MAMMOTH MARCH: 18 powder days and counting
3/15 - Once again, someone forgot to turn the powder machine off. I just returned from yet another deep morning on Mammoth Mountain and I’m in tatters. Your humble correspondent has skied powder pretty much every day since February 26, and his arthritic old legs are freakin’ tired.
Pacific storms have been stacked up like dominoes off the coast, and the pattern has stayed consistent for weeks: stormy powder day, bluebird powder day, greybird windbuff day, new storm.
Mammoth Mountain is just as stacked as it was last year, a huge season that missed the all-time snowfall mark by 10 inches. At this point every rock or cliff less than 20 feet tall is buried, normally hairball chutes look like groomers, and semi-size dumptrucks haul excess snow out of town all day long. The upper mountain is officially sporting a fifteen-foot base, but deposition areas probably have closer to thirty feet of snow.
Despite their heavy hearts (much-loved patroller Johanna Carlsen was killed in a backcountry avalanche recently), the Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol has done an incredible job keeping the hill safe and open despite the massive accumulation. There have been some truly spectacular cornices and fractures on the hill.
The rapidity and coldness of the storms, along with massive wind loading, have lead to an unusual (for the Sierra) snowpack with a number of unconsolidated layers, some as thick as four feet. The avie danger was in the red zone throughout the early part of this cycle and there have been some spectacular natural releases in the area- but amazingly, as the snow got colder and lighter in recent days, the snowpack actually stabilized- the BC skiing has been off the hook this week.
Local skiers hitting the Sherwins in-town powder stash have been getting waist-deep laps every day for weeks now. Our lap two days ago was reminiscent of Alaska, with ultra-stable cold blower pow resisting our most valiant efforts to trigger a slide- it was sticking to terrain over 45 degrees with nothing more than surface sluffing.
Despite the efforts of a few wealthy homeowners and an out-of-touch town council to block access to the traditional exit route from the Sherwins, our main frontcountry destination, Mammoth skiers and locals exercised their rights and used the system to defeat an ill-conceived “Vacation of Public Right-of-Way” on Ranch Road. Once again we can reap the harvest of goodness- legally,and without harassment. In fact, I’m headed up there for more as soon as soon as I send in this dispatch. In fact, I’m headed up there for more white heroin as soon as I send in this dispatch.
One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be an incredible spring ski season if the powder ever stops (think July).
As of today, Wednesday February 15th, our next storm is inbound tomorrow, with up to two more feet forecast to fall by Saturday. If you live in Southern California, now would be a good time to call in sick.