Mt Bachelor Sunday March 23

[schubwa]

So I just got back from kiteboarding in Baja and I thought it would be the normal spring melt/thaw cycle since it has been clear. However, at this time of the year in recent years we're usually winding up for another crazy snowy spring onslaught! I've seen us get a season's worth of snow in the three weeks after Spring Break (or in May for that matter!).

Anyways, I took up my touring skis (Volkl Mantra-like with DynaFits) because I like the way my BD Methods fit. I'm not much into boot pain anymore after being a snowboarder for so long. So I'll suffer with relatively soft-flexing AT boots and be comfy.

Calm morning at Baja Joe's the other day before the wind came up.

My friends launching at a secret beach somewhere on Baja's East Cape. I was on my 8M and surfboard. A good day.

Mike McCombs and (skier) Kim Reichhelm kicking it after a fine day at Secret Beach, BCS, Mexico last week.

A few days later Kim and I went out at "G-spot", another quiet corner on the Sea of Cortez. We kited with a pod of whales and lots of sea turtles.

Sorry, back on topic. So you drop in off the top and it was SWEET wind sift with small bumps all the way down to Summit Chair. Nice winter-like snow in spring sun conditions.

Since it's been very cold at night ever since the last storm, the groomers down below are also in fantastic shape. Almost winter snow, it's firm but way carveable. This place rules out loud in the spring!

 

[Tony Crocker]

This place rules out loud in the spring!

On the radar if Mammoth's spring dies too prematurely.

 

[schubwa]

I'll probably see you. We are forecast to get another foot this week with the long range showing a very progressive (wet) pattern for April.
No doubt we won't see the sun much until later in May...

 

[EMSC]

This place rules out loud in the spring!

On the radar if Mammoth's spring dies too prematurely.

I'll probably see you. We are forecast to get another foot this week with the long range showing a very progressive (wet) pattern for April.
No doubt we won't see the sun much until later in May...

Interestingly, Mammoth confirmed just this week for the annual USSA national coaches clinics May 3-10. So Mammoth thinks it'll be doing OK this spring, which seems odd to me despite their altitude/preservation. I'd think USSA would be much happier with the conditions and terrain available in Bachelor this year...

 

[Tony Crocker]

Interestingly, Mammoth confirmed just this week for the annual USSA national coaches clinics May 3-10.

May 3-10 on the upper mountain should be manageable. For an event like that I suspect Mammoth would stay open with gondola transport even if they lost the snow on Broadway. I'm also guessing this event has been scheduled far in advance, and early May is usually a slam-dunk at Mammoth.

I'd think USSA would be much happier with the conditions and terrain available in Bachelor this year...

Bachelor should be aggressively recruiting late season events and camps. In average seasons Bachelor and Mammoth would have similar scale of terrain in May, but Bachelor has a solid snowpack in June most years while Mammoth has it only in the top 1/3 or so of seasons. Mammoth consistently gets teams in there during June of those seasons, while 2012 was the first time in quite a while that Bachelor had June camps.