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March 22, 2009
by Mammoth Local Staff
As you may have noticed, MammothLocal.com, the online arm of Mammoth Monthly magazine, has stopped updating its pages until the economic climate improves. Owners Jean and George Shirk decided to keep the site alive, however, just for the heck of it. The Shirks still have a thing about Mammoth, and may return there soon to stir up more trouble. In the meantime, enjoy the high country (who doesn't?) and stay safe and well.January 05, 2008
by Colleen Dunn Bates
She was sprawled flat on her back midway down Sesame Street, her little arms spread-eagle and her snowboard straight up in the air. "I can't get up!" she shrieked. "For God's sake, Emma, stop screaming!" yelled her dad, who was about 50 feet downhill from her. "Just roll over and GET UP!" Snowboard rental: $30. Condo for the weekend: $1,300. Teaching your child to snowboard: your sanity. Or that's the way it can seem. And yet on any given day, the mountain is filled with happy gangs of parents and older kids. How did they get there? How did little Tyler and Sasha learn to ski without Dad having a coronary and Mom hitting the bottle?December 20, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Heavy snow has prepared Mammoth for a robust holiday season. More than three feet of new snow fell on Mammoth Mountain in the storm that ended Thursday night, following winds that gusted up to 107.6 miles an hour at the summit of the 11,052-foot peak.December 17, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
With snow on the way to supplement a base of manufactured snow, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area will open Little Eagle Lodge on Thursday, Dec. 20, a resort official said. The opening, which will affect Chair 15/Eagle Express and Chairs 13 and 14, is due to coincide with a storm system that began early Monday with light snowfall and will continue through Thursday night.December 14, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Online tributes continue to pour into the Mammoth forums Web site for Dave Ebbens, a beloved skier from Encinitas who died of injuries suffered while he was skiing in West Bowl on Monday, Dec. 10.by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area opened Canyon Lodge on Friday, Dec. 14, and snow made its way into the forecasts for next week.November 21, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Lack of early season snow has delayed the scheduled openings of the ski runs off Canyon and Eagle lodges, the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area announced Wednesday.November 05, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
In spite of a balmy autumn and not much measurable snow, Mammoth Mountain will open for skiing and boarding as planned on Thursday, Nov. 8, a ski hill spokesperson said.October 04, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
The world's top big-mountain skiers and snowboarders will compete in Mammoth in January as part of the Freeride World Tour, a new circuit that features athletes taking on some of the toughest terrain there is. The tour will stop in Mammoth Jan. 22-26.View image View image
October 03, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Reno issued a winter storm watch for Mammoth and the southern High Sierra beginning Thursday, Dec. 6 and continuing into the early part of the weekend. Snowfall amounts that could exceed two feet are expected, the weather service said. After hedging their bets earlier in the day, the forecasters said the path of the storm on Tuesday afternoon became "a little more certain, and favors the central and southern Sierra, generally from Carson Pass south to the Mammoth Lakes area."September 20, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth's Stacey Cook, along with World Championships medalists Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, Calif.) and Lindsey Kildow (Vail, Colo.), plus Olympic champion Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) and first-time World Cup winner Steven Nyman (Provo, Utah) headline the 2008 U.S. Alpine Ski Team, which was named this week.August 28, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Fresno halfpipe specialist Andy Finch, who rides out of Mammoth, won the Australian Open halfpipe snowboarding championship last weekend, while streaking Mason Aguirre of Mammoth finished ninth.August 01, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
A monument memorializing the three Mammoth Ski Patrollers who died in a horrific April 2006 accident will be dedicated in a public ceremony on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 25, at the top of Mammoth Mountain.July 13, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Two-time Olympic silver medalist Danny Kass of Mammoth on Wednesday, July 11 took home the $10,000 top spot in the Abominable Snow Jam halfpipe competition at Mt. Hood.May 31, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
The new Chair 9 "sixpack" lift is to be called "Cloud Nine Express," officials at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area announced on Thursday. The new name for the venerable chairlift, which is to become a high-speed, six-passenger lift, is a result of an online contest to name it.May 28, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
The ski season ended on Monday, May 28, in much the way it started: sparse snow, not very many people and a load of fun for the few who were there.May 16, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Members of eight U.S. Ski Teams have been using Mammoth this week to train for next season. "They like to come to Mammoth in the spring because they know we'll have snow," said Mammoth Mountain spokesperson Joani Lynch.May 09, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
The old Chair 9 will become a high-speed, six-pack lift in spite of months-long plans to make it a quad. What changed? "The heavier six-passenger lift is being installed instead of a quad lift to allow it to operate in higher winds," a Mammoth Mountain spokesperson said.May 07, 2007
by Brandon Russell
It's nearly 8:30 on a blustery November morning and Mammoth's young and restless have been at it for nearly an hour. A keg of beer is open in the Main Lodge parking lot; pancakes are cooking on a makeshift truck-bed fry kitchen and there's a buzz in the air reminiscent of the hour before the top opens after a week-long January dump.by Mammoth Local Staff
Former U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Head Coach Bud Keene was named the 2006 National Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) at a luncheon held Thursday, May 3, in collaboration with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in Washington.April 30, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
In addition to the nighttime Rail Jam and the halfpipe competition at Mammoth Mountain, the party this year has extreme snowmobile demos and live hip-hop concerts.April 20, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth Mountain will try to stay open through the Memorial Day weekend, a resort spokesperson said on Friday. "If we can ski down Broadway, Broadway Express will keep running," said Dana Vander Houwen, the communications manager.April 18, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
The number of skiers and snowboarders at Mammoth Mountain is down by 23 percent, while revenue at the ski area is down by 18 percent, according to Rusty Gregory, the CEO of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.April 16, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
The Mammoth Ski Museum's 2008 calendar, featuring 12 vintage ski posters from its collection, was released on Monday, April 16, according to Mammoth Lakes Foundation development director Ruth Harrell.April 06, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
On the one-year anniversary of the deaths of three ski patrollers on Mammoth Mountain, the ski area on Friday, April 6 posted a "We Won't Forget" memorial on its Web site, while friends and family of James Juarez gathered for a short memorial at the top of the 11,052-foot ski hill.April 03, 2007
by Monica Prelle
The Francis Couloirs were steep and a brilliant blue. High, snow-covered walls allowed us to make drawn-out turns, gliding in a singsong manner, pushing fluffy snow into fans overhead. We regrouped at the moraine below and gazed back at the terrain we had just descended. My body pulsed with energy and elation. "That was sick," Carlton said. "Like surfing."March 13, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Daron Rahlves, widely regarded as the most successful American speed racer of all time, will appear at the Dave McCoy College Classic March 16-17 at Mammoth Mountain.March 06, 2007
by Bump Diamond
The wind on Mammoth Mountain is famous - infamous, some might say. But for the people who ski here regularly, it's one of Mammoth's greatest assets. Wind? It's a good thing.by Mammoth Local Staff
The "Top of the Sierra Interpretive Center," a long envisioned project for the 11,053-foot top of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, will open March 17 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m., ski area officials announced on Tuesday.View image
March 04, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
To someone whose business is health, nightmare scenarios are pretty easy to find. Even in a ski town like Mammoth, where fitness counts for a lot on the hill and the cross country ski trails, herbalist and acupuncturist Jean Drummond has seen some really frightening stuff. "A bag of chips, a glazed doughnut, deep-fried hash browns from a fast-food joint and a couple of cups of coffee loaded with sugar and cream - now that is the worst breakfast for a skier I can imagine," said Drummond. "There's no nutrition in there at all, just fat and sugar and caffeine. That's one skier who will feel pretty good for about an hour and then the caffeine and sugar high will wear off and he'll crash - hard." Drummond helps people figure out how to be healthier.February 27, 2007
by Monica Prelle
It was one of those characteristic bluebird powder days, the kind that Mammoth Mountain had over and over again in the 2005/06 season. That morning was particularly cold and the snow was sugary and deep. After a few laps warming up, waiting for something (anything) on the top to open, I ran into a few girlfriends.February 19, 2007
by Jack Copeland
One day recently I woke up and I was fifty-five. I didn't feel that different. It seemed like just another day. Heck, fifty-five, that's not so bad. It's better than being dead. But then I went skiing. Something horrible happened. My body no longer listened to me. I sent it messages. It ignored me. My coordination and timing abandoned me. My knees began to hurt. My back developed a strange, nagging pain.February 08, 2007
by Brandon Russell
A plaque honoring four ski patrollers who were killed in two separate accidents last winter was presented to the Town Council, Wednesday, February 7 by Mammoth resident Leigh Gaasch. "This plaque belongs to the town and people of Mammoth," Gaasch said. "Take care of it for James, Greg, Johanna and John."February 06, 2007
by Brandon Russell
Spring shredding at its best brought many of the world's top snowboarders to Mammoth for the West Coast Invitational the first weekend of May, but it was the snowmobilers, and their crashes, who stole the show at the two-day event.January 31, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Soldiers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan arrived in Mammoth on Tuesday, Jan. 30, then took to the mountain as part of the "Wounded Warrior" program.View image
January 27, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
June Mountain Ski Area closed for the season on Sunday, Jan. 28, because of a lack of snow, resort officials announced.January 21, 2007
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory, now a member of Barry Sternlicht's globetrotting Starwood Capital gang, is preparing for his second trip to Russia in as many months as the company looks to acquire Russian properties. In particular, Starwood, the principal owner of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, is looking to possibly acquire Krasnaya Polyana, a resort in the Caucasian Mountains near the Black Sea.by Moz Coast
Skiing down a groomer in a nasty windstorm, I was surprised when something blowing across the hill wrapped itself around my head in an instant and covered my goggles. I skidded to a stop and grabbed for the object. Women's panties?January 20, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
Forecasters at the National Weather Service, as well as local forecaster Howard Sheckter, say there is no snow in sight for the snow-starved Sierra, although a system may possibly rumble through the mountains around Groundhog Day.January 04, 2007
by Mammoth Local Staff
June Mountain Ski Area is set to open Friday with a limited number of runs, thanks to a snowfall on Thursday. Conditions permitting, Mammoth's sister hill expects to have four chairlifts in operation tomorrow: J1, J2, J3 and J7. Still closed are the chutes, Deer Bowl, Davos Drop, Powder Chute and Sunset.by Mammoth Local Staff
Events in the West Coast Invitational have been reset because of snow, wind and cold temperatures, according to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth Mountain, the scene of eight deaths in a particularly tragic 2005-06 ski season, will participate in the National Ski Areas' Association Safety Awareness Week Jan. 13-19, the ski area announced.December 26, 2006
by Bump Diamond
When Philippe Mollard made the greatest run ever down Mammoth Mountain, practically no one was there to see it, in spite of what many people have said and heard in the quarter century since. Dozens of people claim to have seen his run -- straight down Climax, with no turns -- but Mollard, a native Frenchman and at the time a ski instructor at Mammoth, says it is not so. "I was by myself," he said in a heavy French accent. "There was one ski patrolman at the top of the mountain, outside the gondola station." It was early in the morning, in the spring, on a weekday. Mollard, 27 years old at the time, recalled it as late March or in April. The year was 1968, two seasons after the gondola to the top of Mammoth Mountain was completed.View image
December 22, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
The string of nine World Cup alpine podiums by five U.S. skiers in six days, including the first victory of their career for Olympic champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) and Steven Nyman (Provo, UT), is unprecedented for the U.S. Ski Team.December 19, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Olympic giant slalom champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA), healthy after a weekend stomach illness, earned her first World Cup victory Tuesday at Val D'Isere, winning a downhill with teammate Lindsey Kildow (Vail, CO) in third place.December 18, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
In an historic moment, Olympic champion Ted Ligety of Park City gave the U.S. men's alpine team a World Cup podium finish for the fourth consecutive day, finishing second in a slalom.December 17, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Bode Miller said making continual adjustments to his new-this-season Head skis in the last two weeks have helped improve his feel and results.by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth snowboarders Tommy Czechin (pictured), Kelly Clark and Mason Aguirre dominated Saturday's halfpipe qualifying at Brekinridge, Colo., with the veteran Czechin besting a huge field of 105.by Mammoth Local Staff
Olympian Steven Nyman (Provo, UT), overcoming training troubles and riding "magic sticks," tore through the gnarly Saslong speed course Saturday to win the first World Cup of his career, edging Swiss veteran Didier Cuche by two-hundredths of a second.December 15, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Despite little natural snow, the lifts at Canyon and Eagle Lodges opened as scheduled to skiers and boarders today.by Mammoth Local Staff
Reigning super G world champion Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) nailed the top section and kept ripping down the Saslong course Friday to win a World Cup super G, the 23rd victory of his career and first win at Val Gardena.December 12, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Restaurant Skadi raised $1,320, Monday night to benefit Mammoth Nordic's recent purchase of a CAT. Three times as many people showed up at the event than was expected.by Mammoth Local Staff
Canyon and Eagle Lodges will open Friday, according to a spokesperson for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.December 10, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth finally got some measurable snow on Saturday night and Sunday, forcing residents back behind their snowblowers and crews into the cabs of their plows for the first time this season.December 05, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is spending about $4,000 a day feeding a workforce that has been idled by the lack of snow so far this season.by Bump Diamond
Lincoln Mountain is about to be unmasked. With a lodge development planned at the base of the high-speed, six-pack Eagle Express (Chair 15) and the imminent reconfiguration of Chair 9 into a high-speed lift, Lincoln Mountain is poised to become a major portal to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.December 02, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area this past week announced the formation of the Mammoth Mogul Team. The team is designed to help bump skiers develop their skills. The Mogul Team is open to adults who are serious all-mountain skiers looking to focus on competitive style mogul skiing.November 29, 2006
by Bump Diamond
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association officials said Wednesday, Nov. 29, that they could not hold additional World Cup ski races in America following cancellations in Europe.November 24, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Finally, Mammoth might get a little snow the way Mother Nature intended it. A developing storm in southwest Canada is forecast to bring snow and wind to the Sierra by Sunday afternoon, with "potential for heavy snow at times."November 22, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) announced its domestic TV schedule on Wednesday. It has 10.5 hours on NBC, weekly coverage through most of the season on Versus and complete coverage of nearly every World Cup event on WCSN.com.November 21, 2006
by George Shirk
When discussing Mammoth's Main Lodge, Rusty Gregory likes to tell people that there are more Search and Rescue calls for lost people inside the building than in the entire backcountry. That story is always good for a laugh because it touches a common nerve.November 15, 2006
by Brandon Russell
The scene is Mammoth Mountain. The time is the middle of the night. The season is dead of winter, the altitude is 9,000 feet and outside, snow is coming down in great, heavy loads, whipped by swirling, 90-mile-an-hour winds. The assignment is straightforward: Keep the roads to the ski area open, keep the snow groomed and help get the ski lifts running as fast as possible in the morning. This is a Clifford Mann kind of night, and the odds are not in the storm's favor.November 14, 2006
by George Shirk
Once the loneliest of all of Mammoth Mountain's lonely extensions, the Chair 15/Eagle Express area is about to go big-time, and soon.November 09, 2006
by Brandon Russell
About 100 skiers and snowboarders, including first-chair rider and Mammoth local Tony Guerriero were in line for the first chair, celebrating Mammoth Mountain's opening day Thursday, even if conditions weren't exactly epic.November 08, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Despite very little natural snow on the ground and no storms in the short-term forecast, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was set to open on Thursday, Nov. 9, with one lift on top of a base of less than a foot of manufactured snow.November 02, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth Nordic, the cross-country ski club that has lobbied the town for years to groom its trail network, is putting its money where its mouth is. The club is set to purchase a $45,000 cat that will pull a groomer...by Mammoth Local Staff
A new ski and snowboard guide specifically for Mammoth began distribution this week. Published by Mammoth Monthly magazine, the 2006-07 Ski and Snowboard Special features a gear guide tailored for Mammoth's snow conditions, a calendar of events that stretches into March 2007 and a comprehensive restaurant and bar guide.October 26, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Crews on Mammoth Mountain have begun covering Broadway with artificial snow. Opening Day is Thursday, Nov. 9.October 07, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
State regulators have fined Mammoth Mountain Ski Area $50,000 for several job safety violations related to the deaths of three ski patrol members earlier this year.September 29, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Mammoth Olympian Stacey Cook, along with Olympic champions Ted Ligety of Park City and Julia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, were named to headline the 2007 U.S. Alpine Ski Team, according to the United States Ski and Snowboard Association.September 27, 2006
by Bump Diamond
The base of Chair 5 would be moved and the chairlift would turn into a detachable quad in the 2007-2008 season if Mammoth Mountain Ski Area plans are approved.September 20, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth Mountain lift construction workers are busy installing five lift towers near the top of Chair 9 -- the first phase of a project that will turn the slowest chairlift on the ski hill into a high-speed, detachable quad for the 2007-08 ski season.September 13, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Sprinters Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT), who produced the first U.S. World Cup podium in over two decades last winter, and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK), who produced the alltime best U.S. women's Olympic cross country finish, are among 14 athletes named to the 2007 U.S. Cross Country Ski Team.September 11, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Former sprint world champion Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) and three-time Olympian Bill Demong (Vermontville, NY) are among a 10-member U.S. Nordic Combined Team named for the 2007 season, U.S. Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner said on Sept. 11, 2006.September 10, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Those stud muffins on boards who are skating around and about Mammoth's streets are members of the Canadian Cross Country Team.August 22, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Alex Cushing, who founded Squaw Valley Ski Area and brought the Winter Olympics there in 1960, died on Saturday, Aug. 19 at his home in Newport, R.I..August 17, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
Every August, track teams, cross country runners, other athletes and their track-suited coaches make their way up from sea level in Southern California for a week or more of high-altitude training. But it's not clear that training for one week at altitude actually produces any lasting results.by Brandon Russell
Local backcountry skiing advocates claimed victory Wednesday when the Mammoth Town Council voted to ensure public pedestrian access on an embattled strip of the gated Ranch Road.August 09, 2006
by Monica Prelle
The Mammoth Planning Commission approved a second temporary structure for Little Eagle Lodge, this one for a ski school at the facility at the base of Chair 15/Eagle Express.August 05, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth's Mason Aguirre led the U.S. Men's snowboarding team to a podium sweep in the New Zealand Open Halfpipe on Saturday, August 5, while Mammoth riders placed four among the top eight. In addition, Vermonter Kelly Clark, who rides out of Mammoth, won the women's halfpipe.August 04, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth snowboarders Kelly Clark and Mason Aguirre came up big at the New Zealand Open quarterpipe on Friday, August 4, while Molly Aguirre and Mammoth's Mitrani brothers waited in the wings for Saturday. The victories by Clark and Aguirre came one day after Mammoth's Hana Beaman won the women's slopestyle competition.July 04, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area closed its lifts to skiers and snowboarders on Tuesday, July 4, ending an unforgettable, 236-day season that featured record snow, record attendance and searing tragedies.June 26, 2006
by Bump Diamond
A science interpretive center, along with a food court and seating for 70 people, will open at the Panorama Lookout Station on the summit of 11,053-foot Mammoth Mountain, ski area officials announced on Monday. The facility should open at some point during the 2006-07 winter season.View image
June 12, 2006
by Bump Diamond
The name of the chute is Kiwi Flats. It is so dangerous, so perilous and so steep, that it does not appear as a skiable run on any of Mammoth Mountain's trail maps. The chute is on the summit ridge of Mammoth Mountain, skier's left of Philippe's, itself a treacherous chute named after the iconic Philippe Mollard. Kiwi Flats is almost invisible from above. Before 1972, no one had ever dared to ski it. Then John Armstrong came along.by George Shirk
A 25-year-old Mammoth man was transported to a Reno hospital Saturday after search-and-rescue personnel rescued him by helicopter from Rock Chute, an icy, vertical run in the Sherwin range.June 10, 2006
by George Shirk
USSA Vice President of Athletics Alan Ashley has decided to leave after nearly 15 years, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt. Ashley held the head athletic position since 1997.June 08, 2006
by George Shirk
Chris Knight, a U.S. Ski Team coach since the 2003 season, has been promoted to head coach of the U.S. women's slalom and giant slalom team, Head Coach Patrick Riml announced.May 28, 2006
by George Shirk
Women finally have broken through one of the toughest barriers in international winter sport: the men-only discipline of ski jumping. Last week, the International Ski Federation (FIS) approved ski jumping for women in the the 2009 World Championships -- an important step before gaining Olympic approval.May 15, 2006
by George Shirk
Financier Peter Kellogg of Short Hills, N.J., a longtime board member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and a driving force in its drive to create a legacy endowment, won the Julius Blegen Award, the USSA's highest honor for volunteer service to the 101-year-old federation.May 11, 2006
by Andy Selters
Laurel is one of the most prominent peaks around Mammoth -- a graceful pyramid several hundred feet higher than Mammoth Mountain -- and it would be a classic ski except that the storm winds that unload so much pow onto Mammoth almost always scour Laurel down to bare rock.May 08, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Chris Brigham, a member of the U.S. Ski Team alpine coaching staff since the mid-90s, on Monday, May 8 was named as the men's downhill and super G head coachApril 17, 2006
by Bump Diamond
The Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol opened the top runs of Mammoth Mountain Wednesday, two days after after an avalanche on the upper face of Mammoth Mountain forced a shutdown of all lifts.April 16, 2006
by George Shirk
Despite few positive economic indicators and with "failure nipping at our heels very closely," Mammoth Mountain's top executive announced Wednesday night that the June Mountain Ski Area nevertheless will continue as a seven-days-a-week business.April 14, 2006
by George Shirk
In an astonishing demonstration that combined consolation, sorrow, grief and support, Mammoth on Friday night said goodbye to three members of the ski patrol who were killed in a bizarre accident eight days earlier.April 10, 2006
by George Shirk
Friday evening's memorial service for the three fallen members of the Mammoth Ski Patrol will be broadcast on local cable television, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area announced. Meanwhile, a new fund has been established on behalf of the families of (Charles) Walter Rosenthal, James Juarez and (John) Scott McAndrews, who died in the bizarre "snow collapse."April 07, 2006
by George Shirk
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has established memorial funds for the three ski patrollers who lost their lives in an accident on Thursday, April 6.April 06, 2006
by George Shirk
Three members of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol died Thursday morning when they fell 21 feet into a volcanic fumarole in a "snow collapse" near Chair 3/Facelift, ski area officials said. The patrollers were identified as Charles Walter Rosenthal, 58, who lived in Sunny Slopes; John Scott McAndrews, 37, of Bishop and James Jinkuk Juarez, 35, of Granada Hills, Calif. Memorial funds in their names were established on Friday.March 26, 2006
by Bump Diamond
SUGARLOAF, Maine (March 26) - Olympian Stacey Cook , the Mammoth Ski team member who now races out of Truckee, spoiled Kirsten Clark's homecoming parade Sunday, barreling past the local favorite to win a gold medal -- her first U.S. title -- in super G at the TD Banknorth U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf.March 25, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth broke through the 500-inch mark for this season's snowfall when a new storm socked the Sierra early Saturday. Forecasters at the National Weather Service called for sunny skies on Sunday, but said more snow will move into the area on Tuesday.March 22, 2006
by Mammoth Local Staff
We'd like to take a little time to welcome new readers of MammothLocal.com, and to remind our regulars of the various interactive and dynamic components of the Web site. These include frequently updated local news coverage; free classified ads; changing online polls (our current poll is focused on summer activities); a dynamic calendar of events; up-to-the-minute weather from Howard Sheckter; the entire Mammoth Monthly magazine in PDF format; a Mammoth restaurant guide; "comment" tags on every story, so readers can react and contribute online, and an online store, accessed from the Marketplace page.March 20, 2006
by Ron Bernstein
St. Anton is Mammoth Mountain's signature run. Stretching from beneath Cornice Bowl to the western approaches to Main Lodge, accessed by four chairs and the gondola, it dominates the center of the mountain. Consider it a meandering river with numerous tributary-like trails draining an immense white watershed of skiers, and its endless options become evident.March 12, 2006
by George Shirk
Mammoth's Tommy Czeschin won Saturday's 2006 State Farm U.S. Snowboard Cup halfpipe by posting the highest scores in their first of two runs at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, N.Y. "I took tons of time off after the Grand Prix series and I really just came here to ride, but I'm so stoked that I ended up winning," said Czeschin,March 05, 2006
by George Shirk
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area announced on Wednesday that because of record snows, it will keep lifts running until July 4, matching last season's closing day. "Because there has been so little sun in the last month, the snowpack is not settling and snow piles are as high as we've ever seen them," said Clifford Mann, Director of Mountain Operations and long-time Mammoth resident.February 28, 2006
by George Shirk
Perhaps because they absolutely cannot claim anyting close to "Best In The World" in cross country skiing, much less alpine skiing, officials at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association are expanding program support of cross country, according to Alan Ashley,...February 27, 2006
by Bryan Biller
Abundant snowfall can come with many consequences. Simply put, you never know when Mother Nature might pull the death card out of her back pocket and throw it on the table. A storm day adventure by Bryan Biller.by George Shirk
A 27-year-old Nevada man remained at Washoe Medical Center in Reno with injuries he received last week in an accident at June Mountain Ski Area, officials said. James Newberry, a snowboarder, was airlifted to Reno from Mammoth after Mono County Search and Rescue personnel found him after dark on Thursday, Feb. 23.February 17, 2006
by Monica Prelle
Any experienced skier or snowboarder at Mammoth can tell you Lincoln Mountain is the place to be on a storm day, and Viva is a favorite among many.by Suzanne Nottingham
Women's ski clinics and seminars take place at nearly every winter resort and are increasing in popularity. A typical group might be as many as 40 women on skis, and in that group, the skiers are at six to eight different skill levels. Mammoth's Women's Ski Seminars are three-day crash courses in skiing, with a more intensive, five-day seminar in March.February 13, 2006
by George Shirk
Under a full moon and with a backdrop of a blazing sunset and a torchlight procession, more than two hundred people gathered on Mammoth Mountain Monday night in a celebration of the life of Sara Johanna Carlsson, the 31-year-old ski patroller who lost her life in an avalanche. "We will see her on the other side of the mountain," intoned Pastor Fred Weatherly.by George Shirk
(Updated Sunday, Feb. 12)The new leader of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area said on Friday, Feb. 10, that he and his Starwood Capital Group envision Mammoth as a "wellness town," thereby differentiating itself from other resorts. "This is where you come to revitalize your soul and your well being," Barry Sternlicht said. View image
by George Shirk
Mammoth's Kelly Clark, the 2002 gold medalist in the Olympic women's halfpipe, finished fourth on Monday in the 2006 Olympic competition. Hannah Teter (Belmont, Vt.) and Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen/Snowmass Village, Colo.) earned gold and silver, respectively.February 12, 2006
by Bump Diamond
The United States claimed the gold and silver medals in the men's halfpipe snowboard competition at Bardonecchia Sunday afternoon. Shaun White (Carlsbad) posted an untouchable 46.8 on his first run, while Danny Kass (Mammoth) rebounded from a shaky first run to repeat as the Olympic silver medalist with a 44.0. View imageFebruary 10, 2006
by George Shirk
A Celebration of Sara Johanna Carlsson's Life will be held at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area's Main Lodge in the Mountainside Conference Center on Monday, February 13 at 6:30 p.m., ski area officials announced.February 09, 2006
by George Shirk
A 57-year-old Los Angeles woman died at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area on Wednesday, bringing the number of skier deaths there to five so far this season, all within the last two weeks. Susan Barbara Klausner was pronounced dead at Mammoth Hospital following a long fall through trees in the Lincoln Mountain section of the ski area.February 08, 2006
by George Shirk
The Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol, grieving over the loss of Patroller Johanna Carlsson in an avalanche last week, announced the formation of a memorial fund. "Johanna touched many of our lives, through work and play in a wonderful way," the Patrol said in a written statement. "We all feel the loss."February 06, 2006
by Mark Schlenz
The death of Ski Patroller Sara Johanna Carlsson in an avalanche thrust the newly formed avalanche center and its director, Sue Burak, into the kind of spotlight no one wanted. Here, from Mammoth Monthly magazine, is a profile of Burak and the center.February 04, 2006
by George Shirk
The avalanche that killed a Mammoth Mountain Ski Patroller last week ran a length of 1,600 feet, dropped 900 vertical feet and was 50 feet across at the toe, according to a report filed by the director of the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center.February 03, 2006
by George Shirk
A 38-year-old Southern California man who last week collided with a tree while skiing on Mammoth Mountain, has died from his injuries, adding to a tragic week of skiing that resulted in five deaths -- four in the ski area and one in the backcountry.by George Shirk
A woman was killed and two Mammoth men suffered injuries in an avalanche in the backcountry above Bridgeport on Wednesday, Feb. 1, a Mono County Sheriff's Department spokesperson said. The woman was identified as Sara Johanna Carlsson, 31, of Mammoth. Carlsson and both men were off-duty Ski Patrollers, according to Joani Lynch, communications director at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.February 02, 2006
by Ron Bernstein
One of skiing's sublime pleasures is tearing up a favorite run accompanied by family and friends on an otherwise empty slope. There are many such opportunities on Mammoth Mountain, but few as regularly and enjoyably as the trails and terrain surrounding Chair 25. Over one ridge is "Goldhill," a trail that twists and dives, undulates and rolls, and is wide enough for myself, my wife, and my daughter to match tight s-turns while whooping for joy all the long way down to its end at Chair 9. Turn left there, and glide back to Chair 25.by George Shirk
Backcountry skiers and snowboarders on Wednesday night, Feb. 1, successfully turned back a proposal by subdivision property owners along Ranch Road that would have instituted a "license agreement" providing for an exit from Sherwin Range ski runs.February 01, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Olympic Team snowboarders Mason Aguirre, Danny Kass and Kelly Clark will get a sendoff party at Wave Rave Snowboard Shop on Thursday evening.January 30, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Shaun White, the 19-year-old superstar of the halfpipe, won the superpipe gold medal at the made-for-TV X Games in Aspen on Monday night, Jan. 30. Mammoth's Mason Aguirre, the top qualifier in the event, finished second, washing out on his final run. Danny Kass (pictured) finished 10th among 10 finalists.January 29, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth snowboarders Mason Aguirre, Danny Kass (pictured), Shaun White and Kelly Clark all came up big at the X Games in Aspen, Colo.January 25, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth Mountain regulars dominated the spots on the U.S. Olympic Halfpipe Team, named on Sunday, Jan. 22. Mammoth regular Shaun White, 19, the red-haired "Flying Tomato" from Carlsbad, Calif., easily won a spot on the team. Joining him on the eight-person squad is Andy Finch, 24, a Mammoth Mountain regular who now rides out of Truckee, along with first-time Olympian Mason Aguirre, 18, from Mammoth and 2002 silver medalist Danny Kass, 23, also from Mammoth. Kelly Clark, 22, the native Vermonter and 2002 gold medalist who rides out of Mammoth, grabbed her second straight Olympic spot.by George Shirk
Defending World Cup and world champion Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, N.H.), three-event star Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, Calif., ) and emerging talents Lindsey Kildow (Vail, Colo.) and Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, Calif.) are part of a 19-member U.S. Olympic Alpine Team announced Wednesday, subject to approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee.by Bump Diamond
Defending World Cup champions Jeret "Speedy" Peterson (Boise, Ida.) and Jeremy Bloom (Loveland, Colo.) and reigning moguls world champion Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt.) plus four former Olympic medal winners were among 14 athletes nominated Wednesday, Jan. 25, for the 2006 Olympic Freestyle Team.by George Shirk
For the first time ever, Tamarack Cross Country Ski Center will host a U.S. Junior Olympic qualifying race this season. "Some of the top racers in the country will be traveling to Mammoth for the Tamarack venue," said Jim Stimson, one of the coaches for the Mammoth XC Ski Team. "This is the first time an event of this calibre has come to our area."January 17, 2006
by Bump Diamond
No Californians made the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Ski Team, which was named on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Instead, skiers from just about everywhere else, from Alaska, to Vermont; from Minnesota to New Hampshire, will represent the U.S. in Torino next month.January 16, 2006
by Bump Diamond
Steamboat, Colo., landed four Nordic skiers on the U.S. Olympic Team on Jan. 16, including six-time Nordic combined World Cup Winner Todd Lodwick and former sprint world champ Johnny Spillane. Four of the six combiners and three of the five...January 08, 2006
by Bump Diamond
We're here to say "Happy Birthday" to one of Mammoth's more iconic ski hill personalities -- "Caveman" Dave Fitzpatrick, who celebrated his 50th on Sunday, Jan. 8. It's worth a celebratory yowl from everyone. When Dave rides a chairlift or rides down the hill on his snowboard, more than likely he will howl: a great, throaty kind of howl. Children -- and baffled adults -- frequently get out of his way. Not to worry. Caveman Dave is on a mission: he carves snow angels next to the groomed runs on Mammoth Mountain.View image View imageJanuary 05, 2006
by Mammoth Monthly
"Shelter From The Storm" is not just an old Bob Dylan song. It becomes a primary concern on those cold and gusty days on Mammoth Mountain when not only is access barred to the top, but Chairs 3, 5 and 9 are also shut down due to dangerously high winds and limited visibility. That's when Chair 8 becomes an attractive option. Situated at the Canyon Lodge base, the old-style fixed-grip triple cuts narrowly through tall trees except when crossing one run, leaving your exposed skin in relative comfort. Turn right when leaving the chair and enter Hully Gully. This wide face is also protected from the elements, and the snow is usually very good. Groomed at least every other day, it is low enough to keep drifts from accumulating, but a two- or three-inch dusting maintains its softness. Even when heavily used, which is rare, either side will always provide satisfying carving.by Brandon Russell
The jury is in. The verdict has arrived. Women have different needs than men, and ski companies are starting to pay attention. It's about time. First of all, women are less heavy than men, so naturally they might want a lighter, softer ski. Second, it could be argued that women ski less aggressively, so they need a ski capable of responding with more finesse and less power. Having said that, K2 has built a ski for women looking to dabble in one of Mammoth's top-notch terrain parks this season -- the MissDemeanor ($750) -- while Rossignol has the Bandit B3 Women's ($849). It's fat and it will shred anything. Salomon and Armada also offer new skis for girls.January 04, 2006
by Brandon Russell
These days, a ride to the top on the Mammoth Mountain gondola provides as good a view as any of some of the most progressive skiing on the planet. At the bottom is the Unbound terrain park, where, on any given day, you can catch the world's best skiers boosting out of the halfpipe, flipping and spinning on the park's massive booters. Up top, you can see big-mountain rippers dropping the cliffs around the upper gondola building, bombing narrow chutes and wide-open bowls on either side. It is for this new breed of ripper that ski manufacturers are scrambling to perfect a twintip ski that can perform well in both the halfpipe and off the top.by Brandon Russell
Burton Snowboards is among the leaders paving the way for minute technical advances in snowboard technology, according to snowboard guru Steve Klassen, owner of Wave Rave. This season, Burton introduces the Burton Vapor, which Klassen says is the lightest board made by any company, ever. "That's the board that everyone is talking about right now," he says. Meanwhile, Klassen say, the real technology on the hill this season will be Burton's new line of outerwear, Audex. The Audex Jacket has pockets for both iPod and cell phone, and wires into the sleeve, where a display shows the song playing on the iPod and has caller ID for the cell phone.by Mammoth Local Staff
When Mammoth Mountain Ski Area opened Little Eagle and Canyon Lodges this season, skiers and boarders got a look at the new buses that run on the Blue and Green routes. View imageJanuary 02, 2006
by George Shirk
Blue skies greeted Mammoth Tuesday morning after a New Year's storm dropped a whopping eight feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. About six feet of snow fell in town, beginning Saturday morning and ending about midnight Monday. Mammothists awoke Tuesday to the sounds of avalanche guns and bombs as the Ski Patrol began to open runs and lifts. View imageby George Shirk
Mammoth's New Year was nothing if not memorable. A snowstorm that began early Saturday, Dec. 31, had dropped 83 inches of snow on the ski area by Monday afternoon, Jan. 2. Mammoth Mountain got 50 inches of snow overnight Sunday into Monday morning. According to Mammoth Mountain spokesperson Joani Lynch, snow fell at a rate of four to six inches an hour at its heaviest.January 01, 2006
by George Shirk
Mammoth Mountain had its busiest day ever on Thursday, Dec. 29, breaking a 20-year-old attendance record. Two days later (Saturday, Dec. 31) and in the middle of nasty weather up and down the Sierra Crest, Mammoth closed all its lifts, including those at June Mountain. Lifts were re-opened on Sunday, in between storms. Communications manager Dana Vander Houwen confirmed the Thursday record of 25,243, breaking the previous record of 23,035 on Nov. 30, 1985.December 29, 2005
by George Shirk
Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, Calif.), gathering speed as he came down the hill on new skis, collected the second World Cup victory of his glittering career in Bormio Thursday -- and his 11th win -- as he took the World Cup overall points lead while Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, N.H.) finished ninth and is second in the points.December 26, 2005
by George Shirk
Off-piste skiers and snowboarders who use the Sherwin Range have teamed up with the Advocates For Mammoth in an effort to protect public access to the popular hike-in ski and snowboard area.December 21, 2005
by George Shirk
The $365 million deal that the Starwood Capital Group hatched for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area became official Wednesday, according to the ski area's communications director, Joani Lynch. Rusty Gregory, who has worked for founder Dave McCoy for 29 years, will continue as chairman and chief executive officer and will hold a 12.5 per cent interest in the company, she said. Meanwhile, Intrawest Corporation will retain a 15 per cent interest in Mammoth Mountain.December 18, 2005
by George Shirk
True story: There's a woman standing on her skis near the bottom of West Bowl, one of the relatively few preserved bump runs at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. She's ecstatic -- a big, wide smile plastered on her mug. She has just navigated the moguls beautifully, picking a perfectly nice line, and then gliding down the slope, graceful as a swan. And then she looks back up the slope, and her smile vanishes. There, stuck on the side of the hill, is her skiing partner, obviously flummoxed past the point of frustration. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!” he yells.by Brandon Russell
Among the Mammoth Mountain ski cognoscenti this season, look for three things: fat, straight and all-terrain.
“Sidecuts don’t work for everything,” said Silver Chesak, a buyer for Footloose Sports and a superb skier. Rather, Chesak said ski shops are investing in fat, 88-millimeter skis that have a limited sidecut—suddenly the perfect all-terrain ski for intermediate and advanced skiers on Mammoth Mountain’s famously soft snow.
“After all this time, we finally are getting skis that work really well, that are really wide, have a limited sidecut and are super fun to ski on,” Chesak said. “On these, you can ski soft snow all day long.”
December 16, 2005
by George Shirk
For four consecutive years Mammoth extreme sports photographer Christian Pondella has traveled to Russia, stoking a relationship with the Russian people and the skiing at Krasnaya Polyana. As a result of his long-distance travels, Pondella's adventure photography, from hang-gliding to skiing, has become a fixture in gallery exhibitions, most notably those presented by Artum Zubkof, publisher of Vertical Mir magazine, a Moscow-based publication devoted to extreme sport. Those photographs are part of an exhibit of Pondella's work at the Mammoth Ski Museum, on display now. View imageDecember 11, 2005
by Bump Diamond
Mammoth Mountain opened its Super Pipe Dec. 10, and even if you're not a Pipe Hound, it's worth getting over there to see it. This year, Unbound Terrain Park director Oren Tanzer and his team built an Olympic-size Zaugg pipe with the same dimensions as the pipe that will be used in the Olympics in Torino this coming February. This Super Pipe is 450 feet long, has 18-foot walls and a 20-foot transition. Through December, athletes from international Olympic teams including the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Germany and others will be training in Mammoth. Notable Olympic hopefuls training in Mammoth's pipe include Danny Kass, Ross Powers and Mercedes Nichol.December 10, 2005
by George Shirk
Off-piste skiers and snowboarders who use the Sherwins as an alpine playground want the town to provide them an official easement to prevent conflicts with homeowners along the now-gated communities along Ranch Road. "We want an easement written in stone,” said Hans Ludwig, a 10-year resident of Mammoth and an outdoors journalist. "We want something that's legally binding that there will be access there.”December 02, 2005
by George Shirk
In spite of early-season obstacles such as rocks, the odd stump and that fearsome family of four from Fairfax, Mammoth opened Canyon and Eagle Lodges Saturday morning.by George Shirk
The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, which makes a perennial stop in Bishop, announced its film lineup this week. James Wilson of Wilson's Eastside Sports sponsors the event, and it is up to him to cull from the lineup which films we'll see in Bishop on March 31 and April 1 at the Bishop Union High School Auditorium.by Brandon Russell
The skiing was pretty good up there this morning (Friday). When I left, Chairs 1,2, and 11 were the only ones open running. Chair 10 was spinning, so it could open today, or they might have just been warming it up for the weekend.December 01, 2005
by George Shirk
In spite of the first significant storm of the season, skiers, snowboarders, cross-country skaters and the rest of the winter throng are staying home in droves this weekend and next week. That means the slopes of Mammoth Mountain will once again be a kind of locals' paradise, as will the aisles at Vons.November 27, 2005
by Bump Diamond
One day after finishing a frustrated 32nd in the opening downhill of the season, former super G world champion Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) stepped onto his first podium Sunday, finishing third in a super G at Lake Louise. Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, who won his first World Cup race, an event in which the top three racers were just eight-hundredths of a second apart.November 15, 2005
by mammoth admin
By Dick Dorworth I was a ski racer from Reno in the 1950s and '60s, and the mountain and people and experiences of Mammoth were a huge part of my formative years and beyond. Mammoth is part of my heart and life experience, a guide to the mind. Only the inaccuracy of nostalgia allows people to claim that the '50s were a “better” time for American skiers, but both my heart and mind tell me it was a simpler era. Today's Mammoth Mountain skier gets miles more skiing on better and more varied terrain than the skier of 50 years ago. But it does not seem to me that the personal satisfaction, well-being and joy of the day's skiing endeavors are any better.November 13, 2005
by Mammoth Monthly
It is a deep dive into the mind to remember things of more than 50 years ago. But the heart best retains the past and most strongly connects it to the present and, sometimes, the future. At least so it is for me. Things of the heart do not fade away like old soldiers; they maintain and nourish and are always there to be called upon, learned from, cherished and loved, even when removed by time and distance.by Mammoth Monthly
God knows I've had my share of slopeside meltdowns. But today I have two joyfully skiing teenagers. Here are a few things I learned along the way: * This was your idea. Never forget that teaching your kids to ski or snowboard was your idea, not theirs. I've never heard of a 4-year-old who, out of the blue, started begging to spend a whole day in ski school.by Mammoth Monthly
She was sprawled flat on her back midway down Sesame Street, her little arms spread-eagle and her snowboard straight up in the air. “I can't get up!” she shrieked. “For God's sake, Emma, stop screaming!” yelled her dad, who was about 50 feet downhill from her. “Just roll over and GET UP!”November 11, 2005
by Mammoth Monthly
Having lived through last year's hunk o' burning thighs, you swore you'd be physically prepared for skiing and snowboarding this year. Are you? If not, cramming leg strength and cardio workouts the way you did for college exams is as dangerous to the outcome of your winter sports experiences as not doing them at all.by Bump Diamond
It's hard to say if spending $4 million on a re-do of Mammoth Mountain's Main Lodge third floor is going to be worth it in the end, but in the short run it sure seems like the right thing, if for no other reason than the rockin' new bar. View imageNovember 10, 2005
by George Shirk
So I was on the chairlift shortly after 8:30 this morning, and never mind that the town was in sunlight. Opening Day 2005 on Mammoth Mountain began with a dense fog on the top of Chair 1, not that anybody really minded. It was a hoot all the way around, except for people who get all goofy in dense fog, like Kathy Copeland.Advertisement
