Mammoth Mini 2006 - P4/Paranoid 4, Philippe's, Kiwi Flats/Star Chute/Frenchies photos wanted. Please post all steep Mammoth run photos on this thread.
I am also interested seeing photos posted on this thread of other steep runs at Mammoth (entrance photos looking down, exit photos looking up, photos of the entire skier/boarder standing on the entrance that show the steepness of the run - similar to the Dragon's Tail photo by Descender, and action photos of the skier/boarder in the middle of the descent). I like the stoke from seeing photos of steep lines.
If anyone has a camera this upcoming weekend at the Mammoth Mini 2006, I would be interested in seeing current photos of the following:
Also, if you have these photos or know of links for photos from current or any previous years, please post them on this thread and identify the date to the best of your recollection. I would like to see how these Mammoth runs change during the course of a season and over the years.
P4/Paranoid 4/Noid 4
A) close up of ridge out to P4 showing how narrow it is from the top of Paranoid Flats/P3 area
B) entrance of P4 looking down
C) view of P4 from top of Philippe's
D) looking up P4 from exit area
Philippe's
A) entrance of Philippe's looking down
B) looking up Philippe's from exit area
Kiwi Flats/Star Chute
A) path from top of Paranoid Flats to entrance of Kiwi Flats/Star Chute
B) entrance of Kiwi Flats/Star Chute looking down
C) views of Kiwi Flats/Star Chute looking up & looking down from choke stone
D) looking up Kiwi Flats/Star Chute from exit area
Frenchies
A) path from top of Paranoid Flats to entrance of Frenchies line
B) entrance of Frenchies looking down
C) looking up at Frenchies line in Kiwi Flats/Star Chute from exit area
MAPS/NAMES OF MAJOR MAMMOTH LINES
Bullet has a great post "PSA - A Guide to the Lines at Mammoth" (see quote immediately below) with a lot of excellent close up photos showing the lines and their names http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=48646
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bullet
I'm still learning the names of many of the lines at Mammoth. Sometimes I just make them up, such as "Gun Site" and "Green Rock", and "Something Easy".
But I found an interactive photo of Mammoth on the Patrol.mammothmountain.com site. It shows the Avy bomb and shot placement on many of the lines that get skied a lot. The site lists the Patrol's name for the lines. I figure there are many other names out there, but this may represent the most accurate nomenclature for stuff.
Being quite bored, waiting to head up to Mammoth, I took the time to screen grab, edit and post the various pictures in my Various Lines at Mammoth - Scenics http://billhenry.smugmug.com/gallery/1048065 album on my smugmug account. http://billhenry.smugmug.com. As a general service to the community, I'm posting some pic here for your viewing pleasure. Let me know if this is helpful and that the time I spent on this worthwhile to the community. Thanks.
MAMMOTH MAP OF MAJOR LINES WITH INCLINATION (STEEPENESS IN DEGREES)
Also Mammoth Ski Patrol has an excellent interactive map http://patrol.mammothmountain.com/Atlas/Atlas.html.
By moving the mouse pointer over different areas of the map, you can click on a highlighted area to bring up a new page with more information. By moving the mouse pointer over the Shot Placements text on the new page you can see where the avy bombs are placed for each run. By moving the mouse pointer over the Path Information text on the new page, you can see elevation, vertical, length, inclin. start (initial steepness in degrees), inclin. path (steepness in degrees of the run), and aspect (direction in which the run faces in degrees).
KIWI FLATS/STAR CHUTE & FRENCHIES LEGEND
I believe that the correct name is Kiwi Flats or Kiwi Flat but many people refer to it as Star Chute. According to the Mammoth Ski Patrol map and Bullet's post, Starr Chutes actually are above Whitebark Bowl to the right of Kiwi Flats.
The legend as to how the run got the Kiwi Flats name was that John Armstrong (PSIA President & VP HR at Mammoth) who is a Kiwi first skied this line and said "Oh, it's flat" even though he entered the line on a rappel.
Supposedly after Mike McGrale dropped into this run, people started referring to this as Star Chute. The International Free Skiers Association (IFSA) posted results from the 2002 IFSA Footloose Sports Freeride North American Tour #2 Mammoth stop http://freeskiers.org/article.php?sid=92 also used the Star Chute name.
...Footloose Sports Freeride NA Tour #2---
Brilliant day-warm sunny and spectacular-- Mammoth Lakes, CA
Top of the World for one run and then over to Philippe's and Star chute with the top 10 men. Brett Deuter, Aaron Estrada, Elija Lee and Josh Sadaj all skied variations of Guelain's Gravity Games line.
Also in a Skiing Magazine article "Huck to Live" http://www.skiingmag.com/skiing/feat...329177,00.html writer Stephan Drake refers to this line as Star Chute when talking about the Gravity Games Big Mountain event held at Mammoth. I believe that the line that Guerlain Chicherit took in the Gravity Games 2000 at Mammoth (1/20-23/00) has become known as Frenchies.
....The snow doesn't faze Guerlain Chicherit, a steely-eyed young Frenchman and the 1999 winner of the World Extremes. This kid is incredible. After seeing Chicherit ski in New Zealand, a pro skier friend of mine said, "Okay, I quit." And did.
I watch Chicherit descend a line on Star Chute that looks not only unskiable, but lethal. He drops a 20-foot ledge down to a pocket of snow about the size of a Persian rug, then launches another cliff onto a similarly exposed piece of white. Unflinching, he moves out onto the biggest drop on the face. He sails off the 50-footer and lands perfectly on the course's lower slope. Carrying serious speed, he hits another rock, goes airborne, and rotates a huge, laid-out front flip. His run turns out to be one of the highest scoring in big-mountain history, a 48.2 out of 50. Stellar runs usually score in the low 40's.
At the finish line, people are laughing, hooting, and clapping uncontrollably. Chicherit skis into the finish with a bloody, swollen lip, the result of his knee slamming into his face on one of the landings.
Don't be surprised to see phots of people dropping everything you mentioned, except maybe Frenchies.
05-03-2006, 03:38 PM
PNWbrit
Are you writing a guide book?
Do you know Martin Bell?
05-03-2006, 03:51 PM
AntiSoCalSkier
I didn't get an up-close view, but last weekend, Star looked skiable. The drop at the top looks to be about a 10 foot cornice, and the rock in the middle is exposed, but could easily be skied around. Also the traverse in from the side (I think it's called pussy traverse) looks to be pretty clean. I'm actually thinking that I might be able to knock Star off my list this coming weekend (although it probably won't count since I'll definitely use the traverse). Chicken Balls is also looking interesting.
(I figure the entire point of a big snow year is to let me ski lines that are usually beyond me so that I can then name-drop them in the bar during low snow years.)
05-03-2006, 04:07 PM
Skis4Fun
Quote:
Originally Posted by PNWbrit
Are you writing a guide book?
Do you know Martin Bell?
I skied Mammoth last Friday 4/28 for the first time ever. In the late afternoon I had a chance to drop into P4 and Philippe's and was very impressed with the steepness of the slope. I also thought that the ridge going out to P4 from P3 was fairly narrow and would make a great photo showing the narrowness and drop off.
According to Ski Stats Slope Ratings http://www.skistats.com/slopes_detail.asp?lowest=30, Philippe's max is 50 degrees and min is 40 degrees. There are no slope ratings posted for P4, Kiwi Flats/Star Chute, Frenchies.
Perhaps someone who has a LifeLink Slope Meter could lend it to one of their friends who is going to the Mammoth Mini?
I am not writing a guidebook. I am just a decent skier (not a rockstar like many folks on this forum) who enjoys having fun on steep slopes. I like the stoke from seeing photos of steep lines.
Holy shiiiiiit! There is not a single rock or twig in P4. :confused: And it looks like it's about 30 degrees. I don't know if I've ever seen that before. It looks like a damn roll-over into P3.
05-03-2006, 06:14 PM
comish
Ya, what SBDT said. Amazing. Wild. There is gonna be snow on that for a good while...
05-03-2006, 06:15 PM
tuffy109
Quote:
Originally Posted by SponsoredByDuctTape
Holy shiiiiiit!
i was like, that's not it.
05-03-2006, 07:53 PM
50kLeg
P4 scared me until I was in it. Its a cake walk. Same with Phillipes. Not saying I rip them or anything but they aren't that bad.
Was very misguided when I first went out there and though that Kiwi was Phillipes. Jumped into it and did saftey turns (more or less) the whole way down but did it clean and confidently.
Star Chute is really nothing and the helment cam run was actually Kiwi not Star. Star chute is just below the rock face above White Bark Bowl.
Frenchies from what I under stand is just ricockulous and more of a billygoat 20-20-50 footers than a line you ski.
Does anyone have a sense as to the slope (max & min degrees) of Kiwi Flats, Frenchies, Philippe's & P4? Do you own or have access to a LifeLink Slope Meter www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C8F0NC? Do you agree with SkiStats Slope Ratings www.skistats.com/slopes_detail.asp?lowest=30 that Philippe's has a maximum of 50 degrees and minimum of 40 degrees? I believe that these are user submitted ratings (Just click on Add a slope). For some reason, Philippe's didn't feel quite that steep perhaps due to the fact that I skied it on 4/28/06.
Does this Chris Davenport Gravity Games photo show the standard Kiwi Flats entrance as it should show Pssy Traverse from this angle if it was? If not, what is the name for this line? http://web.archive.org/web/200106251...avenport-C.jpg
Are there any photos that show how big the patches of snow are that one has to land on as one billygoat's down Frenchies line?
Thanks for your help.
05-04-2006, 11:00 AM
Long duc dong
The philippe's rating sounds about right to me. It maintains it's pitch pretty well. It always feels steeper to me than hangman's, although I quess Hangman's might be steeper at the very top. That steepness list though...The only two squaw lines they had were silverado and KT, and they just rated the whole areas. There are countless lines on those peaks which are MUCH steeper than 37 degrees. Middle knuckle, Eagle's nest, those are probably 60 to 65. Still a nice list though. Squallywood is the authority on squaw.
Descender - I like this photo. This reminded me of an excellent photo from above of Todd Miller descending in Rock Chute at Mammoth that provided a great sense of the steepness/scale of the run. The Rock Chute photo was on p.201 of a coffee table type book called Mammoth: The Sierra Legend by Martin Forstenzer.
Do you/anyone else have any other photos of other steep Mammoth runs similar to this showing the entire skier/boarder standing on top of the run or view from above of a skier/boarder descending which provides a sense of the steepness/scale of the run and/or entrance photos looking down steep Mammoth runs.
05-08-2006, 06:17 PM
Skis4Fun
Bodhi posted a good shot of P4 from the Mammoth Mini
Descender/anyone else - Do you have more shots of the traverse out to P4 past the jutting rock in the middle of this one?
This shot almost feels like the top of the P3 ridge just before one gets to the rock jutting out in the middle of your picture. After the rock, I believe that one descends down the traverse/ridge (which I remember as being fairly narrow with nice dropoffs) to the P4 ridge.
I'm looking for top down shots of the path on top of the P4 ridge that show this area from the CS shot of the Mammoth Mini 2006 rockstar lineup on P4
Tyrone Shoelaces (see quote below from McGee thread) and other folks are looking for current photos (all angles - entrance looking down, exit looking up, side view, etc.) of potential steep inbound locations at Mammoth where the Freeride World Tour qualifiers Nissan Mammoth Open & Nissan Mammoth Quest may be held.
I thought this thread title may be noticed more so post your photos here with location name and approximate date of photo (if known). If you do not already have a photo hosting website, you may consider AOL Pictures http://pictures.aol.com which allows unlimited uploads/downloads/bandwidth of full resolution photos (unlike Photobucket, Flickr, etc.) at no cost.
Does anybody have any current pics of inbound locations for us lesser-rad-than-Alto peeps who have to go through the earlier qualifying rounds? :D
Not sure where the inbounds qualifiers are going to be held....but I'm guessing the usual suspects. i.e. Phillippes / Star Chute area, Top of the World, and I've even heard a rumor about Hemlock Ridge for a potential tamer spot. I'm guessing these recent storms have filled nearly everything in??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparky
So... Here's the deal. Sorry, I got to the party late. In the past, IFSA event venues have included... Avy 1 & 2 in a qualifying round. Rodeo Chute (or, No Way Out, as it is on the maps they have) being the only thing to really hit and can only handle about 10 skiers max. before the entrance gets too scraped out; Hemlock in a qualifying round. This venue was only used because the visibilty was too poor everywhere else and the window was closing quick; The Chair 9 Area is most commonly used for the qualifying rounds. The venue is usually from the First Head Chute through the Whazoo. Plenty to choose from in the Head Chutes. You're able to ski your line from the Head Chutes and make the traverse to the Whazoo without being docked, as long as it's fluid... And den... (no and den) They've also used Paranoids 1-4 including Phillipe's (but not Kiwi's) in other qualifier's. Generally, the finals for the IFSA Comps. have been The Top Of The World. They first used Paranoid 4 thru Kiwi's in the Gravity Games. That's when Frenchies was born. So, the following IFSA Comp. had the finals at The Top Of The World, but a bunch of the competitors had wanted to hit Frenchies in the Comp., so they took the top 5 (I think, maybe a few more) and did another round over there.
They've used a lot of venues over the years, and it kind of depends on where the snow is (you know the drill... "wind and weather permitting"). Since this is a feeder event, I would expect to see at least one round held in the P-4 thru Kiwi's venue. Hope that helps. The Atlas can give you a good look at these venues (as I'm sure you've already seen). Good luck.
You can see a few skiers on P4 ridge to get a sense of the scale. P4 (aka Paranoid 4. Paranoid Flats looking up from left to right includes P1, P2, P3, and P4)
In Alto's "Gravity Games @ Mammoth, Big Mtn. ?'s" thread, links to the following 2 videos were posted by Riverslime & Alto respectively.
Gravity Games 2000 (Frenchies line by Guerlain Chicherit which scored a 48.2 from P4/Philippes/Kiwi Flats area & Shane McConkey's 1st run 45.2 score and 2nd run 44.4 score in Kiwi Flats) held at Mammoth from January 20-23, 2000. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNKgyo_o-_s
Mammoth Free Skiing Championships (unknown? & Top of The World areas) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gt2ROlEswQ Does anyone know what big mountain tour this is from and/or when this event was held?
Please post links to other video footage of steep lines being skied at Mammoth (professional or amateur).
01-11-2008, 02:52 PM
Bullet
Sorry - I forgot how to edit the audio. Let me fix that, and I'll repost.
01-11-2008, 06:37 PM
Bullet
edit: damn i suck at the internet. I'll fix the vids
01-11-2008, 07:29 PM
Bullet
Ok Skis4fun, I think I finally got the vids to work right. I was out of action pretty much all of the 06-07 season, so sorry for the older vids. Nothing to the standards of maggots today, but they all got my heart pumping. Most definitely falls into the amateur category. For scale - I'm 6'1".
Balls attempt 4 - early season 04-05 - so close. I was really bummed after this attempt. I thought I had it, but no:
That's all I got worth posting. Does that help your efforts?
01-11-2008, 08:17 PM
alto
Good stuff.
02-02-2009, 09:04 PM
skateboardNsnow
still confused....
Even after all of these photos i am still confused as to which run is kiwi flat and which is phillipe's. and star chute? in other words how do you get to each from the top of the ridge? it would be cool if someone posted pictures of the three, differentiated. i ski mammoth a lot, and for some reason still am not able to differentiate them. also, when you all say "p4" are you referring to paranoid flats? keep up the good work, and thanks a lot you guys!
Kiwi - From the high point - lookers right - The proper entrance is from the top of the chute. There is the traverse that comes up from lookers right.
P3/P4 - From the high point - lookers left
Phillipes -can't see it in this photo. Ski the top of P3/P4. Hook left. Hit a little saddle. Join Kiwi as it runs into the apron.
Star Chute. A lot of people mistakenly think Kiwi is Start. It's not. Star is a little chute off White Bark right that runs into White Bark Bowl close to where the Kiwi apron runs into Whitebark.
The photos posted are from when the area is very filled in. Right now, Phillipes and Kiwi area sketchy. Don't screw up.
02-02-2009, 10:34 PM
skateboardNsnow
haha thanks man. just one more thing- do you have any photos of MJB's or Huevos? prefferedly at a filled in time. thanks a lot, man!
Knock yourself out man. Its doubtful that all of it is ski able this year though.
Click on Dave's for a shot of Huevos. Click on Cornice for a shot of MJB's.
02-03-2009, 12:42 AM
skateboardNsnow
thanks guys
02-03-2009, 12:59 AM
Gebster
Huevos was a inclined ice hockey ring this last weekend...not worth the risk for now
02-03-2009, 08:28 AM
tarkman1
Huevos Proper hasn't been skied for the last two seasons. It fills sometimes and other times it doesn't. Top of the World can get killed by wind. Huevos is a mandatory air now to the normal steep landing on boilerplate snow.
What's point of having photos with the lines totally filled in? Three and four seasons ago are the exception. We may not see the lines that filled in for a decade.