Welcome to MammothSnowman.com – Spring Snow Season 2023

Wednesday, April 24th @ 9:40 AM – Good morning, there are full-on Spring Conditions out on Mammoth Mountain and all around the Eastern Sierra. If you like spring conditions and warmer weather now is a great time to come up to Mammoth and the Eastern Sierra.

The snowline at this time is up to Tom Places with patches of snow down to Lower Rock Creek Canyon Road. Snow Depths are as follows 1-2 feet of snow left at Tom Place, Crowley 1-4 feet, Mammoth Lakes 5-10 feet with 18 feet on the ground at Main Lodge at the 8900-foot level.

Now that the area has moved into full Spring mode you want to adjust your plans when you come up. Most people ski/ride in the mornings and then change over to other afternoon activities once the snow gets too wet and sticky.  It’s a good idea to have multiple things to do planned out when you travel up during the springtime.

Mammoth Mountain Weather: A ridge of high pressure will be the story through the upcoming weekend. Skies are expected to be clear with increasing highs Thursday through Sunday. By next week you can expect a big cool down with possible snow showers…

By Friday into Sunday expect daytime highs at the 9000-foot level to be in the low to mid-50s at the 9000-foot level with SW winds over the higher elevations in the 15-25 MPH range at times.

Mammoth Lakes to Toms Place will be in the upper 50s to low 60s with Mill Pond and the Bishop area in the low to mid 80s. Night-time lows look to be right around the freezing mark for the high country with the lower elevations into the low to mid-40s.

Road Conditions: Highways 395 and 203 are open and clear at this time. Tioga and Sonora Pass are also closed and not expected to open until around July 4th.

Aurora Borealis from Long Valley 2-23-23 - Photo from Carter
The Aurora Borealis from Long Valley 2-23-23 – Photo from Carter Murphy

Snow Surface Conditions & Mammoth Mountain Operations: The sun is high up in the sky now that along with freezing nights and warm days has turned the snow surface into a fantastic spring corn snow fun fest.

If you have never been out for spring conditions you can expect the snow to be firm when the lifts first open. By 9 am the lower mountain runs start to thaw and get soft while the mid and upper mountain can take till 10 AM or later to get soft.

Up top the first runs to soften are the skiers left on Cornice Bowl and the far left side of Climax known as Sign Line. The Forecast has some

Snowman’s MO is to bring a couple of pairs of skis if I start at 8:30, one set for the firmer snow and then some wider mid-fat skies with fresh wax for later in the AM into the early afternoon hours.

Coverage out on the hill is great with a 200+ inch base being reported at the Main Lodge. Mid-week lifts running are chair lifts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 along with Gondolas 1 and 2.

Friday – Sunday through at least the month of April, Canyon Lodge and Eagle Lodge are expected to be open for parking and access with chairs 8, 15, 17, and 9 running.

The Ski Area is expected to stay open through the end of July and possibly well into August this Summer. My take is that Mammoth should be able to break the record for the latest closing ever which was in mid-August of 1995.

Local Tip: If you want to have the most fun in the spring snow, You will want to clean and wax your gear nightly to avoid the slow and sticky feel you can get as the snow surface gets wet.

Make sure to take advantage of the Free Hot Wax that you can get from Matt over at Fast Ski Sports in the Vons Mall. For a small charge, he can even texture your skis and board so the wet snow moves off the bottom of your skis better.

FYI: There will be a fresh photo album and a video tour from Mammoth Mountain later this week. I know everyone wants to see what the conditions and the snowpack are like now that Spring is in full force.

Ski ya Later, Snowman…

Mammoth Mountain Photos – April 2023

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.