Well, opening day came and went over at the Palisades side of the mountain. In looking at all of my socials, there’s not a lot of chatter. What I thought might have happened was that there would be some pictures of outrageous lines at the Funi or Gold Coast. But nobody said anything about that, and that is great news for anyone that went for Day 1 this morning. I also didn’t see too many pictures of just how rad the skiing was either. I did see some people launching some knolls and what is likely one of the first flips on the mountain over toward Siberia. So there ya go. You don’t know if you don’t go. Maybe I will have to check it out before the opening of the Alpine side of the mountain next Tuesday.
I did get a real ski experience down at Mammoth Mountain over the last two days. They certainly saw a lot more snowfall out of the last storm cycle than we did in Tahoe. That combined with an aggressive snow making campaign has allowed them to open up much more terrain than anyone in Tahoe. Ten lifts were spinning on Wednesday and Thursday. The Canyon Lodge lifts are expected to reopen this weekend, and they plan to open the whole mountain by Thanksgiving.
Mammoth has been seeing the same cold temperatures in November that we have seen, so the quality of skiing was really great for mid-November turns. There was no shortage of groomed terrain. Saddle Bowl, Broadway and the Unbound park were fairly busy, but we took other runs less travelled runs nearly top to bottom without seeing anyone. We stacked up more vertical in two days than I will likely do over the next week. Off piste conditions were a little bit more variable. The lower mountain was a bit more peppery and crispy. The upper parts of the mountain offered some fairly firm wind buff. We most enjoyed the ungroomed portion of Cornice Bowl, Dave’s Run and the Face of Five zone.
I wouldn’t recommend going to Mammoth at any time in the coming 9 days, but after the Thanksgiving holiday, you might consider a trip to Mammoth. You won’t be alone. over the course of two days we saw about 25 different Alpine and Palisades regulars. One thing to note – while 395 is clear and easy to travel, take note that it is winter season. The towns of Walker, Bridgeport, and Lee Vining are in winter mode. That means don’t plan on food stops at Walker Burger, Walker BBQ, Jolly Kone, The Barn, LatteDa Coffee, Mono Cone or the MoMart. June Pie Pizza is also on hiatus. Pack a coffee and breakfast for the road!
The weather is just a bit depressing. Chances of storms keep getting kicked farther down the road, and a warmup is on the way. Even snowmaking will be a challenge next week. We’ll keep our eyes open for something that looks like a pattern change…but for now, enjoy what we have.
P.S. Thanks to BigTim for hosting us down in Mammoth!
I wonder why we didn’t go to Mammoth from San Luis Obispo, we went to China Peak, Alpine Meadows, Northstar, Mt Shasta, and Mt Bachelor in Oregon. Did you go to Mammoth with your Dad?
Once
The singles line was really odd. It was long the whole time I was there even though the corral was very quick. Great to be back on skis!
Your comment about snowmaking being tough this coming week is spot on. The only good news is the humidity is staying low, which means snowmaking is possible at warmer air temperature. This week looks tough with only a few hours of decent snowmaking each night.
However, the basin just saw its best stretch of early season snowmaking temps in my skiing lifetime 20+ years. Especially over here on the Carson range where we have had continuous snowmaking (no daytime shutdowns) for stretches of 5 days (120hours) and 4 days (96hours). At least 1 resort has used more snowmaking water already in 19 days this year, than in the 2 months of Nov/Dec last year.
So everyone, Go thank a snow maker, and let them know how valued they truly are. And if you see one getting off work in the morning, I’m sure any of them would appreciate a token of your gratitude in form of food, coffee, or adult beverages. I for one always have some PBR and Twisted tea in my car to toss out to the guys getting off grave, whether it’s the snow makers or cat operators.