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Back in the early stages of May, I spent, which seems like an entire week, quality time packing the car full of ski gear, charged iPads, toothbrushes, emergency kits, coloring books and snacks to take the kids on our annual Spring trip to Mammoth Mountain. In this crazy year of drought, Mammoth was the sole lift-served skiing left in California, and given the weather at the time, it most definitely was not going to last much longer. So, with a tank full of diesel, I grabbed the kids early out of school just to get in those last lift-accessed turns.
To get to Mammoth, we took Sonora Pass (Hwy 108) which is an easy drive that provides epic visuals of nature. After a brief snowball fight at the top of the pass and a quick look at Leavitt Falls, we arrived at the Village at Mammoth in just over 5 hours from downtown San Francisco.
On the mountain, the weather was a stunningly 50F with some lingering fluffy clouds on a soft spring surface…yielding ideal snow for the kids to rail some turns. My 6 year old was having a blast ticking off black runs via chair 23 and the Upper Gondola, while my 3 year old made awesome progress linking turns and killing it at pond skimming. Of course, dad got some laps off chair 23 and broke out an entire quiver from slalom to SuperG, and then to Fat skis in just two days of skiing.
By Sunday May 3rd it was looking like Mammoth would close in just a few days but, wouldn’t you know it, they received 2 feet of fresh snow to keep the mountain open until Memorial Day.
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Ski racks locked and loaded…
Always fun to traverse across California…
Even in a drought, the Sierra holds onto winter with a vengence…
Nearing the summit of Sonora Pass, the epic backcountry near Mt. Leavitt enters into view…
Manadatory snowball fight at the top of the Pass…
No visit is complete without taking a gander at Leavitt Falls…
Finally made it over the Pass and now en route to Mammoth…
On the first day, my daughter warmed up in the most proper way possible…
We started the day by lapping St. Moritz back down to chair 1. As it turns out, we had it to ourselves all day but sadly, it was the last day being open.
Obligatory shot of the Minarets…
Cornice bowl was skiing well first thing in the morning…
Spring skiing capital of California…
Mandatory summit shot anyone?
Parker, age 3, ended up skiing Broadway without assistance…followed by her father tearing with joy.
Dad was able to score a few runs off Chair 23…
I’ll take steeps and corn in the Wipeout Chutes…
The groomer, St. Anton, was carvetastic corn all the way to the Main Lodge…
After a massive pancake breakfast, day two was a go!
Why not take a few laps on the SuperG’s? I did give the kids a head start…what kind of father do you think I am?
Parker was feeling strong, so we rallied a few laps off of Chair 3…
While Parker worked on her goggle tan, Dad and Holden, the 6 year old, took a few runs off-piste…
I believe it is time to drop in off the summit…
After researching the trail map, he picked Dave’s Run to test his skills…
We followed that up with the Sign Line off Chair 3…
Gorgeous weather and perfect Spring snow conditions equate to the perfect weekend…
