Conditions Report
Report from May 27, 2024
Closing day at Mammoth Mountain was all-time on Monday…
It was especially poignant for me.
One of my big goals each year is to land a D-Spin 720º.
My initial goal was to land this trick until I was 40-years-old.
I’d copied that goal from the legendary Mike Douglas who vowed to stomp that trick until he was 40.
But then, Mike went and nailed one at the grand old age of 52!
Bastard…
My new goal is to attempt to match Mike and land one each year until I’m 52.
Monday was closing day at Mammoth and I hadn’t thrown a D-Spin yet this whole season.
The park has hosted huge jumps and little jumps and nothing in between.
On Friday, a new medium-sized jump showed up and I was elated.
It did have a weird thing where the take-off was 15º turned from the landing, but I felt I could make it work.
Greggy started off the day right making us all waffles as it was our last morning all together here in the flophouse.
I arrived at the mountain at about 10:30am on Monday and went straight to work.
I watched some real park skiers hit the jump and copied their speed.
I hit the knuckle but the knuckle was kind.
My formula is always this for the D-Spin:
- 2 straight airs
- 2 360ºs
- 2 backflips
- Go for the D-Spin 720º
I never did make friends with the jump that day, but it was close enough.
I often drift right when I throw tricks and that drift plus the 15º angle of the take-off always put me on the knuckle.
I threw 2 straight airs, 3 360ºs, 2 backflips, then it was time…
My buddies Trevor and Fox were there helping me get in the groove.
I went for the D-Spin, hit the knuckle, stayed on my feet, and screamed my head off!
I really didn’t think I’d get it this year.
I’d been so tired from 11 ski mountaineering lines in the Eastern Sierra this month plus having skied 456 of the past 536 days that I had to ski 4 mellow resort days leading up to Memorial Day just to have enough energy to try the D-Spin.
I was freaking out at the bottom of the jump and one of my favorite songs started blasting out of the Mammoth Park loudspeakers (Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears).
I felt high…
It was better than drugs, better than booze, better than any high I’ve known.
I rallied back up Chair 6 with Trevor and Fox and went for another one.
Right to the knuckle again and right to my feet again.
“Woooo!”
We went in for water after that 2nd D-Spin.
When I came back out I decided to stop while I was ahead.
I went back to backflips and 360s and threw those until 1:30pm.
My buddies went to the summit for the DJ closing day party up there and it was clearly pure fire.
I skied a couple of decompression laps off Chair 23 and went home happy still buzzing off the day, off the D-Spin, off the support from my friends and strangers.
It was super cool to see random park riders come up to me and say “You got this” when I was practicing my set for the trick.
Mammoth holds a very special place in my heart and it’s so cool to see how friendly and supportive the vibe is in there.
After skiing, I hit the river for a 20-minute paddle and short surf to start training for my surf trip to Central America next week.
I think I’m finally satisfied after 19 months of skiing 6 days per week…
Thanks, California!
