Mammoth Mountain

On Thursday the 13th, Larry O'keefe, Berl Nussbaum and myself flew to Mammoth Lakes CA via San Jose and enjoyed the free beer passed out on Horizon Airlines. It was Larry's first trip on Horizon and he was like a kid in a candy store once he realized he was traveling with an airline that actually encouraged you to drink beer.

For all of us it was the first trip to this beautiful location and it required spending some time with a map to figure out where it was even located. I've heard of Mammoth for years and knew it was somehow associated with LA so had assumed it to be somewhere nearby, but I was actually surprised at the location on the east slopes of the Sierra Nevada, just southeast of Yosemite.

That close to the rugged peaks near that wonderful park it comes as no surprise that Mammoth is a stunning location. It is a bit of surprise, however, when you ski down mid-mountain and discover a fenced off area with warning signs encouraging you to avoid the toxic fumes spewing from an active volcanic vent. Imagine that! Skiing in Southern California on a volcano! Spectacular.

It's called Mammoth for a good reason, the mountain is enormous with 3500 acres and 28 lifts. Of course, on weekends the crowds are also mammoth since it's only about five hours or so from the nearest LA suberbs. We were told that on Saturday the 14th there were 36,000 skiers on the hill. As you might imagine, the lift lines were huge.

On Friday, however, it was fantastic. No lines, no clouds, no way it could have been better. Snow conditions were absolutely perfect in spite of the 40 degree weather and we were able to sample nearly the entire mountain. It's just too huge to cover all in one day unless the only objective is to traverse the area, so there are still many lifts I have yet to lay eyes on. Another trip is most certainly in the future.

We avoided the crowds on Saturday - remember this was MLK weekend so it was particularly nuts - by going 20 miles north to a small local hill, also owned by Mammoth Ski Corp - called June Mountain. Again, beautiful weather, completely manageable lines, and a fabulous time.