Mammoth

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With a 3 foot storm on Halloween weekend, Mammoth Mountain opened on November 3rd. The first storm was wet and stuck to everything. I started work a week after the mountain opened and have been in skis 6 days/week since.

On Saturday December 20th, I was freeskiing in the Dragon's Back area and became part of a herd of skiers traversing the ridge trying to find a line. I passed up the second chute and dropped into the third. As I turned under the rock ban, I saw a plume of snowy smoke and a ski, stuck nose-in backwards below a double crown line. I immediately called patrol while Scott began a beacon search. As soon as I got off the phone I received a relayed yell that the skier had been found and he was ok. I grabbed the ski and began a beacon search down the path. The skier was found 1,000 ft. below his ski, on top of the snow. He had a laceration and welt on his cheak from a tree, but otherwise he was ok. Out of the herd of 10 experienced skiers, Scott and I were the only two with beacons on that day.

Luckily, King the Avalanche Rescue Dog, was ready at the Top of the World. He was dispatched and on-scene in minutes and was able to give a thorough comb of the area to give us peace of mind. He's good...Really good. Thanks King, Chief, Sean and Scott.

December brought us over 120 inches, Christmas Day was dumping and it is now sunny and warm.

Happy New Year-!!-Feliz Ano Nuevo-!!-Swa Ti Bi Mai

!!!!!!!!!!2009!!!!!!!

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Photos

Snow
The beginning of our season

Orographic Lifting
Mammoth is a Magnet

Storm days
Storm days are fun.

Dragon's Back Crown Line
The crown went all the way across the back

Dragon's Back
This is the top of Back 2 where the slide began

Ski
This was the ski position when I found it... around 1,000 ft. above where he ended up

Crown
You can see the double fracture line...scarey

Run Out
He ended up in the toe

The Cavalry
The patrollers worked quickly and efficiently searching the area before King arrived.

Double on Hemlock
This was a sweet double stager on Hemlock Bowl. It was a fresh and soft landing..

Phil's Coulour
I think Phillippe's is acurately named because it's steep tight and has a mandatory air out...Phil's

Follow Me! mayhem
On Saturday Follow Me wasn't groomed and Chair 8 was broken so let's have a counting game 1-2-3--12 people who took the traverse too low and are now hiking to the top of Chair 8 to go to Eagle. Hillarious!!!!

Phil Wall Chute
The snow melted mid-day and by the time we got there it was frozen and punchy, but it was still alot of fun. The throat was smaller than a 189cm ski and it was hard rocky snow so straightlining was tough. We agreed that side slipping was ok.

Wall Chute
Wall Chute is the one farthest to the right.

Fresh
Crusty but fresh

Everybody on the Bus
This is one of the new Cats. I really want to buy one.