DAY 1 - Pete, Valerie, and I begin another quest for powder before sunrise, and, as with all of our trips to Mammoth, we make our first pitstop in Mojave
With Saturdays typically crowded and with snow in today's forecast, we spend an hour in Lone Pine...
...consuming our traditional McDonalds breakfast
When we reach Mammoth Lakes, we decide to park at the Holiday Inn rather than near Little Eagle
Though the 395 and 203 are dry (and chains were not required), the Holiday Inn parking lot is covered with snow...and snow has begun to fall
The sun starts poking through the clouds and Canyon Express (Chair 16) opens just as we reach Canyon Lodge. We are fortunate to get in line before the queue becomes insanely long. With many chairlifts on weather hold (including all from Main Lodge), lines are longer than usual especially at Chair 8 and Schoolyard Express (Chair 17).
Wind is blowing snow into our faces as we ride up Roller Coaster Express...one of the least crowded lifts currently operating today
Visibility is decent until we get closer to the top of Roller Coaster and Canyon Express
As more lifts open, Chair 8's line shrinks...so we decide to take it over to Little Eagle
The line at Eagle Express is huge, so this will be our only time on the lift today
Besides, the runs here are often blocked with beginners
It is 24 degrees when we decide to stop for the day. With two feet of snow expected to fall overnight, tomorrow could be epic!
DAY 2 - An epic snowstorm has indeed hit Mammoth Mountain...delaying the ski resort's opening. Anticipating this possibility, Peter, Valerie, and I sleep in
I view the storm from inside our dry and toasty hotel room
The sun starts to poke through the clouds before 11am, giving us hope that more of the mountain will soon open up. Currently, only Chair 8 and Schoolyard Express are operating, so we do not see any reason to leave our room just yet
It stops snowing as we eat lunch, but Valerie and Peter are in no rush to leave our room. Itching to hit 20 inches of freshly fallen powder, I finally convince them we should head to the slopes
The streets around our hotel are now blanketed with snow
We carefully hike to the shuttle bus stop
We walk past a snow covered Subie...priceless!
As we reach the shuttle stop, we see a long line of cars trying to leave town
Now we must wait for the bus
The 395 was closed earlier, so this must be the SoCal crowd that typically tries to leave the mountain around noon on Sundays. The Super Bowl begins in just a few hours...will they even make it to Bishop in time for kickoff?
