May skiing from LA

When I was at Mt. Bachelor May 3-4, 1990 8AM to 1PM were precisely the right hours. The corn hours vary by recent weather and trend earlier in the day as spring gets later.

Bachelor right now is where an average ski area is in mid-to-late March. Much of the mountain is still packed powder. The rest has its peak spring condition varying by time of day depending upon exposure, as described in many of admin's reports from Alta. Should Alta close at 1 or 2PM on warm days in March/April? IMHO it's just as silly for Bachelor to be doing it now. I don't think Mammoth is cutting back hours next Monday when they close Canyon/Eagle. If/when they do it will be because sustained warm weather has made the whole mountain mushy.
 
Tony Crocker":1x0w48c8 said:
Should Alta close at 1 or 2PM on warm days in March/April?
Click to expand...
Both Alta and Snowbird do close certain areas as the danger of wet slide activity increases in the afternoon. Yesterday, Alta closed Backside (East Greeley on the map) at 12:50pm and Snowbird often closes Mineral Basin between Noon and 1pm. Come May, Mineral Basin often becomes unskiable by that time anyway.
 
Yes, that is the sensible criterion. Let patrol decide each day and for each slope, since there is so much variability by temperature and exposure. But we know that's not what's happening at Bachelor under Powdr Corp.
 
This trip is sounding 'hot mess'.

No, Verbier and St. Anton are gone. It's glaciers. Like Zermatt is good cuz they power through. But everyone takes a break between winter and summer.


Me - I'm going to Whistler in May.
 
I'm thinking of heading up to Mammoth in May as well but I'm kinda concerned looking at the lifts running today (maybe it's windy? or windier than usual). Now that Canyon and Eagle are closed do they not run any of those lifts either? I thought maybe it was just that the lodges are closed but the lifts will run?

Does chair 22 run? It's closed right now. I've found great skiing there both times I've been up (presidents day this year being one of them when it was 50 degrees).
 
It is now standard operating procedure to close all lifts out of Canyon/Eagle after (usually) 3rd weekend of April. Midweek, only 1,2,3,6,11 and the gondola are sure to operate (weather permitting). 5, 10 and 23 are likely to run on weekends for at least a couple of weeks. Sometimes 4, 12 and even 14, but those more likely in big years where the attendance is strongest. I have never seen 22 operate after the Canyon/Eagle close. I have seen 9 run on weekend mornings, but that may date to the 1980's and be obsolete.

In spring operation it's probably better to be at Mammoth on weekends than midweek.

Adam is clearing out of Mammoth today. Since Sunday it's been cool and not much softening up, sounds a bit like admin's closing day at Alta. He will go back up there for weekends if the weather is better and the ski team house is still available.
 
Mammoth will be operating Chair 23 this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Chair 5 will operate Saturday and Sunday. Due to the lack of snow and interest Chair 10 won't likely be running again this season.

Chair 4 is the next most likely chair to operate in the Spring and that won't be happening this season. In fact, Chair 2 may cease operations after May 4. The base is dying quickly this season with less than 2 feet of new snow since February.

There is only one season that I recall in the past 15 or so where Chair 14 ran late in the year.
 
Quick update for Mammoth operations:

Sat/Sun - May 3-4, 2008

Gondola 1, 2 + Chairs 1, 2, 3, 6, 11 and 23

Chair 5 is not operating this weekend like last and Chair 23 did not operate on Friday, May 2.
 
80+% of chair 5's terrain is accessible as long as chair 2 is open.

The reduced skier density could result in some great corn in the near term. But over time it's a negative because there will be less skier-packing and more suncupping.

Mammoth's spring lift and hours of operation are varied year-to-year based upon snow conditions and attendance, which are of course related.

The meager spring snowfall does appear to be resulting in fewer lifts than normal operating. BUT (attention Powdr Corp) Mammoth is still spinning lifts until 4PM despite only 21 inches snowfall since March 1. How much has Mt. Bachelor had during that time, maybe 200?
 
Tony, I don't know if you've noticed in recent years, but the hours have shifted to this.

Years ago starting May 1 hours went to 8:00 am - 2:00 pm and then typically in June they went to 7:00 am - 1:00 pm.

Under the new management the past decade the hours remain 8:30 am - 4:00 pm until typically mid-May when they change to 7:30 am - 3:00 pm and then eventually shorten to 2:00 pm, but are often extended by an hour on weekends.

Under Starwood/Intrawest lift operations are now much more consistent. From Thanksgiving through the 3rd weekend of April (conditions permitting) all lifts operate except Chairs 7, 20 and 26 which operate on peak portions of the season, weekends and holidays.

I like the fact that I know I can schedule a trip to Mammoth in mid April and the entire mountain is open. Under McCoy that was not the case. Lift operations were based much more so on demand with with operation changing throughout the entire season.
 
I never saw McCoy shut down Canyon Lodge any earlier than the current schedule.

I recall 2 seasons where he started to cut back based upon attendance and then reversed course.

Th first was the huge 1982-83 season. I snowed every weekend from Jan. 15 - May 15. Mid-winter attendance was depressed by the consistent lift/terrain closures on the weekends. Attendance was huge in May when the weather improved, and Canyon was actually reopened for Memorial weekend.

The other time was 1990-91, the only time Mammoth got into financial trouble. McCoy had borrowed money to buy and upgrade June Mt. in 1986, which was the precise turning point between a run of good years and stretch of bad ones. With only 85 inches season snowfall as of end of February 1991, McCoy was forced into huge layoffs to cut expenses when his loans were restructured. Then it snowed 197 inches in March, and Mammoth generally ran a minimum number of lifts to maximize open terrain for the rest of that season.
 
I would be surprised if closing date is anything other than Memorial Day. The 21 inches snowfall since March 1 is second lowest in the 40 years of records.

Most dry springs in the past have had 35-50 inches snow after March 1, and they have generally closed Memorial weekend or one week later.
 
I called them. Closing date is open-ended and based upon how long they can keep snow on Broadway.

The coming weekend is predicted very warm, so they will lose some snow. Based upon past history, I'd predict June 1. Unlike past history, some of Broadway's base is manmade and so may hold up longer. I think this is an offset to Dave McCoy's former willingness to operate Mammoth late season on upper lifts (3 and G2) only. As I've mentioned before, the face of 3 deteriorates faster in late season since it's lift was upgraded to a HSQ.
 
Seems odd that Mammoth cites 'Broadway' snowpack as a determinant of their season length.

Squaw, Whistler, Crystal (sometimes) and Snowbird (never skied late there) all use high elevation skiing & downloading as part of late season strategy.
 
Despite the availability of the gondola as transport, management of the past few years has made it clear that Broadway is the criterion. But for reasons stated above, I don't think it's shortening the closing date.
 
We are presently in Mammoth. Skied Saturday and Sunday. Coverage is relatively good, much better than last year at this time. But it is really HOT this weekend, in the upper 60's on the hill, more like late June or July temps. They are losing snow quickly, but based on many years of skiing Mammoth I would guess they could stay open at least a week past Memorial Day. Also, cooling temps and possibly some SNOW are predicted for next week, which should help slow down the rapid snow melt.

However, town occupancy and skier count is extremely low. The lack of decent spring snow has apparently discouraged all but the real diehards from coming up in May. Most of the riders, except for race camp attendees, are using season passes and not purchasing tickets. So Mammoth is not making much money being open. Once Memorial weekend is past there will be even fewer riders, so it becomes a losing business proposition for them to remain open longer.

However, if you're thinking of coming up in the next week or so, DO IT! It's defintely worth the drive. :)
 
Adam cleared all his stuff out of Mammoth on April 21 (the day after Canyon/Eagle closed) even though the UCSD team has access to their rental house through Memorial Day. Weather that week was not cooperative, cool with refrozen snow, contributing to his decision to leave.

Since Mammoth's business is mostly drive-up weekenders, it is more sensitive to perceived snow conditions than most places. With the minimal new snow after February, plus the early Easter (K-12 spring breaks in CA are tied to Easter), April attendance must have been way down this year.

The subpar April probably led via word-of-mouth to a quiet May, though in terms of coverage/conditions May is probably just a bit below average.
 
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