Mammoth, CA 3/12-13

Spring break, what to do? How about a trip to Mammoth, about 3 hours from Tahoe, but like a whole different world. That mountain is HUGE!! I paid a visit to a friend who has been working there for the winter, and got hooked up with free lift tickets for 2 days plus a relatively knowledgeable mountain guide. Conditions were variable, from cold chalky snow on Dragon's Tail and the upper mountain chutes, to soft corn in sunny areas, and some weird incredibly sticky snow on our one venture to the backside. It was all fun though, and we managed to wear ourselves out thoroughly on all of the steep/bumpy stuff the first day. Second day the legs said no to anything resembling work, so we headed into the terrain park and hit some jumps...conditions in there were great, nice and soft snow but not too sticky, and my friend convinced me to hit the 50-footers at the bottom of the park--monstrous looking things--but tons of fun and really not too scary after the first time. We finished the day by leaving our poles at the bottom of the chair and lapping the halfpipe, waving our arms like snowboarders and probably looking very silly, but having a grand time nonetheless. It was a fun trip and a good introduction to Mammoth, can't wait to do it again (hopefully for free, that fit my budget very well)!

Nice pics. Sounds like a great time!