Who is Bump Diamond?
Graduate of the Mammoth School of Fish
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Outdoors Archive
Bear Gall Bladders
December 4, 2007
Who knew? The illegal trafficking of gall bladders from California's black bears is such a lucrative business that it's arguably a bigger profit motive than heroin, all of which came to light this past week when a San Diego man was arrested in a sting conducted by the California Fish and Game. Huong C. Tovan, 54, of San Diego, was busted up in Redding for attempting to buy purchase bear gall bladders from undercover game wardens. "The illegal trade of bear parts is a serious violation of Fish and Game law," said the DFG chief of enforcement, Nancy Foley. "The lucrative profits derived from the illegal trade of bear products, most notably bear gall bladders, entice poachers who risk felony convictions." Many bears are poached solely for their gall bladders and paws resulting in the wanton waste of the animal. "The awareness by most Californians of this illegal and disgraceful practice often aids in the investigation and arrest of bear poachers," Foley said.Back In The Mam
October 26, 2007
Whew! Six weeks is a long time to be gone. Long enough for the aspens to turn, then fade. Long enough for the last bit of summer to get out of the way and make room for one of the best times of the year -- mid-autumn. In the high country, the colors are granite gray, flecked with the muted rusts and yellows in the meadows. On most mornings now, the lakes have little whiskers of ice around the edges. It's a perfect time for one of the best easy hikes and climbs around: The Mono Pass trail and Lembert Dome.Cranky Bastard
September 12, 2007
The Cranky Bastard entered the rest stop and grumped his way over too the food. This was during the High Sierra Fall Century bike ride on Sept. 8. It was easy to spot him as a Cranky Old Bastard, because his cycling jersey had "Cranky Old Bastard Bicycle Club" on the back. It's not a club you'd want to join, necessarily, unless you are a habitual bastard. Bike jerseys are great, especially when they're worn by a girl with pink hair, like Nat, from San Francisco. Her jersey, black with pink graphics, depicted a woman cyclist, bent over her drop handlebars, presumably pedaling furiously. And by the way, the woman cyclist on the jersey was depicted as very well endowed and naked as a needle. We liked Nat a lot, and we also liked the woman who rode by in a South Park jersey with "Oh, Man, You Guys SUCK!" on the back.View image View image View image View image View image
Da Bears
September 6, 2007
Anybody who thinks we have a "bear problem" is nuts. What Mammoth has is a slew of idiot people who create the problem themselves. We've got lots of people who dump and run in the middle of the night, leaving trash bags next to -- not in -- dumpsters all over town. We've got restaurant people who are careless with their trash. We've got rube tourists who actually feed the bears, hoping for a picture they can take home or just for the thrill of seeing a 400-pound creature. At the Lakes Basin, we've got bait fishermen who bring to the shores coolers stuffed with food, and if they leave that site for even five minutes, our Harvard-educated bears descend on the coolers, and sometimes that ain't pretty. Some second homeowners whose estates are near condo complexes have no problem using the condos' trash bins, making them overflow.View image
Death Riders
July 19, 2007
Mammoth has bike riders. Mammoth also has cyclists, which is one step further up the chain. Mammoth also has Death Riders, and those people are my favorites. Last weekend, a strong group of Mammoth locals made the trip to Markleeville, Alpine County, for the famous Markleeville Death Ride. It's a 130-mile "adventure," in the words of Eastside Velo Club poobah John Armstrong, in which the strongest of the strong make a one-day jaunt over five mountain passes, climbing 15,000 vertical feet. Death Riders are crazy, in their way. But they're so goldanged Mammoth about it, that is to say larger than life, it makes a guy like me really proud.Meet John Muir
June 19, 2007
Ran into old John Muir the other night at the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. The old coot, now 169 years old, lectured a packed room at the Lee Vining Visitors Center theater. "Hiking," said he, "is a vile word." Muir lifted his arms and marched across the stage, imitating the kind of hikers he just doesn't understand. The art of the mountains, he said, is in sauntering, which is a wild leap from hiking. Go where your legs want to go. Climb to the top of a tree and sway in the wind. Pack light. "Why do people always think they need a roof over their heads?" The coot was a hoot.View image
Pink & Panther
June 17, 2007
This is a great year for hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail, as evidenced Saturday by a coupla hikers who were on the Red's Meadow bus coming up from the San Joaquin Canyon. One was named Panther, from Florida. The other was named Pink, from the Bay Area. They'd been on the trail since late April, when they began on the Mexican border, headed for Canada. We ran into them after spending the day fishing the San Joaquin above Upper Soda Springs campground. They were ebullient. "The (PCT) Class of 2007 is the luckiest class ever," said Pink. "I never planned on this."Tuning Up
December 4, 2006
I know a guy in the Midwest who wants an alert to possible big incoming snow here in the Sierra. "Not just the Presbyterian storm, but a real Baptist showstopper!" he suggested recently. I'm not sure this is the week to send him alert; the last big buildup for a significant storm around here resulted in about a million unmet expectations. Still and all, the weather people up in Reno are getting all jazzed about next weekend, so I'll take the bait. This afternoon I'm taking my "good" boards down to the ski shop for a tuning. I tune my own November skis, but wouldn't presume to out-tune the local smiths.Shoots. Kills. Seasons.
November 25, 2006
It's a holiday tradition around our neighbors' camp that they gather up the dogs, grab their shotguns and tramp out into the fields and marshes to gather their feasts the old-fashioned way. Although this year, they are thinking about giving way to new technology in the form of a new kind of buckshot. No more steel pellets for them, no sir. They're going for "Season Shot," which advertises itself as "The Ammo With Flavor." I can't make this up. According to the outfit's Web site, "Season Shot is made of tightly packed seasoning bound by a fully biodegradable food product."The SKI Rankings
September 25, 2006
People probably shouldn't be in such a snit over SKI magazine's dramatic downgrading of Mammoth Mountain, from No. 9 last season to No. 18 this year. Let's face it: SKI magazine doesn't have so much to do with skiing itself as what's printed on its cover: "The Ski Life." Anymore, "the ski life" has more to do with restaurants, ease of access for your H3, lodging and scenery than it does with actual skiing and snowboarding. A great case in point is No. 2 Deer Valley, Utah—a great place to ski if you're loaded with dough, demand the Wall Street Journal in the restaurant (no kidding), you're over 60 and you hate snowboarders, who are banned anyway. Some "ski life," huh?Send Oxygen, Benadryl
September 10, 2006
We're back from the High Sierra Fall Century bike ride, and we have two suggestions: bring oxygen and Benadryl next time. As for the oxygen, we suggest a kind of Camelback contraption. The support on this year's ride was so good—for food, water, hyper-water and "Ade" drinks—that there was no reason for anyone to carry backpack water on board. Instead, we suggest an oxygen bottle for the climbs to Sagehen Summit, Wildrose Summit (Omigod, those switchbacks, huh?) and to Watterson Divide. The Benadryl is for the yellowjackets, which showed up in prodigious numbers.Speaking of Smokey Bear
August 17, 2006
Speaking of Smokey Bear—well, we were, weren't we?—I figure it's worth noting that his birthday came and went again, on Aug. 9, and without a single acknowledgement, so far as I know. More's the pity, and for what it's worth, he's 62. I know people who have been in Smokey's camp their whole lives, just as I know some people who have held a lifelong grudge against him for bumping Bambi out of the picture. That's a fact.View image
Wrapped Up In Chains
December 1, 2005
It's hard to imagine that anyone would miss chaining up, but there you go.I got through last year's epic winter in a Toyota Corolla, using chains practically the entire time. It got to the point where I could get them on in about three minutes.
All this is in light of the fact that it is snowing right now (Thursday morning) and there is a Winter Storm Warning in effect until Friday morning.
Skating Season!
November 22, 2005
It is the shortest of Mammoth's sports seasons, and some years it doesn't happen at all. It is the ice skating season—the season in late fall when the lakes freeze but snow has not accumulated on them. It's happening now. Ice is all over the place from about 9,000 feet up, although it's not thick enough to skate on yet. I was up at Ellery Lake and Tioga Lake on the Yosemite road this afternoon, and ice already was forming in large chucks.It's Like A Bowling Alley Up There!
November 14, 2005
Magic Mountain did it again. With very little snow at lower elevations and no man-made snow at all up top, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area opened the lifts to the top of the hill on Nov. 12, providing skiers and boarders with an altogether different kind of experience. "It's like a bowling alley up there!" said one skier, hours after coming down off the hill.Those Were Avvy Guns This Morning
October 26, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Now *that's* an alarm clock, Ché. Just after 6:30 this morning, Bobby Hoyt's Ski Patrol began testing the avalanche guns on Mammoth Mountain. The target was over by Chair 9, so everybody...Wind, Snow And A Guy Named Chuck
October 14, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Just got back in, and is the wind picking up out there or what? The temperature is starting to drop, too. The dog says she can smell snow coming our way. ...Yow! Mushers Get Mashed
October 2, 2005
By Nook LoganSpecial to MammothBlog Oh wow that was an ugly one. The University of Mammoth Mushers got whupped, 62-0, by the Wizards of Cal St. Polytechnic, Waverly — a school so small and obscure that most...Mammoth To Skate Park Riders: "Not Yet!"
September 30, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town That was some launch last weekend of the Volcom Brothers Skate Park, but town officials now say it might have been a leetle too successful. "It's important for users of the park...Whatup With "Indian Summer," Anyway?
September 28, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town A couple of days ago, while waxing about fall weather, I asked where the term "Indian Summer" came from, and aren't we all happy that we have Wikipedia in our lives? Here's...Ski Area Main Lodge "Masterplan" Under Public Review
September 27, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has a large master plan for remaking the Main Lodge Area. All the ski area needs right now to make it a go are a few people poking around...Suddenly, It's Autumn In Mammoth
September 26, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town That was one short summer, huh? No doubt there will be warm days ahead in the weirdly named Indian Summer (can someone please explain that to me?) and probably there will be...A Freebie At Mono Lake, Schulman Grove
September 21, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town If there is anybody out there who has not visited the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest because of something so inconsequential as fees, Saturday is the day you can bust on in to the...SKI: Mammoth Mountain Ranks No. 9
September 18, 2005
By Bump Diamond Man About Town All over town these days, people are holding nine fingers above their heads and chanting, "We're No. 9! We're No. 9" OK, so they're not, but it's not beyond the realm...The Mountain Bike Championships At Canyon Lodge
September 14, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Veteran mountain bikers who maybe have taken one too many tumbles over the handlebars might be wandering around Main Lodge tomorrow, wondering just where in the heck are the 2005 USA Cycling Mountain...Gusty, Mean Winds Hit High Sierra Fall Century
September 10, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town So there was Dennis Phillips, cyclist extraordinaire, riding in a pack of Eastside Velo racers, when the peloton zoomed over Watterson Summit and began the long—and usually delicious—descent to Crowley Lake. But...Snow Is In The Forecast
September 8, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town The National Weather Service has put the "S" word into its weekend weather advisories, suggesting the Sierra Nevada could get snow above 8,000 feet. That would put the snow line right about...Big (Bad) Weather On The Way
September 7, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town The weather gods must have heard that the century cyclists are in town, because they're getting set to throw a little mean weather at Mammoth. Last year, during an autumn that was...Hiking High On Yosemite's Mono Pass Trail
September 4, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Editor's Note: This article appeared in the September/October issue of Mammoth Monthly magazine. This is high country. Really high. The trailhead for the Mono Pass Trail in Yosemite National Park is at 9,690 feet. ...Feels Like A Million People Are Here
September 1, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town I must be going nutso. The Town says Mammoth is going to be only 67 percent full this coming weekend, but I ain't buyin' it. Here it is, only Thursday, and Rite...That Was Some Wind, Hey?
August 30, 2005
Enough for the bashing around with the wind, huh? A low pressure system moving throughout he Pacific Northwest and Northern Nevada yesterday brought strong winds to Mammoth and to the areas nearby. Wind gusts in...Fred Fisher of Earthjustice, RIP
August 27, 2005
This came in the other day, on the Earthjustice web site: Fred Fisher, a founder of Earthjustice, died of cancer on August 16, 2005. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Susan, his sons Matt...NORBA Comes To Town
Last Year For Mammoth?
August 24, 2005
Last year's USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships were such a hit around here that NORBA, the National Off Road Bike Association, and Mammoth Mountain are going to do it again. This year, however, the venue is...The Fall Century In a Blur
August 23, 2005
Mammoth's High Sierra Fall Century bike ride, a beautiful 96-mile tour that tests the lungs and stamina of just about everybody who rides it, is just another day in the saddle for a group of East Siders who...A Day At Mammoth's Ancient Lake
August 13, 2005
By George ShirkEditor, Mammoth Monthly We were standing on the shore of the old Long Valley Lake and trying to imagine a large body of water extending from the town of Crowley Lake all...Pitching 'Shoes With Bob Sollima
August 12, 2005
Bob Sollima's time-honored horseshoe tournament is back, and for horseshoe pitchers like Big Rich and Linda Lockwood, that's just about the best news they've had in a while. “It's informal, but it's the funnest tournament there is,”...Andrea Lawrence's Big Dream
July 21, 2005
Andrea Mead Lawrence doesn't do things halfway. The Olympic gold medalist's Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers (ALIMAR, www.alimar.org), founded in 2003, aims for a cohesive vision for the Eastern Sierra that integrates environmental values with economic...Road Cyclists of Mammoth, Rejoice!
July 14, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Road cyclists of Mammoth, give thanks! Starting July 18, and continuing for approximately two months, an engineering road survey crew will be working along the Mammoth Scenic (Escape) Road, between State Highway...New Skate Park Nearly Doubles In Size
July 13, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town The Volcom Brothers Skate Park, currently under construction in the Trails neighborhood of Mammoth, has grown from a 22,000 sq. ft, single-bowl skate park into a 42,000-sq. ft., double-bowl facility, Park director Jane...Inyo National Forest Axes 42 Jobs Here
July 11, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town A river of blood is running through the Inyo National Forest as the feds brought down the axe on 42 positions last week. In a move called a “reorganization,” the Inyo National...25 Of 80 Miles Open At Bike Park
July 8, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Here is a picture of the face of the Mammoth Mountain Bike Park, and you don't have to feel like a dumbkopf for asking the question: That's a bike park? ----------------------> ...Tough Summer For the Critters
July 7, 2005
Our pal and colleague Andy Selters happened to be up along Rock Creek near the pack station on the day of the last really big snow of the season. That was May 9—the day that Mammoth Mountain Ski...It's Goddam Buggy Up Here
July 5, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town People bump into me on the streets, and they want to know what it's like up in the high country these days, coming off the epic winter and all that. Here's what...The Mammoth Mountain Sale
June 26, 2005
Bump DiamondMan About Town If all goes according to plan, the buyer of ski area founder Dave McCoy's share of Mammoth Mountain will be announced soon, and the deal will be done by late August. Last week, Rusty...Fishing Update
June 25, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town I see that Tom Loe and Dave Neal have been out on the water, keeping us abreast of the so-far weird fishing season so that we don't have to. The water is so high...Flower Power
June 24, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town One of the many things Mammothists and other Eastsiders do is try to predict when and where the summer wildflowers will be in the high mountains. Heaven knows it's a short window, particularly...Bike Park Open Saturday, June 25
June 23, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town The Mammoth Mountain Bike Park is going to open Saturday, although it ain't going to exactly test the high-altitude set. In fact, anybody riding up on the hill Saturday is likely to...Tioga Pass To Open Friday, But It's A Mess
June 22, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Tioga Pass will open Friday at 8 a.m., Yosemite National Park officials said today, but five high-country camps will remain closed all season because of the winter snows. Other campgrounds along the...We're For The Birds
June 20, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Hey there sure are a lot of bird-brains around here. And there are a lot of birds, too. Fifty-two members of the Eastern Sierra Audubon Society counted 209 species in Inyo County...Free Ride Over At Reds Meadow, Devils Postpile
June 19, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town We know that smug look. It's the look of people who last year used a variety of different passes to get to Reds Meadow and Devils Postpile National Monument without having to...June 29 for Reds Meadow
June 18, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town It ain't just Tioga Pass that we're pondering. The road to Reds Meadow looked to be packed in with snow as late as this afternoon. Looking up from the Main Lodge, it's...Whitney Portal Kicks Ass
June 14, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Made it up to Whitney Portal over the weekend. It was a little on the chilly side here in Mammoth, so we threw a camp up above Lone Pine, hiked the Alabama Hills,...Skiing Is Still Wowing the Locals
May 26, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Just ran into skier extraordinaire Joe Vasta down at the Stellar Brew coffee house, and we got to discussing how decent the skiing has been up on the hill lately. We were talking...Here's the XC Ski Team for 2005-06
May 19, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Can't tell the difference between the U.S. Nordic Team and the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team? We can't either, because they're mostly the same people. Still, because this is an Olympic...U.S. Nordic Team Named for 2005-06
May 18, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town The U.S. Nordic Team for the upcoming Olympic year has been named. As in keeping with the theme of the week—that is, naming names, straightening out the scorecard—here they are. And thanks...U.S. Freestyle Team Named
May 17, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town The mogul busters and high-flyers of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team have been named for the 2005-06 season, and that's an Olympic Year, so heads up, everybody. Here they are, and thanks to...Here's the 2005-06 U.S. Alpine Ski Team
May 16, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Like 'em or not, the 2005-06 U.S. Ski Team has been named by the United States Ski Association. As everyone knows, this is an Olympic Year, with World Cup champ Bode Miller saying...Ski and Snowboard Chief: "The Time is Now."
May 16, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Yeah, it was a little corny and it had the feel of a college pep rally the night before the Notre Dame game, but what was Bill Marolt to do about it? ...PCT Hikers Beware
May 15, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town I gotta admit to being a leetle bit bummed about the reports from the High Country. The report from the L.A. Times' Leslie Carlson (a fine American) is sobering for the through-hikers on...A Prayer for R.J. Secor
May 14, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town I am writing this on a lovely spring evening in the Mammoth high country. From my window I can see Mammoth Mountain, and around the bend, the Sherwin Range, and I’m thinking...“Magic Mountain” About To Do It Again
Blasting through snow at the Bike Park
May 13, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town For ages, the poohbahs at Mammoth Mountain configure the mountain in such trying circumstances that it kind of defies belief. Last month, for example, when the National Ski Championships were going on, Mammoth...A Fourple!
Ski, play golf, hike and bike in one day
May 12, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town The weirdly hedonistic idea of skiing, then playing a little golf, doing a little mountain biking and hiking at the same place on the same day isn’t so abstract any more, although doing the...Busting Through
Mammoth tops 600 inches
May 9, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Remember about a month or so ago, when Rusty Gregory walked into a meeting of the Mono County Collaborative Planning team? Making small talk before things got going, the affable CEO of the Mammoth...Corn Snow Season in Disarray
Too much friggin’ snow
May 5, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town What does it take to get a decent corn snow season around here, anyway? This past week or so, the spring skiers in Mammoth have been busy reassessing just what the heck...Rock ’n’ Roll Fly Fishing: Susie Greilich’s long, strange trip
May 4, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town Once you get past the idea that one of the best fishermen in Mammoth isn’t a fisherman at all, you come plumb up against the fact that one of the best fisherwomen in...A Wow Day on Lincoln Mountain
April 21, 2005
By Bump DiamondMan About Town I got up there today at the crack of 9, jumping in on Chair 15, then to Canyon Express via Swell. This being the last week for Lincoln Mountain, everyone there was...Building Eagle Lodge: 2006?
April 17, 2005
If things go as planned, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area would begin construction of a 50,000 square-foot base lodge at Eagle Express/Chair 15 in the summer of 2006, CEO Rusty Gregory said. While awaiting environmental review and...