local mountain that has a university nearby. One would think that as long there is snow there would be local support and people who want to ski there. One would also think that college students probably make up for most of the day tickets there, and being that college doesn't finish till the first week of may there would still be a market.

Even more of a reason to close early. None of those customers are spending nearly enough for Bridger to break even for the time period. What's with the "It seems that..." and "One would think..."? The classic New Yorker's proof by assertion? :twisted:

 

[Tony Crocker]

I'm a bit surprised by the Mammoth announcement so early. The upper mountain does not look as deep as it did this time last year, when they closed June 14. However the new criteria is keeping Broadway skiable. You can walk onto the Main Lodge sundeck now but they had to build a small ramp to make that possible. However historical precedent is 450+ inches = Skiing to July 4. Last year was the only year with that much when they didn't. There was some local grumbling, but it would have been gondola access to upper mountain only. That is the change under new management. Dave McCoy would run it that way, but now they want a ski strip on Broadway to the Main Lodge to stay open. It might be a wash because Broadway now has an early season manmade base which might melt out slower than the natural base of the 1980's.

 

[rfarren]

Gee, thanks for the lesson captain obvious.

Yet it seems that you still don't want to accept it.

No, I get it, I really do.

What's with the "It seems that..." and "One would think..."? The classic New Yorker's proof by assertion? :twisted:

Try this on for size:You would think Marc_C understands why someone would speculate on why Bridger could stay open.... Oops, I'm sorry, I forgot we aren't allowed to speculate or wonder why about any subject on this site.

Is that enough of a syntactic change for ya?

 

[rfarren]

I'm a bit surprised by the Mammoth announcement so early. The upper mountain does not look as deep as it did this time last year, when they closed June 14. However the new criteria is keeping Broadway skiable. You can walk onto the Main Lodge sundeck now but they had to build a small ramp to make that possible. However historical precedent is 450+ inches = Skiing to July 4. Last year was the only year with that much when they didn't. There was some local grumbling, but it would have been gondola access to upper mountain only. That is the change under new management. Dave McCoy would run it that way, but now they want a ski strip on Broadway to the Main Lodge to stay open. It might be a wash because Broadway now has an early season manmade base which might melt out slower than the natural base of the 1980's.

What's the skiing like by the end of june? Is it worth it?

 

[skibum4ever]

I'm a bit surprised by the Mammoth announcement so early. The upper mountain does not look as deep as it did this time last year, when they closed June 14. However the new criteria is keeping Broadway skiable. You can walk onto the Main Lodge sundeck now but they had to build a small ramp to make that possible. However historical precedent is 450+ inches = Skiing to July 4. Last year was the only year with that much when they didn't. There was some local grumbling, but it would have been gondola access to upper mountain only. That is the change under new management. Dave McCoy would run it that way, but now they want a ski strip on Broadway to the Main Lodge to stay open. It might be a wash because Broadway now has an early season manmade base which might melt out slower than the natural base of the 1980's.

Tony, I was surprised by that early announcement as well. Although there are a couple of storms on the horizon, Mammoth has no way of knowing whether it will get very warm in late April or early May. They can lose several inches of base a day if it is hot enough. Do you know if they've ever announced a late closing date and then had to renege on it? That would be interesting, remembering that they opened in October and stayed open for a whole 3 days before they ran out of snow.

However, we can only hope that the spring is cooler than average, and that they can maintain a viable path down Broadway. I'm rooting for them!!!

 

[Tony Crocker]

However, we can only hope that the spring is cooler than average, and that they can maintain a viable path down Broadway.

They can always cannibalize snow from the upper mountain or closed areas to build strips to the Main Lodge. It may turn out to be more work than they anticipate, but if you recall Memorial Weekend 2007

I believe they would do that work rather than renege on a previously announced closing date.

What's the skiing like by the end of June? Is it worth it?

You can ask Patrick, as he has come out from the East TWICE to do it. One of the virtues of Mammoth's late season is that terrain at both intermediate (with frequent grooming/salting to keep surface manageable) and expert (deepest snow is up high on the steeps, won't close prematurely like A-Basin does now with Pali) levels is still available to the end.

Only upper mountain pic from last June 13, likely similar to what late June will be (except very likely sunny) this year. Also you might want to look at the July reports from 2006: viewtopic.php?t=2151 and viewtopic.php?t=2152.

My view is that such a trip should be viewed as a "mixed" vacation. It coincides with peak water levels in Yosemite, which is just an hour (Tuolumne Meadows) or two (valley floor) away. That peak water also makes for some great whitewater rafting, and the Tuolumne River is regarded as one of the best for that. Whatever you might want to do in a mountain resort in the summer (hike, mountain bike, rock climb, even golf sorry, admin) it's all there along with the skiing. And often on the same day since skiing is finished by noon or 1PM.

As I will be leaving for Tahiti/NZ July 2 my last ski weekend is likely to be June 19-20.

 

[EMSC]

My view is that such a trip should be viewed as a "mixed" vacation.

This.

If you show up exclusively for the skiing you better be a racer, coach attending a clinic, or crossing it off your 'bucket' list, or etc... At least IMHO. Not that the skiing is awful by then or something, just not worth it exclusively. Even the racers stop after a few hours and do mtn biking, soccer or other dry-land fitness training. If that's the kind of trip you want, you'll be exhausted but have a blast of multi-sport days.

 

[Staley]

How do you deal with luggage for a Tahiti/NZ trip?

 

[rfarren]

I was looking at those reports form 06' and my question is this: Is the snow that funny color from oil in the snow jets?

 

[Tony Crocker]

How do you deal with luggage for a Tahiti/NZ trip?

This will be my 4th New Zealand ski trip and I've always had a tropical stopover. Quality of demo equipment in NZ is good, so only necessary to take boots and clothing IMHO. This is NOT true in South America. Always take your own skis there, even if you have to drag them through inconvenient tropical destinations on the way.

Quality of very late season at Mammoth can be higher than EMSC implies. The good days are typically in the range of ~4 hours and 20K vertical and the best one (June 10, 2006) I skied 30K from 8:40AM - 2PM close. viewtopic.php?t=2128. That said, if you're there for a week I would not plan to ski every day (Patrick's experience notwithstanding), and if you get cold refrozen conditions you definitely want to choose another activity for that day.

 

[EMSC]

So what ever happened to jaa37 and mikesathome :?: :?: :?:

Never saw a TR from either one of them after starting up a 5 page thread. Surely it didn't suck that much did it??

 

[mikesathome]

So what ever happened to jaa37 and mikesathome :?: :?: :?:

Never saw a TR from either one of them after starting up a 5 page thread. Surely it didn't suck that much did it??

Better late than never for a TR? LOL
Laptop died on the ski trip, and by the time I got home I had to pack for Tucson, AZ as i had a work trip out there.
Skiing was really good, 1 Day at A.Basin and 2 days at Breck. sunny most of the time, friends both loved Colorado.
Spent a night downtown Denver, that was fun.
Spent a afternoon in Black Hawk and that paid for the trip (thank you $1 wheel of fortune) what a crazy little town that place is.

So I am in full summer mode now, jet skis ready for the great lakes, MT Bike has been out a few times, and I am heading back to Tucson, AZ for work, and plan to hit a few MT Bike trails out there.

 

[EMSC]

Laptop died on the ski trip,

Ahh... the old laptop died excuse eh? :lol:

Glad you had a good trip and how fortunate to leave Blackhawk with extra cash (I guess that means some of the local denver-ites funded your trip then). I'm not a gambler so almost never go there. But kind of bizarre what they have done to the valley though.