Several feet of new snow sets up a great skiing weekend at Mammoth Mountain

AccuWeather

January was a quiet month at Mammoth Mountain, but storms in February have already dumped multiple feet of snow across the area. How do they keep up with that much snow?

Transcript

00:00While the atmospheric river is bringing heavy rain and extreme weather across California,

00:04if you get up there in elevation, heavy snow is hammering areas across the Sierra Nevada.

00:10And joining us during today's ski day, it's a big time ski day if you're able to get there,

00:15is Emily Van Groening, Communications Manager for Mammoth Mountain. And Emily, I know that,

00:20what, a year or two ago you had a spectacular snow season, big time numbers. This year, you know,

00:27we had some quieter spells, but we're getting into it in a big way here today for sure.

00:30So how much snow has fallen so much, so far today? Yeah, as you mentioned, we did,

00:36we started super strong in November, over 60 inches, the most we've had in over a decade.

00:41But then it was a little soft there for a little bit, January, not our best month.

00:46We're sitting at over 45 inches though for February. And just within the last 24 hours,

00:51we've picked up two to three feet on the mountain. So we're super, super excited about it. We are

00:56so excited to get out there and enjoy the snow. But we're expecting snowfall to continue all the

01:01way through tomorrow afternoon. And then for the storm to clear just in time for the long weekend,

01:08so we couldn't be happier. That's great. And well, I know that the rhythm of snow in the

01:14California area is just, it's so chaotic sometimes. So a great start, a little quieter, and you're

01:19into it in a big way now. Has the volume of snow changed which runs are open? Is it too much too

01:24fast at times? And are there any issues with high winds impacting ski lifts?

01:29Yeah, you know, that's, those are all very true things and totally accurate. With that being said,

01:35so for example, today we did manage to get a few lifts open. Our top priority is always safety of

01:41our employees and our guests. So with that being said, there were lots of lifts we just couldn't

01:45open today, mostly due to the fact that we do have some really high winds on the mountain.

01:51With big snowfall comes some really significant wind. The summit seeing some wind gusts over 80

01:57miles an hour. So yes, absolutely. In terms of snowfall and too much too fast, we're so used to

02:05this. It may have been a little bit of a slow start for the season, but it's just another day

02:11in the office for us in terms of moving a whole bunch of snow that comes down really quickly.

02:16That's pretty good stuff. So are there extra hurdles with this, with additional heavy snow

02:20overnight? Is there much that has to be done on a morning like tomorrow after heavy overnight snow

02:26to get things open and running for the next crowd tomorrow morning? Yeah, absolutely. As you can see,

02:32it's pretty windy here still, but as the storm rolls out tomorrow, the wind should die down for

02:37a really amazing weekend. But in terms of how we get ready for the next day, we have our operations,

02:44CAT crew, patrol teams coming super early. And then we also have grooming throughout the entire

02:49night to get ready for that next morning and make sure that our lifts open as fast as we possibly

02:55can again while we're as safe as possible. So there's a lot that goes into it. We work really

03:00closely with the town just to make sure that the roads are as clear as possible. And we're just

03:05trying to be as safe as we can, but trying to make sure we get our guests out there to enjoy

03:09the fresh powder. All right, great stuff. We are happy for anybody with plans to ski this weekend

03:14and certainly events like these extend the ski season deeper into the spring. We appreciate you

03:19and all that you're sharing with us. Emily Van Groening, communications manager with Mammoth

03:23Mountain. Thanks again. Thank you.

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