The massive dichotomy between the snow-rich and snow-poor areas of ski country is growing larger by the day鈥攃ase in point, while the Mountain West and Far West are getting buried. Perhaps nowhere is it more evident than at , California, where it started snowing in late October and basically hasn鈥檛 stopped.
The snow continues to fall this week. (Photo: Peter Morning/Mammoth Mountain)
The last storm dropped several feet of snow over the weekend through Monday, January 9, pushing the overall snow total to 270 inches. The next storm has already arrived and is expected to leave another 30 to 36 inches in its wake. of snow as of Tuesday, January 10, with a 164-inch base at the Main Lodge and a 230-inch base at the summit.
By contrast, the mountain saw 233 total inches of snow during the 2021-22 winter.
While Mammoth is used to getting big dumps, the intensity and frequency of this season鈥檚 storms are unique. 鈥淭his amount of snow isn鈥檛 atypical at Mammoth,鈥 said resort communications director Lauren Burke, 鈥渂ut it doesn鈥檛 matter how many times you see snow this deep, it still leaves you a bit in awe. We鈥檒l likely have close to 30 feet of snow at Main Lodge by the end of the week鈥攚ith much more up top. It sets up for an incredible season that will likely extend well into the months that start with 鈥楯鈥.鈥
Needless to say, it鈥檚 positively nutty in Mammoth right now, so much so that the ski resort did not open on Tuesday. According to mountain ops: 鈥淢ammoth Mountain will be closed [Tuesday] due to intense snowfall conditions and very dangerous travel in the area. Roads are heavily impacted and not plowed. Our focus will be on avalanche mitigation work today and protecting our equipment. We plan to reopen tomorrow, January 11.鈥
With clearing skies for the rest of the week, the big snow is waiting to be skied at Mammoth. Just be sure to give mountain ops a couple days to dig the lifts out first.
