Mammoth Mountain Snow Report from the Snowman
12-24-23 @ 9 AM – I was out on the hill for a solid skiing session on Saturday. Started over at the chair 15 parking area. There is one access run that gets you back to 15, and it’s via the Bridges Run. Not sure I have ever seen that link up back to Little Eagle with snowmaking before.
Over on the Canyon side, Swell was open off of chair 8, with some good surface snow. You do need to watch yourself in here, as I did encounter a lot of floaters from a couple of developing bare spots. Snowmaking guns are all set up on Swell, so they should get that run cleaned up soon.
Next up, I rode up the brand-new chair 16 for the first time, and it was running much faster than the old lift. It was a nice ride up; the chair even hummed to me. Due note that when you get off the new 16, the exit ramp is a bit steeper than the other lifts at Mammoth, you also need to be ready to make a 90-degree turn at the end of the ramp.
Once off of 16, we headed toward the Mill and a ride up chair 2. Stump Alley is now just about at full width with some very nice carvable snow. A bit softer than it was before the last storm came through.
Over on the Face of 3 Center Bowl is all packed down with small bumps everywhere. West Bowl was fun, with some softer surface snow to ski on; the rocks in the upper half had been greatly reduced from the foot of base snow that fell.
Chair 23 was open with no line at all; I did and bunch of nonstop leg-burning laps via Cornice to Gremlins to 23. The snow in Cornice was groomed flat down the center line; skiers left had the best carvable snow.
The Drop Out area still needed to be a bit more packed out, but I saw a bunch of people making laps. The top ridges of both the Drop Outs and the Wipe Outs have a ton of rocks. You can avoid them, but my advice is to choose your line wisely while riding up 23.
The best route into the Drop Outs is still the high traverse from the top of Cornice Bowl. There are a couple of easy lines that will also get you into Drop Out 2 and 1 that I saw. Not many takers for those runs in these low tide conditions.
We made the trek out to check out 14, and it’s still way too low tide on the side, with little trees sticking out everywhere. I was not able to sample chair 12, but I would venture to guess that there is some good groomed-out fun to be had off of that lift right now.
Overall, the best skiing and riding is on the runs that have been open for several weeks on the Main Lodge Side of the mountain.
The best advice I can give everyone today is to head to the Mill for the first chair, grab yourself a bunch of groomer laps, and then do laps on 23 till your legs go bust.
I took a bunch of photos on Saturday, but won’t have time to post until early on Tuesday.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year – Snowman
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Stats: Everyone wants the basic stats about Mammoth Mountain
Base Elevation 7,953 ft Summit Elevation 11,053 ft Vertical Rise 3,100 ft Skiable Acres 3,500+ Number of Named Trails 150 Number of Lifts 25 (includes 9 express quads, 2 express six-packs, 2 gondolas) Snowmaking over 50 trails Parks 8 parks with 100+ jibs and 50+ jumps; 3 halfpipes The average Snowfall per Year is 400 inches Average Season Length Nov into June
Terrain 15% expert 20% advanced 40% intermediate 25% beginner
Check out the full overview write-up on the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area at this link.
Live Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Webcams and Still Captures: If you’re looking for current conditions via a webcam view here is the link to take it all in without having to mess with the live webcam control page. I stop by this page at this 2-3 times a day when I need a Mammoth Mountain fix.
Winter Season Operations & Hours: Lifts run from early November until at least Memorial Day each season. This is one of the longest and most consistent seasonal operations in the country. Lifts run from 8:30 AM until 4 PM wind and weather permitting.
Base Lodges: You will find three Base Lodges and 2 Outpost locations at Mammoth Mountain. The Main Lodge is 8900 feet, Canyon Lodge is 8300 Feet, and Little Eagle Lodge at 7900 feet.
Outposts: The Mill is located at the base of Chairs 2 and 10 and the Outpost is located out at the base of chairs 13 and 14. Both offer up food, beverages, water, and restrooms.
Snowmaking: Mammoth’s snowmaking system runs from Main Lodge to the top of the Mountain and over to both Canyon and Eagle Lodge. The system works best when supplemented with some natural snow.
Massive upgrades are taking place with the snowmaking system for the 2022/2023 season. Here is the link to learn more about the snowmaking system at Mammoth Mountain.
Mammoth Mountain Snowfall History: Looking for past snowfall trends and when to plan the best time to come up? Take a look at our snowfall history data page. You will find month-to-month snowfall from 1969 on. Here is the link to access the page.
Parking & Shuttles Service: There is some bogus info on the internet about parking and such at the hill. The bottom line is there is tons of parking if you show up early. Remember you don’t have to access Mammoth Mountain from a lodge you can walk in from several spots on the roads to chairs 4, 20, 21, 10, and of course Chair 2 which has its own parking lot.
For those who are late birds plan on parking down the hill and riding up from one of the MANY shuttle pick-up spots that are well-marked along the road and down in town. During big weekends, holidays and bluebird powder days expect to wait as the crowds will be out. Here is the link to learn more about the shuttle service from town and the parking shuttles.
Lodging Options: We have a few private lodging rentals listed here on the website. Here is the link to access that information.
Get Lift Tickets: The best deal is to get an Ikon Season Pass, 7 days or less and the pass pays for itself. Enjoy the freedom of having a season pass. Just pull up boot up and go, no lines or sell-out days. If you’re looking for a deal on daily lift tickets I would bookmark the lift ticket page at the Ski Area website. There are often non-holiday deals posted.
Black Tie Ski & Snowboard Rentals is offering Mammoth Snowman Website Visitors a 20% off discount. They will deliver gear right to your door or you can walk in for service. Here is the link to set up your reservation and get your Mammoth Snowman discount.
Got Ski Boot Pain? When the Snowman was a young buck in 81 he was ready to quit skiing from foot pain. Then he was fitted with Super Feet Orthotics and got the needed ski boot work down at Footloose Sports. The results were no real foot pain for 4 decades! Learn more about their ski boot fitting service here or call them at 760-934-2400 today.
Need a Ski Tune-Up Matt over at Fast Ski Sports will be in and out of the shop again in Mid October. Give him a call to inquire when you can drop your gear off. Snowman usually drops his gear off in later October so it’s in the early season lineup before any early dumpers hit the hill. Here is the link to see the current tune-up prices.
Other things to do in Mammoth Lakes and the Eastern Sierra: If members of your family are not into skiing and snowboarding there is a ton to do in the wintertime. Here is the link to learn more.
Summer Upgrade Photos
Mountain Summer and Fall Upgrades
The New Chair 16: Replacement of Canyon Express (Chair 16), an existing high-speed detachable quad chairlift with a new state-of-the-art Doppelmayr D-Line Series 6-Pack detachable high-speed chairlift.
The new chairlift will provide up to 25% more uphill capacity, helping to reduce lift line waits at Canyon Lodge. It will also feature enclosed top and bottom terminals, allowing carriers to be parked out of the weather during storm cycles and help ensure on-time openings on bluebird powder days.
The new chairlift will feature 90-degree loading on an automated loading conveyor, providing a more precisely timed and safe loading at each chair lift. Finally, the new chairlift will be slightly realigned to the north of the existing alignment to reduce snow slide impacts from the adjacent Avalanche Chutes on Lincoln Mtn.
Below are some current photos from crews putting on the new cable on Canyon Express. Keith Kreischer sent in these photos to us.
 |  |
 |  |
Snowmaking System: Ongoing improvements to Mammoth’s extensive snowmaking system include a $5.5 million investment to expand, automate, and maximize efficiency.
This includes the purchase of 22 new SMI Super Puma fan guns and 15 HKD Klik snowmaking guns, replacing thousands of feet of snowmaking air and water pipe, and installing a new control system.
Woolly’s Tube Park: Embarking on Phase 2 of the master-planned build-out of the Woolly’s Adventure Summit, improvements will include beginning a two-year construction cycle of a new full-service Day Lodge, along with a new Wiegand Alpine Coaster and the addition of summer tubing lanes for Summer 2024.
The new Wiegand Alpine Coaster will provide a thrilling ride through the forest down through exciting curves, spiral twists, and roller jumps through the woods as they descend 3,550 ft of downhill track back down to the Woolly’s Day Lodge.
In addition, synthetic summer tubing lanes will be installed to provide a year-round tubing experience for guests to enjoy in conjunction with the alpine coaster and other improvements slated in the coming years. When complete (expected Summer 2024), the new Woolly’s Day Lodge will feature 6,000 sq. ft. of guest-serving facilities.
Snowman 🙂
October 3rd, 2023 @ 10 AM – The first accumulating snows of the new snow season hit Mammoth Mountain this weekend. In all, there were 3 waves of snowfall, the first 2 were meager dustings but the Sunday afternoon and evening snowfall produced a good 2-4 inches.
The skiers right of Cornice Bowl was groomed last week, (no idea why?) and made for a great surface for a couple of boarders to get some turns in on Monday morning. See the photo below to view those tracks. Expect the snow to melt and be absorbed into the ground quickly today Tuesday.
If you have never been out on Mammoth Mountain in the early Fall now is a great time to get out for a Hike or go for Mountain Bike Ride. Do note there are some closures.
The mountain has mountain bike trails out of Canyon Lodge and around Chair 16 and the snowmaking project are closed right now. You can still hike and ride out of the Main Lodge area and also out in the East Bowl. Ride up Juniper and loop Paper Route over to Manzanita and back.
September, 28th, 2023 @ 8 AM – The Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has an official opening day set for Friday, November 10th, 2023.
Veterans Day weekend has been the official start date for winter operations for over 25 years. Only once has there not been enough snow to make that opening date, and the crews only missed it by two days.
For opening day, at the minimum, you can expect the Mountain to have Chair 1 and the Lower Gondola open. Run-wise, there will be at least Broadway and a small section of the Unbound. About 1/3 third of the openers will have top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding.
Snowmaking crews start laying down snow every chance they get from Late October onward to have several runs open coming opening day.
Significant upgrades have been made to the Snowmaking System recently so they can take better advantage of the waves of cold air that come later in October and throughout the latter half of Fall.
If you’re new to Mammoth, you can also expect an October opener now and then. Two years ago, the hill opened with top-to-bottom skiing on October 30th.
In 1994, the lifts started spinning on October 8th and continued until August 16th the following Summer.
Over the years, I have seen the hill open early due to early-season snowfall. All it takes is 2-3 feet of heavy, wet base snow, and boom, they can run a bunch of lifts and open a bunch of runs. We can go from dirt to top-to-bottom skiing overnight.
Here to a great upcoming season; I hope you enjoy the pre-season photos, updates, and weather chats while we wait for the lifts to run again.
More Chair 16 Upgrade Photos
Bottom Station Construction @ the new Canyon Express Lift – Chair 16
9-24-23 – Top Station Construction @ the new Canyon Express Lift – Chair 16
9-24-23 – Canyon Express Top new and old unloading areas.
9-24-23 – Standing at the top of the old Chair 16 unloading area. I am looking down at the New Top Station for the 6 Pack Canyon Express being built this Summer & Fall.
Snowmaking System: Ongoing improvements to Mammoth’s extensive snowmaking system include a $5.5 million investment to expand, automate, and maximize efficiency.
This includes the purchase of 22 new SMI Super Puma fan guns and 15 HKD Klik snowmaking guns, replacing thousands of feet of snowmaking air and water pipe, and installing a new control system.
9-24-23 – New Snowmaking Lines at the Base of Canyon Lodge
9-24-23 – New Snowmaking Lines at the Base of Canyon Lodge
Woolly’s Tube Park: Embarking on Phase 2 of the master-planned build-out of the Woolly’s Adventure Summit, improvements will include beginning a two-year construction cycle of a new full-service Day Lodge, along with a new Wiegand Alpine Coaster and the addition of summer tubing lanes for Summer 2024.
The new Wiegand Alpine Coaster will provide a thrilling ride through the forest down through exciting curves, spiral twists, and roller jumps through the forest as they descend 3,550 ft of downhill track back down to the Woolly’s Day Lodge.
In addition, synthetic summer tubing lanes will be installed to provide a year-round tubing experience for guests to enjoy in conjunction with the alpine coaster and other improvements slated in the coming years. When complete (expected Summer 2024), the new Woolly’s Day Lodge will feature 6,000 sq. ft. of guest-serving facilities.
Snowman 🙂
Photos of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
Live MC Coy Station Webcam Feed
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Trail Map
Opening Day Video Snow Report from 10-29-21 in 4k
Where is Mammoth Mountain & Mammoth Lakes, California?
Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol Snowfall Data from 2021-22
Past Mammoth Mountain Snow Report Posts
Mammoth Mountain Resort Snow Conditions:
The Mammoth Snowman and Crew bring you the snow conditions at the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, from a local’s point of view. Log on daily to get our fresh morning updates on the current snow conditions. We let you know if the snow is packed powder, powder, firm, or soft. There are on-hill reports from the Top, the Groomers, the East Bowl, Lincoln Mountain, and the Paranoids.
You will also find the current snow depths at the Main Lodge, The Summit at 11,053 feet, Canyon Lodge, and the Little Eagle lodge area. Last but not least you will find what lifts are scheduled to run and what lifts could be on Weather Hold and what the hours of operations our.
Make sure to read our on-mountain trip reports that get posted a couple of days a week with current on-mountain photos and our own Mammoth Snowman Video Snow Report from the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. When you read our content is the real deal from real people that have been on the hill that day.
Disclaimer on Snow Conditions and our Snow Reports
This is a simple disclaimer to keep us legal. First, this website is run by Mammoth Locals, we are not employees of Mammoth Mountain, but yes they do support our efforts.
Second, Snow Conditions change by the hour, so when you read our posts please consider when the post or report was made.
Check the date on the report before you email us! Nothing worse than some crybaby complaining that our conditions are not right. Yep, I get emails like that, again read the date, and don’t be a jerk.
Please Remember that the longer time has passed, the more the conditions have changed.
Third, what Snowman or any other member of the www.mammothsnowman.com community posts is purely based on how that person views snow conditions.
Everyone looks at things in their own view, so one person’s epic might not be your epic day. For example, I love spring corn snow but many people hate it.
Fourth you can die skiing or snowboarding, if you’re not skilled don’t take the runs Snowman or somebody else in the community might suggest.
Many of our videos contain extreme footage by professional athletes that ski and ride full time. We do not endorse these activities and encourage you not to try the tricks and extreme moves the professionals make in our videos and or images.
If you do, you do so of your own accord and risk and you further understand you risk almost certain death at times!
And last but not least thanks to the State of California you must be 18 or older to use this website.
If you’re not 18 log off now or we will have to call your parents to shut you down. 
Snowman
