A skier takes a jump at Mammoth, where the promise of “wind buff” snow awaits.
MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN
RECOMMENDED BY Steve Taylor
“There are so many attributes that make Mammoth a place skiers and boarders need to visit before they take off for the great hereafter,” Steve Taylor, aka the Mammoth Snowman, enthused. “On any given day during the season, you’ll be able to find some really good snow. On many mountains, that’s not the case. I’m out there 120 to 150 days a year, and I always find some good snow. Another aspect of Mammoth that’s unique is the wind. Wind is not always your friend on the mountain, but there are times when it works in your favor at Mammoth—it creates this phenomenon that we call “wind buff.” The wind buff is this soft, powdery snow that coats the surface of the hill. It’s incredible to ski on. Finally, Mammoth has one of the longest seasons of any resort anywhere. The management has a policy that they’ll begin running chairs as soon as there’s enough snow, even if it’s just one section of the mountain. I have skied as early as the first week of October, and as late as August 16.”
Mammoth Mountain is located along the eastern spine of the Sierra Nevada, just below the southeastern edge of Yosemite National Park. (The area is often associated with Southern California, as Southlanders make up the lion’s share of its visitors. Most maps, however, place Mammoth in the northern half of the state; difficult mountain passes make for a long trip for Bay Area residents to reach Mammoth, so they tend to head for the Lake Tahoe region.) Mammoth is California’s tallest ski area, with a top elevation of 11,053 feet, and one of the largest, with 3,500 acres of terrain. Yet the name comes not from its outsize proportions, but from its mining roots; one of the companies seeking gold there in the 1880s was the Mammoth Mining Company. The mountain has a volcanic provenance, and though the last eruption is believed to date back fifty thousand years, carbon dioxide still emits from fumaroles around the slopes. (In 2006, three ski patrol members perished, falling into a geothermal vent they were attempting to fence off. The resort monitors emissions from the mountains to help ensure visitor safety.)
Ski areas—at least in their conception—are often the inspiration of several committed individuals. No major area may be more associated with a single person than Mammoth with its founder, Dave McCoy. McCoy was an enthusiastic skier from El Segundo; he was California state champion in 1938. That same year, he began operating a rope tow on McGee Mountain, and by 1941, he’d obtained a roving permit for a portable rope tow. His favorite spot to take the tow was the north side of Mammoth. World War II interrupted McCoy’s ambitions for Mammoth, but once the war concluded, he installed a permanent tow on the mountain, and conveyed skiers to the tow with several surplus army snow vehicles. McCoy eventually secured a permit from the U.S. Forest Service to further develop the mountain for winter recreation, and by 1955, he erected the first chairlift. Today, there are thirty-two lifts in total; McCoy, who is ninety-seven as of this writing, sold his interest in Mammoth for $365 million. “Dave McCoy really pioneered grooming methods,” Steve continued. “He built a big service garage, and worked on answering the question ‘How do you groom the snow so people can enjoy it?’ Today, Mammoth has over thirty grooming machines, and they cover eight hundred to a thousand acres a night. Intermediate skiers and riders can find endless groomed runs, trails like Solitude, which is football-field wide.”
Mammoth is known for its annual snowfall of four-hundred-plus inches and its extensive sunshine—three hundred days, on average. If Steve has it his way, he’d prefer to see snow falling when he rises. “If we get a day when it’s snowing in the morning, I’ll get my kids ready for school and drop them off,” he said. “Next I’ll grab a bagel and coffee at Stellar Brew & Deli, and head to the mountain. I want to be in the lift line at Little Eagle fifteen minutes before it opens. If it’s snowing hard enough, they might close the upper mountain, but Lincoln Mountain, which is served by Little Eagle, stays open, as it’s lower and heavily treed. You can run laps there until the winds are above seventy-five miles per hour. If the upper mountain is open and you’re an advanced skier, you want to make sure you get to the top of the Panorama Gondola and Chair 23 and check out Climax, the Dropout, and Wipeout Chutes and Paranoid Flats. There are a few days a year when we’ll see a couple of feet of snow during the day. When it’s snowing three or four inches an hour, you get the sensation that the powder is accumulating faster than you can track it out. A lot of the more casual skiers stay inside, so you have endless fresh powder. People not used to the wind might be discouraged by it, but I encourage people to just put on an extra layer and a face mask and head out.”
Given its relative proximity to Los Angeles and the Southland’s surf and skateboard culture, it’s not surprising that Mammoth has emerged as a favorite destination for snowboarders. The area features eight terrain parks that include the eighteen-foot Super Pipe and the twenty-two-foot Super-Duper Pipe. (Many snowboarding champions, including Shaun White, are frequent visitors.) “In the time I’ve been skiing, I’ve seen the progression of Mammoth as a freestyle and boarder destination,” Steve described. “It’s consistently rated among the top terrain park experiences. The snowboarder theme at Mammoth is defined by the Peanut Butter Rail Jam, which is held each spring. I’ve seen four thousand or five thousand people packed into the event.” (Sponsored by the sport-clothing manufacturer Volcom, the Peanut Butter Rail Jam is an amateur snowboard contest where contestants can perform a series of tricks on rails and other apparatus. Win or lose, participants receive peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.)
“I remember driving up to the mountain one morning,” Steve recalled. “It had snowed three or four feet the night before, really cold, Utah-style powder. I was pretty excited. I put on the radio, and the U2 song ‘Beautiful Day’ came on. [If you’re not familiar with the song, the chorus goes ‘It’s a beau-ti-ful day!’] I got chills on my arms. I got to Canyon Lodge early that day, and was on the very first chair—Chair 22. I came off the chair, and was the first person coming down a trail called Viva. You’re in view of everyone coming up Chair 22 when you’re at the top of Viva. I was hearing the U2 song in my head, and when I made my first turn, the folks on the chairlift gave a loud ‘Woo-hoo!’ and I called back.
“When I got home, my daughter said, ‘You know, your pocket called me today. I could hear you screaming “Woo-hoo!” ’
“Incidentally, it was a bluebird, sunny day.”
STEVE TAYLOR began skiing at Mammoth Mountain in 1969, and made the move north from Los Angeles in 1990 to be closer to the slopes. He started his first Internet Blog Reports in the summer of 1990 on Mammoth’s first BBS system, and today regularly broadcasts snow reports and video footage on www.mammothsnowman.com. “I started the website because I wanted to get skiers from the Los Angeles area excited about coming up so I wouldn’t have to ski alone,” Steve explained. “Now I have twenty thousand new friends, thanks to the site.” Steve still skis a hundred-plus times a year, and runs a local advertising agency, Steve Taylor Marketing (www.stevetaylormarketing.com).
If You Go
Getting There: Mammoth is roughly three hundred miles from Los Angeles. The airport is served by both Alaska Airlines (800-252-7522; www.alaskaair.com) and United Airlines (800-864-8331; www.united.com).
Season: Mammoth enjoys one of skiing’s longest seasons, running from November to July; in 1994/95, the season went from October 8 through August 13.
Lift Tickets: Adult day tickets are $96; multi-day tickets are available.
Level of Difficulty: Mammoth’s 150 trails offer a variety of terrain, classified as follows: 25 percent beginner; 40 percent intermediate; 15 percent expert; 20 percent advanced.
Accommodations: There’s a variety of lodging options in Mammoth Lakes, on the mountain and off. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (800-MAMMOTH; www.mammothmountain.com) provides an overview.
