Mammoth in May

My wife and I drove up to Davis on Friday to watch a couple of Spring
soccer games Saturday. Naturally, this put me in the area where ski
areas are still open, so I made loose plans to get in a few days on
the way home.

I had to get up early Sunday morning to get my wife to the airport so
she could get back to her restaurant job (she is managing a new branch
of a friend's restaurant) so I dodn't get back into bed until 5AM.
That pretty well scrubbved my Sunday Lake Tahoe plans, so I slept in a
little and then took a leisurely drive - I80 to Reno and then 395
south to Mammoth, made more pleasant by the spring weather and the
Nevada gasoline prices - about 20-30 cents/gallon lower than
California.

I sopped at Boreal because it is right on the freeway - they were
about half open and my senior rate would have been $35, but it was
already well into the day so I just picked up a trail map. There is
still a lot of snow there - 15-foot snowbanks and ice patches melting
out in the parking lot.

I also stopped at the consignment shop in Truckee, hoping for a deal
on hiking boots. I found a new (still had ther labels) pair in my
size, but they were too tight around my toes.

On the way in, I drove around the June Lake Loop to take a look -
fishermen everywhere (season opened Saturday) and patchy snow just
down to the June Mt. parking lot. I drove up to the Mammoth Main
lodge - reduced prices now ($133 for 2 days) and reduced coverage -
the lower lodges are now closed.

More later after skiing.

On May 2, 7:40*am, Richard Henry wrote:
My wife and I drove up to Davis on Friday to watch a couple of Spring
soccer games Saturday. *Naturally, this put me in the area where ski
areas are still open, so I made loose plans to get in a few days on
the way home.

I had to get up early Sunday morning to get my wife to the airport so
she could get back to her restaurant job (she is managing a new branch
of a friend's restaurant) so I dodn't get back into bed until 5AM.
That pretty well scrubbved my Sunday Lake Tahoe plans, so I slept in a
little and then took a leisurely drive - I80 to Reno and then 395
south to Mammoth, made more pleasant by the spring weather and the
Nevada gasoline prices - about 20-30 cents/gallon lower than
California.

I sopped at Boreal because it is right on the freeway - they were
about half open and my senior rate would have been $35, but it was
already well into the day so I just picked up a trail map. *There is
still a lot of snow there - 15-foot snowbanks and ice patches melting
out in the parking lot.

I also stopped at the consignment shop in Truckee, hoping for a deal
on hiking boots. *I found a new (still had ther labels) pair in my
size, but they were too tight around my toes.

On the way in, I drove around the June Lake Loop to take a look -
fishermen everywhere (season opened Saturday) and patchy snow just
down to the June Mt. parking lot. *I drove up to the Mammoth Main
lodge - reduced prices now ($133 for 2 days) and reduced coverage -
the lower lodges are now closed.

More later after skiing.

So many inane details of your boring life.
Hey, what's the name of the restaurant your wife is running? Happy to
show her friend what her scumbag stalking husband has done on rsa.
Ooooooops, forgot. You don't give contact info. Still waiting for
SPD to haul me off, you dickless coward.
Contact info?
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

On May 2, 11:15*am, Ted Waldron wrote:
In article
,
*Richard Henry wrote:

I had to get up early Sunday morning to get my wife to the airport so
she could get back to her restaurant job (she is managing a new branch
of a friend's restaurant) so I dodn't get back into bed until 5AM.
That pretty well scrubbved my Sunday Lake Tahoe plans, so I slept in a
little and then took a leisurely drive - I80 to Reno and then 395
south to Mammoth, made more pleasant by the spring weather and the
Nevada gasoline prices - about 20-30 cents/gallon lower than
California.

*If you are willing to drive that much, you should head up to Mt.
Lassen, and do a short hike to earn your turns..

Holy ****. If you two are willing to drive that much, the least you
could do is take ONE minute and post the contact info for the SPD
officer you claim is "monitoring" me and going to lock me away for
life just because I keep proving you're both pathological liars,
dickless cowards, and sick, disgusting maggots.
Contact info, Teddy?

BTW, too wet for tennis today, so if you're going to hide out in the
bushes, you'll just get wet.

On May 2, 7:40*am, Richard Henry wrote:
My wife and I drove up to Davis on Friday to watch a couple of Spring
soccer games Saturday. *Naturally, this put me in the area where ski
areas are still open, so I made loose plans to get in a few days on
the way home.

I had to get up early Sunday morning to get my wife to the airport so
she could get back to her restaurant job (she is managing a new branch
of a friend's restaurant) so I dodn't get back into bed until 5AM.
That pretty well scrubbved my Sunday Lake Tahoe plans, so I slept in a
little and then took a leisurely drive - I80 to Reno and then 395
south to Mammoth, made more pleasant by the spring weather and the
Nevada gasoline prices - about 20-30 cents/gallon lower than
California.

I sopped at Boreal because it is right on the freeway - they were
about half open and my senior rate would have been $35, but it was
already well into the day so I just picked up a trail map. *There is
still a lot of snow there - 15-foot snowbanks and ice patches melting
out in the parking lot.

I also stopped at the consignment shop in Truckee, hoping for a deal
on hiking boots. *I found a new (still had ther labels) pair in my
size, but they were too tight around my toes.

On the way in, I drove around the June Lake Loop to take a look -
fishermen everywhere (season opened Saturday) and patchy snow just
down to the June Mt. parking lot. *I drove up to the Mammoth Main
lodge - reduced prices now ($133 for 2 days) and reduced coverage -
the lower lodges are now closed.

More later after skiing.

Excellent day - no clouds in the sky - just a little wind to deal
with. I bought my pass yesterday, so today I was parked right at the
base of Chair 2. I was walking across the lot in my boots when they
started loading at 8:30, and I went on until about 3 when my whole
body started cramping up with just a siongle break for a bowlof
soup.. Only the lifts from the main lodge and Chair 2 base were
running, and only the Upper Gondola to the ridgeline - no Chair 23 or
12 or backside lifts (although Road Runner was open all the way down
and around the ridge). It was possible to ski out through Dave's Run
or a long traverse from Chair 3 into most of what is served by Chairs
5 and 10, although Wall Street was posted closed.

The surface was frozen overnight from yesterday's wet stuff, but the
groomed surface was soft enough to carve and hard enough to give a
foot massage at the apex of every turn. Up higher, it seemed the
surface didn't get very wet yeaterday so it was just continuing from
yesterday's condition.

They cut about 8 feet off the lip at the top of Cornice and groomed a
narrow band all the way down. The best route I found there was
through the cut and then turn right immediately into the ungroomed -
almost no bumps, the surface was carvable, and the wind was smoothing
things out all day with the loose stuff from people skiing down.

Things I never knew or just forgot about Mammoth:

You need to make a 90-degree turn halfway around the bullwheel at the
top of Chair 3 because of the cramped landing site.
There is a little cafe at the top of the Upper Gondola. on the left as
you exit - drinks, salads, sandwiches. I guess I just.always walked
right on by without looking.
They only serve large-size beers at the Mid-Chalet (now called McCoy
Station).

How inane. And how obvious that Dickless Henry continues to humiliate
himself. Contact info?

On May 2, 5:53*pm, Richard Henry wrote:
On May 2, 7:40*am, Richard Henry wrote:





My wife and I drove up to Davis on Friday to watch a couple of Spring
soccer games Saturday. *Naturally, this put me in the area where ski
areas are still open, so I made loose plans to get in a few days on
the way home.

I had to get up early Sunday morning to get my wife to the airport so
she could get back to her restaurant job (she is managing a new branch
of a friend's restaurant) so I dodn't get back into bed until 5AM.
That pretty well scrubbved my Sunday Lake Tahoe plans, so I slept in a
little and then took a leisurely drive - I80 to Reno and then 395
south to Mammoth, made more pleasant by the spring weather and the
Nevada gasoline prices - about 20-30 cents/gallon lower than
California.

I sopped at Boreal because it is right on the freeway - they were
about half open and my senior rate would have been $35, but it was
already well into the day so I just picked up a trail map. *There is
still a lot of snow there - 15-foot snowbanks and ice patches melting
out in the parking lot.

I also stopped at the consignment shop in Truckee, hoping for a deal
on hiking boots. *I found a new (still had ther labels) pair in my
size, but they were too tight around my toes.

On the way in, I drove around the June Lake Loop to take a look -
fishermen everywhere (season opened Saturday) and patchy snow just
down to the June Mt. parking lot. *I drove up to the Mammoth Main
lodge - reduced prices now ($133 for 2 days) and reduced coverage -
the lower lodges are now closed.

More later after skiing.

Excellent day - no clouds in the sky - just a little wind to deal
with. *I bought my pass yesterday, so today I was parked right at the
base of Chair 2. *I was walking across the lot in my boots when they
started loading at 8:30, and I went on until about 3 when my whole
body started cramping up with just a siongle break for a bowlof
soup.. *Only the lifts from the main lodge and Chair 2 base were
running, and only the Upper Gondola to the ridgeline - no Chair 23 or
12 or backside lifts (although Road Runner was open all the way down
and around the ridge). *It was possible to ski out through Dave's Run
or a long traverse from Chair 3 into most of what is served by Chairs
5 and 10, although Wall Street was posted closed.

The surface was frozen overnight from yesterday's wet stuff, but the
groomed surface was soft enough to carve and hard enough to give a
foot massage at the apex of every turn. *Up higher, it seemed the
surface didn't get very wet yeaterday so it was just continuing from
yesterday's condition.

They cut about 8 feet off the lip at the top of Cornice and groomed a
narrow band all the way down. *The best route I found there was
through the cut and then turn right immediately into the ungroomed -
almost no bumps, the surface was carvable, and the wind was smoothing
things out all day with the loose stuff from people skiing down.

Things I never knew or just forgot about Mammoth:

You need to make a 90-degree turn halfway around the bullwheel at the
top of Chair 3 because of the cramped landing site.
There is a little cafe at the top of the Upper Gondola. on the left as
you exit - drinks, salads, sandwiches. *I guess I just.always walked
right on by without looking.
They only serve large-size beers at the Mid-Chalet (now called McCoy
Station).- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Tuesday, May 6

Again a cloudless day, and warmer and as windy as Monday. The surface
was slush at the bottom of 2 by 10 AM, and on top by 2 PM. After a
few early top-to-bottom runs in the morning, I spent most of the day
alternating between Chair 3 and the Upper Gondola. The best
conditions were the on Face of 3 and the ungroomed slopes either side
of the groomed portion of Cornice.

I took a few notes:

The wind was coming directly downhill down low on the mountain, but
the rotor caused by the top ridge meant that the wind was blowing up
near the top of Cornice. When I was in the Mid-Station eating my
sandwich, I was looking up at the snow blowing away from skiers to
check this out when the background music brought up Subterranean
Homesick Blues ("You don't need a weatherman to know which way the
wind blows").

The USSF National J2 team was training on slalom and GS courses set up
on the mountain.

Tai Chi Alert: I saw a Ski School class working on technique by
skiing without poles and holding their bodies in odd postures .

My bonehead play of the year was leaving my poles in the Gondola car
early in the morning. I went outside into the wind and got all
clicked in and ready to go and WTF??? The top attendant radioed the
mid-station crew who intercepted them and sent them back up.

The wind blowing through weep holes in the Chair 3 framework made odd
whistling sounds that took me some time to localize.

I noticed that the cartoon man in one of the gondola warning signs
("Keep hands and feet out of door") is wearing a suit and tie.

The groomed strip down Cornice is steep and slick enough that
snowboarders cannot self-arrest and are treated to a long slide no
matter what they try.

On May 4, 10:29*am, Richard Henry wrote:
Tuesday, May 6

See if you can find Hole in the Wall
..

On May 4, 8:42*pm, pigo wrote:
On May 4, 10:29*am, Richard Henry wrote:

Tuesday, May 6

See if you can find Hole in the Wall
.

Is that where DIAPER Team 6 hides out?

On May 4, 8:42*pm, pigo wrote:
On May 4, 10:29*am, Richard Henry wrote:

Tuesday, May 6

See if you can find Hole in the Wall
.

Is that a trail or a bar?

Keep in mind that I was backing off on the thrill aspect this trip
because 1: I am old 2: I have no one to drive me home if I get hurt
and 3: I have no health insurance. I was contemplating a run down
Climax, which starts right next to the Upper Gondola terminal and
which I have skied almost every time before I have been to Mammoth
when conditions permit, but then I noticed a mid-slope rescue going
on, I remembered items 1-3 above, and I took a couple of fatigue falls
(crossed tips on one, ran over my pole in the other).

To top all that off, one of the falls exacerbated my old right
shoulder soreness, so I am wearing a hoody with handwarmer as a sling
today.

On May 4, 9:29*am, Richard Henry wrote:
Tuesday, May 6

Correction - May 3.