December 9, 2023 @ 8:30 AM – Good morning; it looks like a great day to be out on Mammoth Mountain with mostly clear skies expected today, with temperatures into the low to mid-40s by noon, along with lighter winds can be expected. 

Snow surface conditions on Mammoth Mountain are still a ton of fun on the machine-groomed snow you will find out on the hill. The snow is a bit firm to start the day and then loosens up into a nice, carvable winter surface. Check out my full snow report update down the page.

Next weekend is the start of the Holiday Season in Mammoth: The Night of Lights is set for Saturday evening, December 16, at nightfall. Canyon Lodge will be opening next Saturday with at least Chair 8 servicing Swell and Chair 17, giving you access to the Chair 4 area. 

In Mammoth Lakes, there are several inches of snow on the ground in the upper parts of the town. If you want to sled Woolly’s Tube Park is open weekends and daily starting the 16th.

The New Ice Rink on Old Mammoth Road is also open for the winter season. With the lack of snow in the town proper, most of the town trails remain clear for walking, hiking, and a layered-up bike ride; do watch for icy spots. 

Up in the Mammoth Lakes Basin, the road is closed to traffic. You can walk in on the limited snow that is on the ground. Tamarack Cross Country Ski Area remains closed until the next storm cycle hits.

The Night of Lights is this Saturday at Canyon Lodge. The Show Starts at 5 PM, you can get all the details of the event on this event page at the Mammoth Mtn website.

Check out the video below to see what the show is like. I have been to the show over a dozen times and it’s a lot of fun. I highly recomened everyone go at least once.

Mammoth Mountain Weather Forecast: Look for mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures into next Monday with light winds over Mammoth Mountain.

There is no snow in sight over the next five to seven days. It does appear there could be some snow possibly moving in next weekend. We are also watching a potential pattern change just beyond Christmas.

Get our detailed 5-day and extended Mammoth Weather Forecast at this link.

Area Road Conditions: If you’re heading up to Mammoth and the Bishop areas, all the main winter routes are Open and Clear and should remain that way into the foreseeable future. 

In Mammoth Lakes the roads in town are clear but watch for the icy in spots from the inch of snow that fell in town several nights ago. The Mammoth Lakes Basin Road and Tioga Pass are closed for the Winter. HWY 203 is closed at the Main Lodge..

Saddle Bowl on 12-5-23 Photo from Snowman @ Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
Saddle Bowl on 12-5-23 Photo from Snowman

Snowman’s Mammoth Mountain Snow Report

The Next Snow Report Update will be on Tuesday 12-12-23… Snowman

12-9-2023 @ Noon – Snow surface conditions on Mammoth Mountain are still a ton of fun on the limited amount of open runs. The base at the Snow Study Site is 11 inches with 18-20 estimated inches of base up top. That’s low tide and why most lifts and runs remain closed. 

Lifts now running are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11 and Gondola 1 and 2. The Mill and the Main Lodge areas are open with full services. 

As mentioned, Canyon Lodge will open next weekend with chairs 8 and 17. Snow has been made on Swell and a path down to 17, but that’s it as of today’s update for snow over on the Canyon side.

The 12 open groomer runs, including Cornice Bowl, continue to offer up some good turns. The machine-groomed snow surface you’re skiing and riding on is a bit firm to start the day and then loosens as the sun comes up during the morning hours. I skied it for 4 hours on Friday and had a total blast.

Snowmaking continues nightly and into the morning hours, with the Snowmaking Team working on Lower Solitude, Roller Coaster, Fascination, Easy Rider, and Swell over the last week.

You need to watch for small obstacles, bare spots, and little floaters rocks in a few sections out there. I would avoid Rusty’s runs there where floaters top to bottom in there on Friday.

Up top in the Lower Drop Outs, there is some nice wind buff now forming. Many people have been lapping this area, packing out the snow, and making some great turns.

Cornice Bowl has been a fast delight and had a bit of a softer snow surface on Friday from the 3 inches that fell on Thursday night. The groomed section is about half as wide as when there is a good base, so you need to watch yourself mid-day. 

On the Face of 3, the base is really low tide; you can see the rocks on the skier’s left as you ride the lift. You can still get some good turns on Center Bowl as the day warms up; take it slow in the rocky and slick upper 50 yards of the run.

West Bowl has some big bumps with flatter wind-buff sides to ski. It’s best to enter from Saddle Bowl as the top is still too low tide to be worth it. I got a deep core shot in there this week, so be careful, especially in the upper sections.

West Bowl

Broadway: Of all the runs open, Broadway still has some of the best snow on the hill. Do beware of the bare spot on the skier’s left just as the run drops into the final Main Lodge section.

Broadway Run at Mammoth Mountain
Broadway Run at Mammoth Mountain

Andy’s Double Gold: The snow surface in here was excellent, with the best snow on the skiers, right, watch yourself as there is a race fence line set up on this side. Taking Silver Tip to Andy’s was worthy of several laps.

Andy's Double Gold
Andy’s Double Gold

Gremlins Gulch: Low Tide Adventure Skiing on wind-buff snow with softer snow on top. It’s always fun to ski Gremlins, and it’s really interesting when the snowpack is this low. Fun stuff, just watch for rock.

Gremlins Gulch
Gremlins Gulch

Saddle Bowl: Groomed flat and perfect with no icy spots, just firm, fast fun down the Saddle. Try linking it nonstop with Mambo all the way down to the bottom of 2.

Saddle Bowl

Unbound Main @ Mammoth Mountain - 12-8-23

Website Author – Steve Taylor – Mammoth Snowman Over the last 35+ years, Snowman has spent countless hours studying and learning about Mammoth Mountain Weather and Snow Conditions first hand. He has been skiing around the hill with marked ski poles since March of 1991 so he can measure the fresh snowfall amounts out on the hill. 

Snowman started blogging this information back in 1990 on the old Mammoth BBS system, then the RSN Forums and then on to MammothSnowman.com in 2004 with the Video & Photo Blog report. (No YouTube back then). Facebook got added to the fold back in 2008 and then the Facebook Group in 2016. 

Reports, videos, and photos from the website have been featured on both local TV Stations here in Mammoth, along with AP, Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC News. You can learn more about the MammothSnowman.com team here.