Issue #19/2024-25

Skiers, the epitome of US spring skiing - Mammoth!

As I already reported, we managed to get to Mammoth Lakes, small town in California. It's known for the Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain ski areas, which are close by. The June Mountain was already closed, we simply drove by it, to see it. But Mammoth Mountain was very much open, although on spring schedule, which meant the terrain was limited and the hours were quite early in a day: 7:30am-2pm. The Mammoth Lakes town is pretty, clean and well organized, although the population is only around 7,000 people. It has plenty of vacation houses and apartments for affluent Angelenos. The biggest magnet is obviously the Mammoth Mtn. It is popular throughout the year with hikers and snow sports fans. It is only 5.5 hours ride from LA, so, the high season crowds are omnipresent. The waiting lines for ski lifts can be long, especially during the weekends. It is different story during the spring. Although some lodges are closed for the season, with less visitors the resort navigation easy and quick. Who is coming? Mainly hard core skiers and snowboarders, who are blessed with great diversity of terrain and multitude of lift options. And mountain has more than 300 sunny days, so it offers frequent, beautiful days on the snow. And the views are spectacular with ragged dark peaks as the common backdrop!

The resort is widely spread with five lodges: Tamarack, Eagle, Canyon, Mill and Main Lodge. Only two were operational at this time: the Mill (mostly bar & cafeteria, pretty outdoor fireplace, a lot of sitting spaces to bask in the sun, no lockers unfortunately) and Main Lodge. Main Lodge is the largest with famous Mammoth monument, Panorama Gondola station, food court - Broadway Marketplace, Yodler Restaurant and Bar, first aid clinic, ski classes & rentals etc. We stayed close to the Mill, as it was an easy walk in ski-boots from parking lot, which was extending both ways along the access Minaret Rd. Plenty of RVs there, this is California! The navigation from the Mill was easy.

The Stump Valley Express lift in front goes up the mountain, towards McCoy Station/Lodge and the Gold Rush Express on the left (east side) to High Five Express, which in turn brings you up to top of the Face of Five, great - groomed in spring - black slope. Stump Valley allows you to get back to Mill in number of trails, or run further west towards the Main Lodge and Panorama Gondola, which runs diagonally across the front of the mountain, over impressive terrain park and with mid-station at McCoy (you can exit there) and finally goes all the way up to the Summit (11,053'). And the splendid views open on both side of the Sierra! Back to resort, expert only (double black) Climax, Huevos Grandes and Top of the World trails. And Dave's Run on the back of gondola station on east side. And the views of the rear side - out of bounds. More accessible are trails to the west - through blue Upper Road Runner down the ridge to Cornice Bowl, which was groomed and further on - ungroomed Scotty's. Very steep! With Chair 23 between them. We skied them both multiple times, but the groomed terrain was better - with corn snow holding the edge well. Ungroomed surface was very uneven, with the little bumps, cracks and diverse snow quality made it really difficult to master.

But what we enjoyed the most was a local guidance. We met a Polish Angeleno! When entering gondola we met Maciek! Maciek owns the apartment in Mammoth Lakes, but lives in Los Angeles. As he spends most of his ski days in Mammoth Mountain, he knows it very well! And it was priceless! We were doing all the trails together, also the racing ones, opened after training was over and together we explored most of the available terrain. Great skiing, although Maciek is snowboarder, not a skier. Very fast snowboarder!

And it was just beginning! Later, we dined together and enjoyed long evening talks. And steaks were great! Salad excellent (mine ;-). California Pinot Grigio wine very good! And a quiet, friendly presence of old dog Alex made the evening unforgettable! Thank you Maciek! You stole our hearts for good!

We also enjoyed a trip to hot springs together. Hot springs, which Mammoth Lakes area is famous for. I was there before, but it was new for Lech & Leszek. Quite an attraction! After getting to one of them we found out, that it was filled up to the brim, no space for us... so, we went further to the next one on our GPS list - I think - to Crab Cooker. After bumpy ride (good to be in a big truck!) we found a slightly bigger hot spring with a fewer people there, they allowed us in and we joined them. I remember from last year - this can be "clothing optional" experience, but we were all quite decent this time. We enjoyed nice talk with Washington State civil engineers building the roads, while at work and hiking, when on vacation. And then we saw a cloud of dust, then two more cars coming in our direction! More bathers, we think. The more, the merrier! And it was. A group of eight pretty girls from San Diego and Washington State Universities came and asked, if they can squeeze in, why not, we answered. As you can see on photos, it was quite crowded in this little spring, but the conversation was nice and informative. They were also skiers and snowboarders, so the the snow sport topics prevailed... Reilly being the most fun. Great time! It is good to be alive!

PHOTOS SHARING tbc.

As I wrote before, I encouraged my fellow skiers to share photos from their ski trips with us. Now, the photos from Ela, but they came from our buddy Rafal and his son Bill, living in Southern California. They were skiing Palisades, as we were in Mammoth! Thank you Rafal, thank you Ela!

I have a little bit more to share about our skiing and travelling in California, it is not quite over, yet, stay tuned!

Look, please at this info about Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort from PeakRankings, if you are interested:

Mammoth Resort Review from Peal Rankings:

Mammoth Resort Video from Peal Rankings: