Mammoth Memorial Day Weekend?

S

socal

Member
Any plan on making the trip up?

Question for Tony (or anyone else with knowledge), would you care to give some tips on where we should start the day and where to work our way to as the sun warms up different aspects? I know my way around the mountain pretty well, but always seem somewhat disoriented and have trouble knowing what aspect things are facing? It's been slow on this board recently so I figured now was a decent time to ask.
 
more NE facing slopes like climax and scotties/monument/parandoids should soften up first, with N facing slopes next, like Cornice & dropout chutes, followed by wipeout chutes, mjbs, hangmans.

Although cornice & climax will probably soften up the quickest due to higher skier traffic on those runs.
 
What time do you think the ungroomed NE facing stuff off the time will get good this weekend? I was up last year at the begining of May on a pretty warm day and the top really didn't get good until 11am or so. I also see it's not going to be quite as warm as this week, curious if there's really any reason to get out by 8am or not.
 
socal":2u255rj5 said:
What time do you think the ungroomed NE facing stuff off the time will get good this weekend? I was up last year at the begining of May on a pretty warm day and the top really didn't get good until 11am or so. I also see it's not going to be quite as warm as this week, curious if there's really any reason to get out by 8am or not.
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Well its not getting cold enough for a hard freeze anymore, so stuff is staying relatively soft overnight, not really setting up. Everything should just be starting to get good around 9am or so.
 
I will be there this weekend. The sequence of softening is as snowboard247 states. The timing depends on the immediate weather of the previous night and during the day. Warmer/calmer means faster softening, cooler/windier means slower. Light winds (like May 9 this year or my June weekend in 2006) are best for preserving a pleasant snow surface longer.

Start with Stump Alley; it's the first to soften, and if it's firm you want to stay on the groomers. Similarly start with Cornice for the first run up top. Watch (and listen) to the guinea pigs under the lifts to assess snow conditions. For off-trail don't forget the face of 5 even if the chair isn't running. Accessible from Climax/Dave's/back of 3 and Comeback Trail is groomed to take you back to chair 2. On May 9 it was optimal 10:30 to noon. Push that back at least an hour with warmer weather.
 
Thanks for the advice, that was just what I was looking for. Tony, I'll PM you my cell number, give me a call if you want to catch up for a while.
 
1,2,3,6,11,23, and g1/g2 open for this holiday weekend.

23 will open on saturday and most likely be the access to the top for the remainder of the season as the gondi shuts down on tuesday for maintenance. Maybe maintenance will be finished for the final weekend of the season....hard to say.

Starting tuesday its down to 1,3,23, and hours are 7:30am-1:00pm.
 
snowboard247":4fljzmrw said:
1,2,3,6,11,23, and g1/g2 open for this holiday weekend.

23 will open on saturday and most likely be the access to the top for the remainder of the season as the gondi shuts down on tuesday for maintenance. Maybe maintenance will be finished for the final weekend of the season....hard to say.

Starting tuesday its down to 1,3,23, and hours are 7:30am-1:00pm.
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It'll be nice to have 23 open for late in the day when it's too slushy down low. Plus with 6 open I assume there will be no line (not likely there would have been anyway) on 1.
 
Tony Crocker":2yz6fm1z said:
right in california they use guinea pigs in utah we use lemmings to tell when a slope may be prime !
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Craig Morris in Fernie calls them "sacrificial lambs." :lol:
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Ferrets. Ferrets work best. You can cram a lot of them in your pack, a lot more than poodles or babies, they don't squirm as much as poodles, and don't make nearly the noise babies do. (Although babies do probably work best since you have three feedback modes: amount of flailing, frequency of the warble, and volume of the screaming.)
 
Tony Crocker":1zmlffe1 said:
right in california they use guinea pigs in utah we use lemmings to tell when a slope may be prime !
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Craig Morris in Fernie calls them "sacrificial lambs." :lol:
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Just send an easterner down. If it's refrozen death crunch, they'll think they're back home.
 
Geoff":xz0unlr9 said:
Tony Crocker":xz0unlr9 said:
right in california they use guinea pigs in utah we use lemmings to tell when a slope may be prime !
Click to expand...
Craig Morris in Fernie calls them "sacrificial lambs." :lol:
Click to expand...


Just send an easterner down. If it's refrozen death crunch, they'll think they're back home.
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But you have the risk of them calling it a powder day. Those guys will call anything powder.
 
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