Random Shots from a Huge Winter
Had to re-size these for another project...
Last year was the biggest winter here in Mammoth since the mid nineties- I didn't shoot a lot of photos, but here's some randoms:
Climax after the season's first storm cycle 6+ feet. The first few days of the year were some of the best of the season: ultra-stable, cold powder, with all the terrain still sticking out on the hill.
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/92/climax17ht.jpg
Climax again after the monster storm cycle that basically lasted for two solid weeks starting around Xmas.
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/9140/climax25nq.jpg
The end result: Upper Dry Creek in late March after over 500 inches. There's all kinds of fun terrain buried under that ballroom- good sizes ridges and cliffs, completely gone without a trace. The whole mtn was like this by January- filled in completely smooth. After that, new snow actually made the hill noticeably flatter as it piled up on the lower half of the upper mtn.
http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/3451/upperdry5dc.jpg
January Nukeage. I love snow, but living in Mammoth is fucked up. Lift towers were drifted over and buried after this one.
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/3391/condo5hn.jpg
Which leads to stuff like this- go out to dinner, have a few beers, and you can't find the damn car. It will surface a day or two later when a front end loader smashes it while plowing the lot. Thanks for playing!
http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/1708/car8cc.jpg
Fortunately it also leads to stuff like this...
http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/567/tour8jx.jpg
And this.
Matt Schott skinning underneath the E face of Mt Morrison- at least one of the lines visible in the shot was skied last winter by maggots- proud shit. I'm amazed how many people ski the little peak in front of this mountain (previous pic) when only a little more work puts you on top of this amazing face.
http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/4...rrison17xy.jpg
My dog scopes the mandatory 10 footer into her line while Tony Dublino shreds on the E face.
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/6782/dog1nb.jpg
What are you waiting for?
http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/7240/dog23tj.jpg
This is another chute that filled in and got skied for the first time since 98- about 5,000 vert of moderate terrain that runs right to the desert floor. Drool.
http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/1...dvalley7wy.jpg
The E face of Laurel was also super stacked.
The main line below is the Mendenhall Couloir.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/1030/laurel11yn.jpg
H-wood in the Mendenhall.
http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/8089/hwood6qr.jpg
The N face of Red Slate: the definitive cooler. The backdoor line (looker's left of the couloir) was slithered by a snowboarder for the first since Chris Pondella and Todd Miller skied it a few years ago.
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/7255/redslate1fs.jpg
Meanwhile, back on the ski hill, the snow just kept piling up.
http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/2483/cars8qp.jpg
The upper mountain on April 3- stacked beyond belief- there was well over 30 feet of snow piled up on the lower half by this time.
This shot was taken the weekend of the Alpine Nationals.
In the foreground is the super G course. The race crew set up all the fencing and then the area above the course slid and buried everything. So they dug it out and set it all up again. And it snowed that night, and the upper mtn slid and buried all the fencing again.
The biggest air I saw anyone catch on the hill year belonged to some US ski teamer who hucked (at high speed) the cornice in the upper right side of this shot- on his Super G skis no less. He landed right above the highest traverse track.
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/7148/varmits7rs.jpg
Kiwi Flat same day- express elevator going down.
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/9845/kiwi6cc.jpg
