There was some optimism on the Mammoth Forum that the Memorial closing this year would be better than 2007 with similar total snowfall as March was the best snow month in 2012 while March was warm and dry in 2007. I shared that feeling but suggested a possible opposing view that the manmade base of 2007 might be more durable than this year's which got trashed over Christmas despite being rebuilt by the late season natural snow. That opposing view unfortunately turned out to be correct. This report can be compared to Memorial weekend 2007 here: viewtopic.php?t=3217
There were 4 WROD's to Main Lodge in 2007; now there are two, Broadway and the remnants of the Unbound terrain park. Both are narrow for a greater length now than in 2007 as seen in this intersection on upper Broadway.
Groomers working on what's left must depart on the dirt.
After exiting chair 1 this strip leading to the base of chair 23 was closed today.
Chair 23 did not run due to weather. A small front is moving in that dropped temps into the low 30's in the morning and flurries began by noon. Cornice and face of 3 were hard frozen granular, so Liz' eastern background served her well today. Many SoCal skiers would have blown it off after a couple of runs. So it's understandable Mammoth did not run 23 for access to ungroomed steeps. Here's the current view of 23:
Coverage is similar to 2007, but the entry to Drop Out from the top is more constrained this year.
That strip going to 23 would have been open in 2007 because Powder Bowl was still open. This year all the race course runs are done.
Similarly Gremlin's was closed today because it would also lead to the base of 23.
A few pics while riding the upper gondola. First looking down chair 3 to mid-station and the snowmaking reservoir.
Toward Lincoln Mountain.
It looks like they built a halfpipe on Solitude, probably for a competition as I don't recall chair 5 running after Canyon closed April 22.
Climax:
This is the only area of the mountain with better cover than 2007. If it's warm later in the weekend, laps from Climax to Saddle Bowl will have the best skiing. Patrick would be proud that I actually skied Climax under crunchy eastern conditions today. It was not frozen as hard as Cornice and face of 3 but of course it wasn't smooth either.
Liz took a second lap on Cornice while I was on Climax.
A couple of pics riding up chair 3:
The face of 3 is substantially thinner than in 2007.
The silver lining today was that Mammoth was deserted. Thus you could get a good rhythm of turns going on Saddle Bowl and Broadway and the snow remained supportable all morning and never deteriorated into mush or lost cover. This will not be the case with the weekend crowd. Saturday, if the top is closed for weather, will be a complete junk show on the 2 lower runs to Main Lodge. Nice weather is predicted to return for Sunday/Monday, so advanced skiers who can stay on the upper gondola will have good variety among Climax, Cornice and a few lines under Drop Out. I do not recommend Mammoth this weekend for intermediates as the very limited terrain is likely to have deteriorating snow and excessive skier density.
There were 4 WROD's to Main Lodge in 2007; now there are two, Broadway and the remnants of the Unbound terrain park. Both are narrow for a greater length now than in 2007 as seen in this intersection on upper Broadway.
Groomers working on what's left must depart on the dirt.
After exiting chair 1 this strip leading to the base of chair 23 was closed today.
Chair 23 did not run due to weather. A small front is moving in that dropped temps into the low 30's in the morning and flurries began by noon. Cornice and face of 3 were hard frozen granular, so Liz' eastern background served her well today. Many SoCal skiers would have blown it off after a couple of runs. So it's understandable Mammoth did not run 23 for access to ungroomed steeps. Here's the current view of 23:
Coverage is similar to 2007, but the entry to Drop Out from the top is more constrained this year.
That strip going to 23 would have been open in 2007 because Powder Bowl was still open. This year all the race course runs are done.
Similarly Gremlin's was closed today because it would also lead to the base of 23.
A few pics while riding the upper gondola. First looking down chair 3 to mid-station and the snowmaking reservoir.
Toward Lincoln Mountain.
It looks like they built a halfpipe on Solitude, probably for a competition as I don't recall chair 5 running after Canyon closed April 22.
Climax:
This is the only area of the mountain with better cover than 2007. If it's warm later in the weekend, laps from Climax to Saddle Bowl will have the best skiing. Patrick would be proud that I actually skied Climax under crunchy eastern conditions today. It was not frozen as hard as Cornice and face of 3 but of course it wasn't smooth either.
Liz took a second lap on Cornice while I was on Climax.
A couple of pics riding up chair 3:
The face of 3 is substantially thinner than in 2007.
The silver lining today was that Mammoth was deserted. Thus you could get a good rhythm of turns going on Saddle Bowl and Broadway and the snow remained supportable all morning and never deteriorated into mush or lost cover. This will not be the case with the weekend crowd. Saturday, if the top is closed for weather, will be a complete junk show on the 2 lower runs to Main Lodge. Nice weather is predicted to return for Sunday/Monday, so advanced skiers who can stay on the upper gondola will have good variety among Climax, Cornice and a few lines under Drop Out. I do not recommend Mammoth this weekend for intermediates as the very limited terrain is likely to have deteriorating snow and excessive skier density.
