Mammoth, 5/26/07

[Tony Crocker]

I skied Saturday, several runs with a Mammoth Forum couple, then met them and another Forum family for a fun dinner at Whiskey Creek. Since I keep detailed records, I decided to look up the most marginal late season days I had previously skied at Mammoth, which were 5/31/81 and 7/4/86. Upper mountain coverage was much better in 1981 than this year but nothing was open below chair 3. 1986 was probably the worst of these 3 days because it was cold and windy so the top stayed frozen and only a marginal strip on Broadway was open on the lower mountain. This year up top there was just a groomed section of Cornice plus parts of Climax that funneled into a choke point near the bottom skier's left of the run. The deep bumps in this area were a challenge with the antique 201cm Rossi 3G's I was using in order to spare my newer freshly tuned skis.

What was different this year vs. 1981 and 1986 was the intensive maintenance to keep 4 strips (Powder Bowl, Broadway, the remnants [a handful of tables and rails] of the terrain park and upper Stump-to-Mambo-to-St. Moritz) covered on the lower mountain. Patrol said early season snowmaking might have been a factor in what they had to work with near Main Lodge, and also on the face of 3. The Gremlin's to Powder Bowl route (past the base of 23, an uphill slog after 11AM) had the best groomed snow most of the morning. And I finally noticed that the far skier's right of Climax had a good open line, and that from there you could make your way carefully back to the face of 3.

It was warm and sunny, overnight lows in the 40's, in 60's midday. With intense salting and grooming I thought it was pretty decent skiing from 8-11AM and managed 22K total by noon. Despite management's announcement that they will stay open only as long as Broadway is skiable, I think with what we saw this weekend closing dates in the future will be at least as late as 20 years ago, given comparable snowfall.

I only skied Saturday because I moved on to hiking Sunday and rafting Monday.

 

[Admin]

Photos? You disappoint me. :wink:

 

[Tony Crocker]

Patience! Actually I understand that people are curious to see how much snow is left in a lean year.

 

[Patrick]

The deep bumps in this area were a challenge with the antique 201cm Rossi 3G's I was using in order to spare my newer freshly tuned skis.

Oh my...even I didn't bring out the old skis in the last two season. :shock:

Thanks for the pictures Tony, you're right...July 4th last year definitely had better coverage, especially on top. For those that were there last year know that could have run the lift longer for skiers last year, but that is an entire different debate.

PS. Who did you meet from the Mammoth forum? The same group as last year?

 

[Tony Crocker]

The couple skibum4now. They are about my age but retired with homes in both Mammoth and Keystone. He had heart surgery in February and she had tibia and ankle fractures in November and January, but they have both been skiing regularly since the beginning of March. The other Forum member at dinner was biker395, whom I don't recall meeting last year. Probably more people were there for the last day. But as you know I prefer to ski the first day of closing weekend if the snow is getting thin.

Here are some closing day pics from a photographer much better than I:
http://www.snowboard-revolution.com/new ... -2007.html .

 

[Patrick]

The couple skibum4now. They are about my age but retired with homes in both Mammoth and Keystone. He had heart surgery in February and she had tibia and ankle fractures in November and January, but they have both been skiing regularly since the beginning of March.

Wow. It's been a rough year, not only for Mammoth, but for the skibum4now for now. I wish them all and Mammoth all the best for 2007-08.

 

[ChrisC]

What was different this year vs. 1981 and 1986 was the intensive maintenance to keep 4 strips (Powder Bowl, Broadway, the remnants [a handful of tables and rails] of the terrain park and upper Stump-to-Mambo-to-St. Moritz) covered on the lower mountain. Patrol said early season snowmaking might have been a factor in what they had to work with near Main Lodge, and also on the face of 3. The Gremlin's to Powder Bowl route (past the base of 23, an uphill slog after 11AM) had the best groomed snow most of the morning. And I finally noticed that the far skier's right of Climax had a good open line, and that from there you could make your way carefully back to the face of 3.

Except Climax, don't all these runs have snowmaking?

Do you think this preserved them till Memorial Day? My understanding is that machine made snow detoriates less quickly than natural snow.

 

[Tony Crocker]

In the early season I inquired on the Mammoth Forum and was informed that the snowmaking system at Mammoth is portable. Thus it can be used in high traffic areas like the unloading stations of chairs 3 and 5 while not necessarily being used on the spread out runs below.

Patrol told me that Gremlin's/Powder Bowl had minimal early season snowmaking. Broadway and Stump/Mambo probably had quite a bit. Lots was made for the Unbound terrain park, but continuous maintenance of the park does not help its late season longevity.

The face of 3 was helped by snowmaking, but would have had more late season snow in the old days because it only had 1/4 as much lift capacity. This was very evident comparing 2005 and 2006 to 1982 and 1983.

Climax, Cornice and the back of 3 (Saddle Bowl) accumulate the deepest natural snowpack. The latter 2 areas get some snowmaking but I would guess they would have been skiable Memorial Day without it. But with no lower runs or face of 3 Mammoth would not have been open IMHO.

 

[skibum4ever]

Thanks, Tony and Patrick. Hope that next season both the mountains and the bums enjoy better conditions.

There were fewer people for "last run" than normal, but it was still fun. There was no debate this year about whether Mammoth could have stayed open for another week or two. Mammoth did a good job moving snow around to keep paths to the bottom, the entrance to 3, and the traverse to Cornice open though Memorial Day.