We drove 650 miles Saturday from Sun Valley to Bishop. We had to see the historic snowpack. Weather forecasts were problematic in terms of wind and likely lift closures. We arrived near chair 2 parking at opening bell Sunday due to it being a weekend but also because afternoon high winds were predicted. View of Mammoth driving in from Bishop:
Weather was supposed to be better Saturday but we heard many lifts were closed so lines for those open were long. Saturday’s wind was to our benefit as there was widespread wind deposition on most of chair 3 and 5 terrain plus the aprons below the upper mountain steeps. Temperatures reached about 30F, so it was only cold on exposed chairs and dropping in runs off the top.
Our parking was above chair 2 at bus stop D so we started at Main Lodge. View of Main Lodge, upper parking, the Yodler and partially buried Wooly Mammoth statue from the top of the 20 foot snowbank you must climb now to each chair 1:
Top of chair 1 view of chair 3 at left with Climax to Cornice view in background:
We warmed up on Stump Alley, then Saddle Bowl and St. Anton to the lower gondola. First time up top I wanted to check out Hangman’s with its rare 40 foot width, but the wind was blowing so much snow that visibility wasn’t good and I took a pass on dropping into a 45+ degree slope in those conditions. So I followed Liz to Cornice which was also wind blasted at the top, but deposited snow was good on the lower ¾ of the run.
We cruised World Cup and Andy’s to a second gondola. I knew that Climax was usually a good choice in high winds as you get below them faster than on any other top run at Mammoth. It wasn’t that fast this time because Climax had an overhanging cornice.
This pic is from Tuesday, but on Sunday in the blowing snow it took awhile to find that notch entry from above. The snow was smooth and soft and so skied well in less than ideal visibility as seen here from below.
Liz took upper Roadrunner intending to ski Scotty’s but the wind pushed her past Scotty’s entry, so she decided to ski Roadrunner all the way around past chairs 12-14 which were not running.
Meanwhile I continued into Dry Creek, where it was clear.
This area is normally two somewhat narrow gullies with stunted trees on the ridge between them. This year it’s one big wide open bowl.
Chair 5 had the deepest windsift so I met Liz at chair 3 to return there. Riding chair 3 we get a good view past the foreground sastrugi of skiers in upper Hangman’s.
The wind has shifted direction by now, blowing more snow into Climax vs. Hangman’s. Hangman’s is normally an hourglass chute with a choke about 10 feet wide. The next chute looker’s right, Varmint’s Nest, is completely blocked by rocks except in the biggest years. I have skied it before only in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2017.
Liz and I got 3 runs in on chair 5 before the wind closed it about 1PM. Here’s why we were there.
We skied down to chair 2 and I was pleasantly surprised to see chair 23 still open.
I skied Drop Out 2 and then Wipe Out 1. I planned to take a run out to the Paranoids but the crosswind on Skyline was so vicious I bailed out into Wipe Out 2. When I got down to Main Lodge chair 1 had closed so I went to chair 6, then chairs 2 and 3 to take another run through Dry Creek. Somehow the wind had shifted again and I had a numb face by the time I got into the sheltered part of Dry Creek.
When I got down to the chair 2 base at 2PM both chairs 2 and 10 had also closed so I called it a day. But 21,200 vertical, 5 runs off the top and lots of loaded windsift far exceeded my expectations for Sunday.
Longtime Slocum’s restaurant went out of business this year and so got nearly completely buried.
We knew Monday was going to be a tough day. Winds were still strong, plus it was foggy above tree line all morning so only lower lifts were running. Temperatures also plunged below 10F and probably never exceeded 15F midday. As we exited Gold Rush about 10AM, we saw this avid snowboarder hiking Lincoln Mountain as the two lifts serving it did not open until noon.
Mammoth reported 2 inches new snow and our first run on deserted Quicksilver only occasionally hit crust from the an early melt/freeze on the south facing slopes. We took several runs on Eagle to minimize the weather and to poke around in the trees in an area that in average years has Mammoth’s least snowpack, but most of the turns were dust on crust.
Riding chair 15 we get some interesting views of areas then normally don’t get that much snow. This house burned down a few days back from a propane explosion, likely due to snow restricting ventilation.
There was still a faint smoke smell riding the chair past that house.
Farther up are some nearly buried houses.
Juniper Lane looks like Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River.
We had thaw breaks at Eagle and Canyon, but at noon chair 22 opened so I went up there and skied Avy 2. After the Canyon break I noticed how wide Shaft was (left side of pic below) and skied that.
View down past Canyon Lodge from Shaft:
Chairs 3 and 5 opened about 1PM. I took one run on each but visibility wasn’t great and there was much less windsift than on Sunday. I skied 16,100 vertical Monday.
As a note, it's not only in the wilds of Montana that you can have difficulties dining out on Monday nights. As most California public schools were on spring break, we arranged to met Andrew for dinner at Mammoth Tavern by 6PM , which has been open Mondays in past seasons but we found out not this year. We got to the Warming Hut restaurant at 6:05 and still had a 40 minute wait.
Weather was supposed to be better Saturday but we heard many lifts were closed so lines for those open were long. Saturday’s wind was to our benefit as there was widespread wind deposition on most of chair 3 and 5 terrain plus the aprons below the upper mountain steeps. Temperatures reached about 30F, so it was only cold on exposed chairs and dropping in runs off the top.
Our parking was above chair 2 at bus stop D so we started at Main Lodge. View of Main Lodge, upper parking, the Yodler and partially buried Wooly Mammoth statue from the top of the 20 foot snowbank you must climb now to each chair 1:
Top of chair 1 view of chair 3 at left with Climax to Cornice view in background:
We warmed up on Stump Alley, then Saddle Bowl and St. Anton to the lower gondola. First time up top I wanted to check out Hangman’s with its rare 40 foot width, but the wind was blowing so much snow that visibility wasn’t good and I took a pass on dropping into a 45+ degree slope in those conditions. So I followed Liz to Cornice which was also wind blasted at the top, but deposited snow was good on the lower ¾ of the run.
We cruised World Cup and Andy’s to a second gondola. I knew that Climax was usually a good choice in high winds as you get below them faster than on any other top run at Mammoth. It wasn’t that fast this time because Climax had an overhanging cornice.
This pic is from Tuesday, but on Sunday in the blowing snow it took awhile to find that notch entry from above. The snow was smooth and soft and so skied well in less than ideal visibility as seen here from below.
Liz took upper Roadrunner intending to ski Scotty’s but the wind pushed her past Scotty’s entry, so she decided to ski Roadrunner all the way around past chairs 12-14 which were not running.
Meanwhile I continued into Dry Creek, where it was clear.
This area is normally two somewhat narrow gullies with stunted trees on the ridge between them. This year it’s one big wide open bowl.
Chair 5 had the deepest windsift so I met Liz at chair 3 to return there. Riding chair 3 we get a good view past the foreground sastrugi of skiers in upper Hangman’s.
The wind has shifted direction by now, blowing more snow into Climax vs. Hangman’s. Hangman’s is normally an hourglass chute with a choke about 10 feet wide. The next chute looker’s right, Varmint’s Nest, is completely blocked by rocks except in the biggest years. I have skied it before only in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2017.
Liz and I got 3 runs in on chair 5 before the wind closed it about 1PM. Here’s why we were there.
We skied down to chair 2 and I was pleasantly surprised to see chair 23 still open.
I skied Drop Out 2 and then Wipe Out 1. I planned to take a run out to the Paranoids but the crosswind on Skyline was so vicious I bailed out into Wipe Out 2. When I got down to Main Lodge chair 1 had closed so I went to chair 6, then chairs 2 and 3 to take another run through Dry Creek. Somehow the wind had shifted again and I had a numb face by the time I got into the sheltered part of Dry Creek.
When I got down to the chair 2 base at 2PM both chairs 2 and 10 had also closed so I called it a day. But 21,200 vertical, 5 runs off the top and lots of loaded windsift far exceeded my expectations for Sunday.
Longtime Slocum’s restaurant went out of business this year and so got nearly completely buried.
We knew Monday was going to be a tough day. Winds were still strong, plus it was foggy above tree line all morning so only lower lifts were running. Temperatures also plunged below 10F and probably never exceeded 15F midday. As we exited Gold Rush about 10AM, we saw this avid snowboarder hiking Lincoln Mountain as the two lifts serving it did not open until noon.
Mammoth reported 2 inches new snow and our first run on deserted Quicksilver only occasionally hit crust from the an early melt/freeze on the south facing slopes. We took several runs on Eagle to minimize the weather and to poke around in the trees in an area that in average years has Mammoth’s least snowpack, but most of the turns were dust on crust.
Riding chair 15 we get some interesting views of areas then normally don’t get that much snow. This house burned down a few days back from a propane explosion, likely due to snow restricting ventilation.
There was still a faint smoke smell riding the chair past that house.
Farther up are some nearly buried houses.
Juniper Lane looks like Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River.
We had thaw breaks at Eagle and Canyon, but at noon chair 22 opened so I went up there and skied Avy 2. After the Canyon break I noticed how wide Shaft was (left side of pic below) and skied that.
View down past Canyon Lodge from Shaft:
Chairs 3 and 5 opened about 1PM. I took one run on each but visibility wasn’t great and there was much less windsift than on Sunday. I skied 16,100 vertical Monday.
As a note, it's not only in the wilds of Montana that you can have difficulties dining out on Monday nights. As most California public schools were on spring break, we arranged to met Andrew for dinner at Mammoth Tavern by 6PM , which has been open Mondays in past seasons but we found out not this year. We got to the Warming Hut restaurant at 6:05 and still had a 40 minute wait.
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