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"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.

A road coming down from the ridge to the east sets up the first of several options. Continuing straight, and getting some air from the edge of the road, skiers and boarders encounter a gently twisting 100 yards of pleasure. Two runs from the right join in a broad, flat space, but if you shoot through this toward a notch directly ahead, you'll be on Clover Leaf, heading back to Canyon Lodge.

On your next run down Hully Gully, turn left on the road and then make a quick right to enter the bottom of Lower Grizzly, another twisting, slightly steeper trail with a short face next to Chair 22. (The chair will likely be closed because of the winds on Lincoln Mountain above, and we always nod with knowing contentment when we pass, then shoot again through the notch.)

While the ridge to the left off the chair is wide, too gently sloped and exposed, it can give you some fulfilling runs if you use it to take you to greener pastures. The first two trails to the left are short mogul fields, if that's your desire. Past them, a well-marked fork to the right is the approach for Blue Jay, the only black diamond run available from Chair 8. Blue Jay, known by some locals as "Garbage Bowl," is narrow and steep, with wildly unpredictable conditions. Surrounded by trees, always in shadow, its moguls can be large and icy or small and forgiving, or, when groomed, completely absent. Similarly, the snow can be hard or soft. A potential challenge to intermediate skiers, my family's history with this run demonstrates the possibilities.

My wife grew up skiing the slippery concrete of New England, when she was too young to fear anything. She didn't ski in California until she was 40, which meant that she had to learn all over again, with the consequences of danger a part of the package.

On her first trip down Blue Jay, the moguls were small boulders with glistening sides, unskiable for her. With a glare at me, she removed her skis and walked down. Years later, when her skiing had improved, we began finishing each day on Blue Jay, and every successful passage was accompanied by her upraised arms in a "Rocky" victory salute.