Mammoth questions

johnnash

johnnash

New member
Many thanks for the very helpful information I got on this forum in preparing for our last 2 trips out west. We're doing one more this season -- Mammoth for my son's spring break, Ap. 7 - 15. We're flying into Las Vegas, driving to Mammoth via Death Valley (thanks for that advice!) and then flying out of Reno. We've got our airline tix, and are now looking at car rental and lodging options. Several questions :

(1) Is there a serious chance that we'll need snow chains at this time of year, either to get to Mammoth from Vegas, to get around town, or on the way to Reno?

(2) Is there a Safeway, Albertson's or other large supermarket close by to get the essentials? Or do we have to bring along what we?re likely to need, or else pay inflated prices at small resort stores? (And here I include wine as an essential -- I've gotten some great wine bargains in California Safeways on previous trips to the state!)

(3) In weighing lodging options, are the "ski in ski out" condos likely to still have sufficient snow to ski in-out? Is it likely that the whole mountain will still be open in April? If we stay in the ?village? I understand we?ll need to take the gondola to the base of the mountain, right? Is the line huge? Is there parking at the base of the mountain, or if we drive and park, will we have to take the village gondola anyway?

(4) Mammothmountain.com has a great interactive map of the trails and lifts, which will help us decide where to stay and where to ski, but I need some help interpreting it. We prefer to ride on lifts with "chicken bars" (although we may, as suggested here in the past, try the trick of bringing along a bungee cord to strap ourselves in!), and the map tells what kind of lift each one is. But am I correct in thinking that all the detachables will have bars (unlike Alta!) and that the ones called ?fixed grip? (pretty much all the doubles and triples) do not have bars? Also, am I correct in thinking that the difference between ?blue? and "blue-black" trails is that the former are generally groomed, and the latter are not?

Thanks again for any and all advice.
 
I'll anwser a few of your questions..

1) I would say its fairly unlikely you will need chains getting to Mammoth in Mid April, but its also not unheard of. If you do, it will most likely only be for a few miles right before town. Once in town, if you need chains anyway, I would just take the shuttles and not deal with driving at all.. again, mid april can still see some big storms, but your chances start to dwindle and snow levels generally get higher. (so roads in town are often just wet or slushy for short periods of heavy snow).

2) There is a great Vons (same as Safeway) in town that has all the stuff you'll need for food and beer/wine.

3) Not sure which ski in/out lodging you are referring to, but generally, the canyon lodge and Little eagle areas (that have most of the "on hill" lodging) are open until April 23, so you should be fine, especially with the nice base Mammoth is continuing to add to.

The village gondola rarely has big lines, especially in April. (although you might have a few spring breakers as some schools this year are having them in April) Parking is somewhat limited near the village, and you have to pay in most places near there. If you do drive to the mountain and park, there is ample parking (again, I'm speaking of Mid April crowds, which are generally nil) at the several "base areas" including main lodge, stump alley (chair 2) Canyon lodge and Little Eagle lodge. Which one you go to is really up to you and where you are staying. If its snowing, I like Little eagle as its right on the edge of town and easy to get to.. or just take the village gondola.

4) I can't help you too much on the chicken bars.. I rarely use them unless its really windy.. I do think however, that most of the quads on the mountain have them, but probably not the triples and doubles as you suspected. You could try calling ski patrol or mtn operations, or somebody at the mountain for more info on that one.

I can't recall there being many blue-blacks at Mammoth, but I could be wrong.. as I don;t pay much attention to run names ...I just go! But i would bet any bluw blacks woudl be groomed.. many blacks (but not all) and double blacks are usually the ones that are left ungroomed.

Hope this helps.. have a good trip..
 
snowave pretty much summed up questions 1-3. The chain requirement is low probability, but unfortunately the CHP will enforce it if it applies to Hwy 395. You can buy chains at the K-Mart in Bishop if CHP turns you away on Sherwin grade.

If you're trying to get ski in/ski out lodging, be very careful with the Canyon Lodge area. The roads going up there are very steep, and if you're a block or two away you won't like climbing that hill at 8,400 feet. Demand to see a map showing your condo location relative to the lodge. The area around Eagle is flat but less convenient to skiing than Canyon. Stump Alley is the most centrally located area from a skiing perspective. Use the car and go there unless people want to go to the condo for lunch or start and end the day at different times.

Mammoth's trail map, as for most high alpine areas (Europe, Squaw, Whistler, etc.) is not that useful. When you're riding the lifts watch the terrain, skiers and snow conditions and use your judgment in choosing a line to ski. It's all visible from the lift on the upper 2/3 of the mountain. The lower third is 95+% blue or easier.

You'll need to suck it up with respect to the chicken bars to enjoy Mammoth's best terrain most efficiently. It is correct that all high speed lifts have them (and footrests too, except for Canyon Express chair 16), but none of the other lifts. Chairs 5, 9, 12, 14, 22 and 23 are really not to be missed, and I think 23 is the only one that will really scare you without a bar. You can use the gondola to access nearly all of 23's terrain, and Wipe Out/Drop out are no more than a 5-minute hike if you don't use 23.
 
Thanks very much for the very helpful tips, as always. I'm comforted to know that there's some place to get chains if I find I need them. I'll file a TR when I return.

Sounds like I'd better steel myself to go on chair 23. Does anyone know where I could get some goggles with opaque lenses? :D
 
One other question: Since our flight from Reno doesn't leave til 7:30 pm Ap 15, we could either (1) stay in Mammoth the night of Ap 14 and and ski one more half-day at Mammoth, leaving early enough to drive to the Reno airport, or (2) drive to Tahoe the night of the 14th adn ski there on the 15th til we have to go to the airport.

I'm leaning toward (2), but (a) are the Tahoe resorts likely to have good skiing by Ap 15 (or even be open)? and (b) About how long do we need to allow to get from one of the good ski areas to the Reno airport? I suppose we may have to trade off quality of skiing against proximity to the airport, unless the best happens to be the closest.

Thanks again for advice
 
Taking altitude for skiing and access from Mammoth and to Reno into account, you should consider Mt. Rose, Heavenly's Nevada base and Kirkwood. Kirkwood should have the best conditions but it's a solid 1.5 hour drive to Reno airport. Heavenly is about an hour and Mt. Rose is not much more than half an hour. If you go for Kirkwood or Heavenly I recommend the Carson Valley Inn in Minden to stay. It's a casino hotel with pool, spa and nice rooms for $69 a night. If you go for Mt. Rose you should stay in Reno.

FYI I will be skiing Mammoth April 8 and 9. My younger casual skier son has that same spring break.
 
Thanks!

If you see a couple bungee-corded into a chairlift, please come say hello to my wife and myself!
 
We'll also be there...April 8th-15....flying into Vegas and driving up. Can't wait. Staying in the Bridges off the Eagle lift. The conditions look very good!
 
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