Mammoth 12/29/10

The reports said a possible 2 feet of snow and the reports were right.  It dumped 2 feet of snow overnight which meant digging my truck out this morning, just another day at Mammoth.  Capita was a bit dismayed when she didn’t see the walkway so I had to dig out a trail for her to follow.

The front porch and walkway this morning

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I got to work early which is perfect for powder days cause it means early morning laps.  The lifts were slow to get up due to weather but I figured I’d find someone to ride with before I headed out. I ran into Trevor Jacob in the hallway, so geared up and got ready to go out with him and Ross Baker.  We headed to chair #2 and then ended up getting a ride back to Main Lodge since it didn’t look like it’d open soon.  By the time I came back to my office, I saw lift #1 running and headed back out to the snow.  This time no lines despite it being the crazy busy week and the storm was in full force.

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The mountain conditions were good, obviously with 2+ feet of new snow but it was also rough with low visibility and holding your speed through the flat spots.  But there were no lines and each lap was quick, good pow turns that you just had to ride blind to.

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A powder day is so much better when you have people to ride with and so much safer too.  The amount of deaths in North America since 12/20 is insane, 7 snowboarder deaths.  It’s so much more fun to ride with friends but also during deep snow and tree riding, a lot safer to have someone around to make sure you ride out of it.  Today was one of those days, I stayed to runs that were wide open and didn’t do anything adventurous.

Me in the storm

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The best part is looking back and seeing your one track through the snow.  I got some good powder turns but last run, I finally looked back to see what I got.  I headed back into work soon after and definitely the early AM was the best time to ride before the storm got worse on the mountain.

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Definitely looking forward to the sun coming back out and making all the powder turns visible on the mountain.