Mammoth Mountain opens their slopes for the winter just 3 months after ending a record season

AccuWeather

Record-breaking amounts of snow caused the 2022-2023 ski season to last all the way through the summer at Mammoth Mountain, and just three months later, they're back in business.

Transcript

00:00 Mammoth Mountain is up and running in California's Sierra Mountains.

00:04 The resort opened last weekend, just three months after it closed on August 6th.

00:09 Our Jeff Cornish asked Joanne Lynch, VP of Marketing and Sales at Mammoth Resorts,

00:14 how they were able to restart for a new season so quickly.

00:19 I'll tell you, it was a very short summer for us here at Mammoth.

00:23 As you mentioned, we closed last season on August 7th.

00:27 We had 95 days between that closure and our opening day last Friday, November 10th.

00:32 So yeah, it was a short summer, but it's what we like to do up here in the mountains.

00:37 You know, Mammoth's location up high in the eastern Sierra, we have a high elevation,

00:41 we do get a lot of snow, and typically that allows us to open early.

00:45 As you can see, it is snowing a little bit on me now as we're welcoming the storm into California,

00:50 and we're hoping to see some good snowfall out of this in the coming days.

00:53 You guys do it well, that is for sure.

00:55 So last year, Mammoth Mountain experienced record snowfall,

00:59 and with an El Nino established again for this winter, we could be in for another snow surplus.

01:04 So does Mammoth Mountain prepare differently for a big snow season?

01:09 You know, we're always ready for big snow seasons here in Mammoth.

01:12 Our average snowfall is about 400 inches.

01:15 That's on an average year. Last year at the base of Mammoth Mountain, we had well over 700 inches of snow.

01:21 So we're always prepared for those big winter storms that come and hit us.

01:24 We have a lot of equipment. We are really well prepared for those big storms.

01:30 And how was opening weekend, and what are the conditions like right now?

01:33 How many runs do you have open?

01:35 We had a great opener last Friday.

01:38 We do have four lifts open servicing three trails right now.

01:41 Just intermediate and advanced terrain is available today,

01:44 but with this snowfall and some cooler temps and our snowmakers going to work,

01:48 we should be able to get some beginner terrain open real quickly.

01:51 That's really, really good to hear.

01:53 And regarding the base, it looks good behind you.

01:56 Is much of that natural snow that fell,

01:59 or have you been cranking out some man-made snow with snowmaking at this point?

02:03 Yeah. Early last week, we got about six inches of fresh snow,

02:07 and we've been making snow on top of that.

02:09 And as an added bonus, up high on the mountain,

02:12 we are recycling some of last year's snowpack that still stayed in place.

02:16 So we've done some work to groom out those slopes, and it's helped us open even more terrain.

02:20 We do have terrain available above mid-mountain because of that extra snow from last season.

02:26 And what makes Mammoth Mountain unique as a great spot for skiing?

02:30 Well, you know, California and skiing, they're not always as expected.

02:36 But what is special about Mammoth, again, is our high elevation.

02:40 We get big snow. We also get big sunshine.

02:42 So we have a lot of days to ski and snowboard in the sunshine, too.

02:45 And is there anything new this year at Mammoth Mountain?

02:48 Yeah. Again, a short construction cycle with only three months of summer for us here.

02:54 But in that time, we've managed to install a brand-new chairlift.

Category

Transcript

Recommended