Unofficial Guide: Mammoth Mountain, CA
By Jim Kenney
October 11, 2022
This isn't a true unofficial guide, but more of a glorified trip report from April 15-18, 2022 when I skied four consecutive days at Mammoth Mountain. It was my first ever visit there, so take what I'm about to present with a grain of salt. I caught some fine conditions and was able to ski a good sample of the mountain.
Overview
It took me a long time to make my first visit to Mammoth. I've been skiing throughout North America for 55 years. It's a bit of an enigmatic mountain in that it's big enough to be a destination resort for all-comers from around the world, but instead functions more like a weekend retreat for Soouthern California (SoCal) natives. With this report I'll try to give a decent overview of the expansive terrain at Mammoth (3,100' vertical, 3,500 skiable acres) and share some of my favorite photos from my visit. Days 1, 3 and 4 were sunny with excellent skiing. Day 2 was windy with about 8" new wet snow, but visibility was poor and most of the lifts on the mountain were closed.
There's a life-sized replica of a Woolly Mammoth inside McCoy Station, the mid-mtn lodge at Mammoth, photo by Jim Kenney
My visit to Mammoth started by making a remarkable 550 mile/9 hour drive west from Salt Lake City. It was a super remote route across the Bonneville Salt Flats of northern Utah and through the central Nevada desert. Over 400 miles of the trip was on two lane roads, but the traffic was so light that you could go 70+ MPH much of the way.
A rest stop on US 6 west of Ely, NV is beautiful in its desolation, photo by Jim Kenney
My wife accompanied me and we stayed in a condo near the Eagle Base/Chairlift, but she's a retired skier, so I skied solo on this trip. People told me Mammoth was windy. It was windy all four of my ski days there, varying between 25-60 MPH, which impacted lift openings/closures on three out of four days. But the wind is a blessing as well as a curse. It was a blessing on my first day (April 15th) because 2" of overnight snow skied like 6" in many places on the mountain where it had collected in light, dusty drifts.
Day One
My first day at Mammoth was gorgeous and sunny with high temps around 40 degrees. All the good upper lifts eventually opened in the afternoon. I'd been skiing Snowbird all winter and Mammoth is clearly a bigger mountain than Snowbird. One of the reasons I'd made the drive over from Salt Lake City was because Mammoth keeps more terrain open in late spring than Snowbird. Plus, I'm always up for skiing a big mountain that is new to me.
Good early skiing on April 15, 2022 under old double chair #12, photo by Jim Kenney
Mammoth has something like 25 ski lifts and a few feature VERY old-school lift shacks. I couldn't help wondering if legendary ski area founder Dave McCoy had a hand in building some of them himself?
Lift 13 Summit, photo by Jim Kenney
The highlight of my first day was a batch of great runs I made off Chair 23 in the early afternoon. The elevation at the top of this chair lift is approximately 10,500'. The snow was excellent (that 6" of fluffy wind drift) across the steep slopes served by 23 and I skied all of them. Lift lines were very moderate all over the mountain (it was a Friday), although I had the advantage of taking the singles line whenever necessary.
L-R: Cornice Bowl, Dropout and Wipeout chutes (sandwiching the Chair 23 liftline) and Scotty's to the right, photo by Jim Kenney
The ride up Chair 23 is an eyeopener. The terrain is beautiful, steep, and rugged. And on this mid-April day the snow conditions were wonderfully winter-like.
View of Wipeout chute from Chair 23, photo by Jim Kenney
There is a rather elaborate off-ramp structure at the top of Chair 23. I assume it's to protect riders from getting blown off the chair at the summit. It was always windy up there during my visit.
Chair 23 Summit, photo by Jim Kenney
My favorite run of the day was Dropout Chute from the summit of Chair 23. It was loaded with soft windblown snow and illuminated with nice sunshine. I drove through 500 miles of desert for this!
The snow was as good as it looks in Dropout Chute, photo by Jim Kenney
I felt like I'd hit the jackpot at Mammoth. The clouds had fully parted by the afternoon and I got terrific views of the famous Minarets mountain peaks. Crowd-free skiing in the High Sierras with sunshine and lollipops at all times, right?
My first day at Mammoth was a big winner, photo by Jim Kenney
View of the summit gondola as stormy weather moves in at the end of my first day at Mammoth Mountain, photo by Jim Kenney
Day Two
Oops! If my first day was the pretty Mammoth, my second day was the ugly Mammoth. 6-8 inches of wet snow fell overnight and into the morning while the winds howled. I knew many lifts would be closed. By the time I got out on the mountain on April 16th they had closed all but four lower chairlifts. It was a Saturday and the small amount of terrain that was open was crowded with poor visibility. Some folks raved about the new snow, but I skied for only two hours and concluded that I didn't miss much by doing a short day. The winds giveth and the winds taketh away.
Even Mammoth's mascot Woolly looks a little bewildered on April 16, 2022, photo by Jim Kenney
Day Three
Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022, was another pretty one at Mammoth. The fresh snow from the day before had benefited from a cool night and set up to a little dryer consistency. The California skies were blue again and the crowds were remarkably light, especially after 11 AM. I was told that mass departures on Sunday afternoons are common at Mammoth because everyone wants to make the 5-8 hour drive back to SoCal before it gets too late on Sunday night. 90% of the people I rode chairlifts with during my visit were from SoCal. The other 10% were from the San Francisco Bay area.
It didn't take me long to head back to Chair 23. This time my goal was to ski the Paranoids, a group of steep chutes to the skier's left from the summit of Chair 23. The entrances were a little rocky, but the snow was good in the Paranoids.
I followed this young lady down P1. The main Mammoth Mountain base lodge is in the distant background. There are seven or eight base lodges at Mammoth, photo by Jim Kenney
I followed this young man down P2. The full length of Chair 23 can be seen in the background, photo by Jim Kenney
A bunch of photogs were taking pictures of this snowboarder in a nearby area called Philippe's, photo by Jim Kenney
View of the Paranoids from below, L-R: P1, P2, P3, and a chute called Phillipe's cuts through the center of the rocky area at right, photo by Jim Kenney
While I found the runs off Chair 23 to be a favorite during my time at Mammoth I also enjoyed runs from the 11,053' summit of the Panorama Gondola. It's the highest lift served point on the mountain. There's food and even a little museum/interpretive center at the summit building. It's a fun place to take in the full scope of Mammoth's huge layout.
View of Climax Bowl from near the summit of the Panorama Gondola, photo by Jim Kenney
Lunch time view from the summit building of the Panorama Gondola, photo by Jim Kenney
After stopping at the gondola summit building for a lunch break on my third day at Mammoth I took a run down a huge above tree-line area called Dave's Run after Dave McCoy. This area must be a mile wide and the route I took was more precisely identified as Dave's Shoulder. I following a friendly lady telemarker as we glided through a snow surface that was chalky and nicely carvable.
Dave's Shoulder, photo by Jim Kenney
From the summit of the gondola there is a long run called Road Runner that leads to the "backside" of the mountain served by Chairs 13 and 14. Even though there was still plenty of snow on the slopes April 16th was the last day of scheduled operations for the backside and a few other fringe areas of the mountain. I was glad to get the opportunity to check out the full Mammoth trail layout. The backside also has it's own base lodge called The Outpost.
This is the "backside" of the mountain heading towards chair 14 with the picturesque Minarets peaks in the background, photo by Jim Kenney.
The capper on my fine third day at Mammoth was spectating at the annual pond skim. It was Easter Sunday. The weather was nice with no wind on the lower mountain and the crowd was boisterous. It was really a fun event. Everybody had a good time, perhaps no one more than Woolly who successfully skimmed the pond in full mascot regalia to the cheering delight of the crowd.
Pond Skim Crazies, photo by Jim Kenney
The Woolly Tuck, photo by Jim Kenney
Woolly made it and the crowd went nuts, photo by Jim Kenney
Day Four
18 Apr 2022 was my last day at Mammoth. This was the first day Mammoth cut back on the amount of open terrain for late spring operations. I'd say about 1/3 of the mountain closed down, but I didn't mind because it was mostly lower, melted-out sections anyway. All the good stuff was still open. I used The Mill base area to access the slopes and returned there to eat my bag lunch at my car. The crowds were lighter than ever and I got a chance to savor some of my favorite spots on the mountain.
At one point a friendly local showed me some great stashes of wind drifted snow beside the High Five Express Chair and I skied this area about four times in a row.
View of the upper mountain from the front face, photo by Jim Kenney
On this day some officials set up a long course for GS and Downhill races to be held later in the week. My last run was some fun carving down the empty race track for probably 1500'+ vertical - a very nice final memory of Mammoth Mountain!
The return drive from Mammoth to SLC was again memorable for its stark emptiness.
View of Boundary Peak (elev 13,147') off US 6 at the CA-NV border, photo by Jim Kenney
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my visit to Mammoth. It's definitely an impressive mountain and probably goes in my top ten! Three of my four days were sunny with excellent snow surfaces. I was skiing solo and benefited on several occasions from chair lift riders who gave me fun tutorials on where to look for wind buffed spots on the mountain. Good terrain, good snow, and good people, Mammoth is a fine late spring destination.
Mammoth is one sweet mountain, photo by Jim Kenney.
[I will return to this post soon to complete editing and add info on mtn stats and other facts.]
By Jim Kenney
October 11, 2022
This isn't a true unofficial guide, but more of a glorified trip report from April 15-18, 2022 when I skied four consecutive days at Mammoth Mountain. It was my first ever visit there, so take what I'm about to present with a grain of salt. I caught some fine conditions and was able to ski a good sample of the mountain.
Overview
It took me a long time to make my first visit to Mammoth. I've been skiing throughout North America for 55 years. It's a bit of an enigmatic mountain in that it's big enough to be a destination resort for all-comers from around the world, but instead functions more like a weekend retreat for Soouthern California (SoCal) natives. With this report I'll try to give a decent overview of the expansive terrain at Mammoth (3,100' vertical, 3,500 skiable acres) and share some of my favorite photos from my visit. Days 1, 3 and 4 were sunny with excellent skiing. Day 2 was windy with about 8" new wet snow, but visibility was poor and most of the lifts on the mountain were closed.
There's a life-sized replica of a Woolly Mammoth inside McCoy Station, the mid-mtn lodge at Mammoth, photo by Jim Kenney
My visit to Mammoth started by making a remarkable 550 mile/9 hour drive west from Salt Lake City. It was a super remote route across the Bonneville Salt Flats of northern Utah and through the central Nevada desert. Over 400 miles of the trip was on two lane roads, but the traffic was so light that you could go 70+ MPH much of the way.
A rest stop on US 6 west of Ely, NV is beautiful in its desolation, photo by Jim Kenney
My wife accompanied me and we stayed in a condo near the Eagle Base/Chairlift, but she's a retired skier, so I skied solo on this trip. People told me Mammoth was windy. It was windy all four of my ski days there, varying between 25-60 MPH, which impacted lift openings/closures on three out of four days. But the wind is a blessing as well as a curse. It was a blessing on my first day (April 15th) because 2" of overnight snow skied like 6" in many places on the mountain where it had collected in light, dusty drifts.
Day One
My first day at Mammoth was gorgeous and sunny with high temps around 40 degrees. All the good upper lifts eventually opened in the afternoon. I'd been skiing Snowbird all winter and Mammoth is clearly a bigger mountain than Snowbird. One of the reasons I'd made the drive over from Salt Lake City was because Mammoth keeps more terrain open in late spring than Snowbird. Plus, I'm always up for skiing a big mountain that is new to me.
Good early skiing on April 15, 2022 under old double chair #12, photo by Jim Kenney
Mammoth has something like 25 ski lifts and a few feature VERY old-school lift shacks. I couldn't help wondering if legendary ski area founder Dave McCoy had a hand in building some of them himself?
Lift 13 Summit, photo by Jim Kenney
The highlight of my first day was a batch of great runs I made off Chair 23 in the early afternoon. The elevation at the top of this chair lift is approximately 10,500'. The snow was excellent (that 6" of fluffy wind drift) across the steep slopes served by 23 and I skied all of them. Lift lines were very moderate all over the mountain (it was a Friday), although I had the advantage of taking the singles line whenever necessary.
L-R: Cornice Bowl, Dropout and Wipeout chutes (sandwiching the Chair 23 liftline) and Scotty's to the right, photo by Jim Kenney
The ride up Chair 23 is an eyeopener. The terrain is beautiful, steep, and rugged. And on this mid-April day the snow conditions were wonderfully winter-like.
View of Wipeout chute from Chair 23, photo by Jim Kenney
There is a rather elaborate off-ramp structure at the top of Chair 23. I assume it's to protect riders from getting blown off the chair at the summit. It was always windy up there during my visit.
Chair 23 Summit, photo by Jim Kenney
My favorite run of the day was Dropout Chute from the summit of Chair 23. It was loaded with soft windblown snow and illuminated with nice sunshine. I drove through 500 miles of desert for this!
The snow was as good as it looks in Dropout Chute, photo by Jim Kenney
I felt like I'd hit the jackpot at Mammoth. The clouds had fully parted by the afternoon and I got terrific views of the famous Minarets mountain peaks. Crowd-free skiing in the High Sierras with sunshine and lollipops at all times, right?
My first day at Mammoth was a big winner, photo by Jim Kenney
View of the summit gondola as stormy weather moves in at the end of my first day at Mammoth Mountain, photo by Jim Kenney
Day Two
Oops! If my first day was the pretty Mammoth, my second day was the ugly Mammoth. 6-8 inches of wet snow fell overnight and into the morning while the winds howled. I knew many lifts would be closed. By the time I got out on the mountain on April 16th they had closed all but four lower chairlifts. It was a Saturday and the small amount of terrain that was open was crowded with poor visibility. Some folks raved about the new snow, but I skied for only two hours and concluded that I didn't miss much by doing a short day. The winds giveth and the winds taketh away.
Even Mammoth's mascot Woolly looks a little bewildered on April 16, 2022, photo by Jim KenneyDay Three
Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022, was another pretty one at Mammoth. The fresh snow from the day before had benefited from a cool night and set up to a little dryer consistency. The California skies were blue again and the crowds were remarkably light, especially after 11 AM. I was told that mass departures on Sunday afternoons are common at Mammoth because everyone wants to make the 5-8 hour drive back to SoCal before it gets too late on Sunday night. 90% of the people I rode chairlifts with during my visit were from SoCal. The other 10% were from the San Francisco Bay area.
It didn't take me long to head back to Chair 23. This time my goal was to ski the Paranoids, a group of steep chutes to the skier's left from the summit of Chair 23. The entrances were a little rocky, but the snow was good in the Paranoids.
I followed this young lady down P1. The main Mammoth Mountain base lodge is in the distant background. There are seven or eight base lodges at Mammoth, photo by Jim Kenney
I followed this young man down P2. The full length of Chair 23 can be seen in the background, photo by Jim Kenney
A bunch of photogs were taking pictures of this snowboarder in a nearby area called Philippe's, photo by Jim Kenney
View of the Paranoids from below, L-R: P1, P2, P3, and a chute called Phillipe's cuts through the center of the rocky area at right, photo by Jim Kenney
While I found the runs off Chair 23 to be a favorite during my time at Mammoth I also enjoyed runs from the 11,053' summit of the Panorama Gondola. It's the highest lift served point on the mountain. There's food and even a little museum/interpretive center at the summit building. It's a fun place to take in the full scope of Mammoth's huge layout.
View of Climax Bowl from near the summit of the Panorama Gondola, photo by Jim Kenney
Lunch time view from the summit building of the Panorama Gondola, photo by Jim Kenney
After stopping at the gondola summit building for a lunch break on my third day at Mammoth I took a run down a huge above tree-line area called Dave's Run after Dave McCoy. This area must be a mile wide and the route I took was more precisely identified as Dave's Shoulder. I following a friendly lady telemarker as we glided through a snow surface that was chalky and nicely carvable.
Dave's Shoulder, photo by Jim Kenney
From the summit of the gondola there is a long run called Road Runner that leads to the "backside" of the mountain served by Chairs 13 and 14. Even though there was still plenty of snow on the slopes April 16th was the last day of scheduled operations for the backside and a few other fringe areas of the mountain. I was glad to get the opportunity to check out the full Mammoth trail layout. The backside also has it's own base lodge called The Outpost.
This is the "backside" of the mountain heading towards chair 14 with the picturesque Minarets peaks in the background, photo by Jim Kenney.
The capper on my fine third day at Mammoth was spectating at the annual pond skim. It was Easter Sunday. The weather was nice with no wind on the lower mountain and the crowd was boisterous. It was really a fun event. Everybody had a good time, perhaps no one more than Woolly who successfully skimmed the pond in full mascot regalia to the cheering delight of the crowd.
Pond Skim Crazies, photo by Jim Kenney
The Woolly Tuck, photo by Jim Kenney
Woolly made it and the crowd went nuts, photo by Jim Kenney
Day Four
18 Apr 2022 was my last day at Mammoth. This was the first day Mammoth cut back on the amount of open terrain for late spring operations. I'd say about 1/3 of the mountain closed down, but I didn't mind because it was mostly lower, melted-out sections anyway. All the good stuff was still open. I used The Mill base area to access the slopes and returned there to eat my bag lunch at my car. The crowds were lighter than ever and I got a chance to savor some of my favorite spots on the mountain.
At one point a friendly local showed me some great stashes of wind drifted snow beside the High Five Express Chair and I skied this area about four times in a row.
View of the upper mountain from the front face, photo by Jim Kenney
On this day some officials set up a long course for GS and Downhill races to be held later in the week. My last run was some fun carving down the empty race track for probably 1500'+ vertical - a very nice final memory of Mammoth Mountain!
The return drive from Mammoth to SLC was again memorable for its stark emptiness.
View of Boundary Peak (elev 13,147') off US 6 at the CA-NV border, photo by Jim Kenney
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my visit to Mammoth. It's definitely an impressive mountain and probably goes in my top ten! Three of my four days were sunny with excellent snow surfaces. I was skiing solo and benefited on several occasions from chair lift riders who gave me fun tutorials on where to look for wind buffed spots on the mountain. Good terrain, good snow, and good people, Mammoth is a fine late spring destination.
Mammoth is one sweet mountain, photo by Jim Kenney.
[I will return to this post soon to complete editing and add info on mtn stats and other facts.]
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If you do that, you are ALWAYS welcome back! 
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