Mammoth

On Sunday, I went to Mammoth by myself. I felt bad leaving my wife and daughter at the condo, however I knew that this was the only chance I had to go skiing this season. I grew up going to Squaw, Heavenly and Northstar and wanted to see if Mammoth would match up.

I got there at before 8 a.m., which was before the ticket windows opened. And I was the first one in the main lodge to get a ticket. I started at 8:30 and it was really cold. I noticed the open bowls at the top, and they groomed most of the runs. There was plenty of snow, however it was about a week old. Mammoth is better than Squaw because Mammoth's peak is higher (11,000 ft vs. Squaw's 9,000) and Mammoth is better for beginners (Squaw's greens are mid mountain and there is no bunny slope to get to it). The higher peak is important because that means the snow at Mammoth is drier and the beginner area is important if you go with beginners and children.

Mammoth is a little smaller but has a longer vertical drop. Unfortunately, I was not able to get to the top of the mountain, where most of the double black diamonds are, becasue of the high winds. However, I was able to go down one double black diamond and blacks. Chair lift 5 has some nice snow and good runs.

The one thing I do not like at Mammoth is that the village is not walkable to the slopes. You have to take a gondola to get to one of the bases of the mountain. And Squaw is definitely a close second. I look forward to going back to Mammoth and Squaw. My three favortie in CA are Mammoth, Squaw and Northstar. Heavenly is for the tourists. I was surprised how fancy Mammoth was. The mid-mountain restaurant was pretty fancy, and the base lodges are fancy. They have a pretty large children's program and there is a definite international flavor.


After I finished skiing we returned to the village to look around.


The architecture reminded us of Whistler, but Whistler's village is much bigger.