California/Nevada 2021-2022 Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort/Conditions/Meetups

[Dadier]

First time I’ve seen this rig at Mammoth.

 

[coldski]

eastern sierra had the most expensive gas out of any region I’ve seen, but a road-side inn in Big Sur takes the cake for most expensive gas I’ve ever seen.

Back in May, I nearly paid 6.05 per gallon for gas in Big Sur. That was when urban prices were hovering near lower part of $4

Several years ago I asked the lady at the gas station in Walker why the gas cost so much more in Bridgeport She (sounding pissed) said she didn’t know but they got “the same gas from the same truck delivered on the same day” Don’t know how the prices compare now

 

[Tony]

First time I’ve seen this rig at Mammoth.

I don't think you want your camper so close to the roof of your truck as it looks like it would rub. And for better or worse it's a dually. While that helps to carry the load, it can hurt on snow traction and it makes it hard to easily fit in most parking spaces (which the length of this truck would also do).

Several years ago I asked the lady at the gas station in Walker why the gas cost so much more in Bridgeport She (sounding pissed) said she didn’t know but they got “the same gas from the same truck delivered on the same day” Don’t know how the prices compare now

I've never bought gas in Walker (Minden/Gardnerville and especially Carson City/Dayton are much lower), but will try to check prices there early Tues. AM when it looks like I'll be returning to Mammoth for two more days of Fall skiing. While more is open than when I skied there 11/10-11, I think the surface was better then after 9-11" new, but that is my window and I don't see Mammoth or Tahoe getting better soon. At least with Sonora Pass open, my drive home will be shorter.

Bridgeport and Lee Vining gas prices made the Wall Street Journal at https://www.wsj.com/articles/think-...alifornia-county-a-gallon-costs-6-11637506800 - behind paywall for me. Picture is Lee Vining, but person in story must live in Bridgeport which is about 80 miles from Carson City. Lee Vining is about 25 miles further and more expensive in my experience and in my photos I took on my last trip (except for diesel).

 

[Tony]

I skied Mammoth 9 - 330 today. I bought gas at ARCO in Gardnerville for $3.77, down two cents from 20 days earlier. Gas Buddy said Costco in Carson City is $3.49 but it’s not on my way from South Tahoe. Walker is $4.99 for regular.
It was clear so sunrise was not that great. I stopped to take this before sunrise over Topaz Lake.

It was nice to be able to park at the Mill and take lift from and ski back to there, and to be able to ski and ride chairs 4 and 10. Chair 5 was not running and mid-upper Solitude that I used to return from Dave’s was thin as was lower Solitude by end of day. Man-made surface generally good. Cornice was good on my 3 early laps and scary on my 1 late one. I also skied Dave’s 4x - it was not as good and more challenging than earlier in Nov. I never tried Wipe Outs, Drop Outs or Climax, but may tomorrow on shorter radius skis. This guy braved Drop Outs at 1015.
I said hello and shared a beer with @mountain_monster (tagging not working for me) on my return from lunch. Last picture shows Roma’s and Dave’s at upper left and upper Solitude at center.

 

[MountainMonster]

More snow than rocks…

MM action shot of the day

 

[Tony]

I skied Mammoth 830-2 today then drove home via Sonora Pass. I only stopped for pictures of Mono Lake which was mirror-calm, and for a couple of very quick breaks to stretch. I made it to San Jose before 730, still on tank of gas I'd bought in Gardnerville on way to Mammoth.

Groomers early were great, but more gravel and a few thin spots appeared as day went on.Cornice was scary firm for the first few turns all day. No crowds. I swapped to shorter radius skis about 1130, then after a warmup on Andy's which was very good, skied DropOuts where I found best snow on the mountain five times. I ended my day with a bottom to top gondola ride with a beer, then skied getting firmer Dave's to Solitude to the Mill. On my second ride up chair 23, I had a longer than 5 minute lift stoppage in a place where chair is about 100 feet off the ground.

After a few minutes of it, I started talking to guy in chair ahead on me and we ended up sharing lifts and runs for longer than we both had planned. Ray is a musician from Chicago who spent 17 winters playing in a hotel and skiing in Chamonix where he says the powder only last a couple of hours even though place is huge.

I'd carried beer from 1130-130 & opened it on gondola without much spray. It's Chasing Freshies. I like Fresh Haze and Fresh Squeezed more.

 

[Tony]

Adding a picture for @dbostedo of St Anton ~1030 that I took after skiing much better Skyline and Scotty's. I didn't think I could easily make it back to chair 23, but traversing would have been better than this. After skiing the shiny stuff, it's much easier to hold an edge on the less shiny. And sometimes, especially on Cornice, you just have to believe your edge will hold as you drop many feet during each turn.

I saw the camper posted by @Dadier in the woods off Mammoth Scenic Route. It seemed like there were many people spending night in vehicles from SUVs of all size to vans to RVs. If I have to go back to Mammoth in Jan. to find good skiing, I will bring camper and ski more than two days.

I don't think this guy was sleeping in this 1954 Chevy panel with 350 V-8 that he said was recently converted to 4WD, but it looked nice.

Editing to add a couple of more picture from the way home. First is a panorama of Mono Lake taken from just past turnoff to Visitors Center.

Last is my SUV hitting 276K going down Sonora Pass. Note that 4K rpm and 30 mph means I was going down a big hill as cruising it's 2K=72 mph.

 

[dbostedo]

After skiing the shiny stuff,

 

[4ster]

I think I am still on mountain time and woke up super early in South Lake Tahoe yesterday & decided to follow @Tonys lead, packed a lunch, jumped in the car and drove to Mammoth for the day.
I love the drive this time of year when monitor pass and the Mammoth Scenic Loop are still open, makes it a 2.5 hr. drive & less than a tank of gas.

Sunrise at the top of Monitor Pass




From the top of Chair #1


& had the place to myself


Except for the troops in training


I only took 23 a few times & skied into Drop Out via skiers right as it was pretty rocky for the direct entry. On my final run there I decided to make it easier and make a few turns down cornice bowl & then traverse. My skis are old and not very sharp and on the first turn I felt like Markus Eder or Jeremie Hietz when they hit the glacier ice. Just keep my balance and let them run till I was in the bumps where I could get an edge and make a turn.

 

[DoryBreaux]

Got to take four of the SB Freeride middle schoolers down to mammoth for a few days. Sure beats what we have at home in Tahoe. We left a lot of base material there...

 

[snwbrdr]

The Marine Corps are trying to be the Army's 10th Mountain Division?

 

[Tony]

Since 1951, the Marine have had a Mountain Warfare Training Center below 7,000' on CA-108, which is usually closed in Winter W of there over 9624' Sonora Pass. See https://installations.militaryoneso...e-corps-mountain-warfare-training-center-mwtc and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Warfare_Training_Center for some details. There often are groups of about 10 Marines training on skis in camo on slopes at Mammoth. The Marines have some housing and a Commissary/Base Exchange about 20 miles N of 108 on US-395, just N of the town of Coleville. See https://www.mymilitarysavings.com/bases/bridgeport-mcmwtc - nothing is open to public AFAIK.

 

[MountainMonster]

 

[Paul Lutes]

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Got to take four of the SB Freeride middle schoolers down to mammoth for a few days. Sure beats what we have at home in Tahoe. We left a lot of base material there...

Mad photo skilz! Lots of smiles I'll bet!

 

[dbostedo]

Whatever you're all doing to get snow to form... maybe it's working...

 

[ChrisFromOC]

Headed to Mammoth on friday for a trip with my kids; first time skiing for us in a while since we sat out last season. We planned this some time ago around their school schedules and it looks like to weather is cooperating.

 

[socalgal]

Headed to Mammoth on friday for a trip with my kids; first time skiing for us in a while since we sat out last season. We planned this some time ago around their school schedules and it looks like to weather is cooperating.

It should be great!

 

[Mothertucker]

Heard tell of an inbounds avalanche off Lincoln yesterday, apparently the debris slid into one of the chair #16 towers.

 

[Mothertucker]

Decemburied.

 

[dbostedo]

Decemburied.

That's wild... they're only reporting 51" at the summit for this storm. Did they already have 20 feet of snow up there? Or is that just drifts from the wind up to the top of the sign?