Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Snowfall History
My perspective on snowfall comes from being a 37-year season pass holder who lived in Mammoth Lakes full-time for most of those seasons.
I started measuring Mammoth Mountain Snowfall during the March Miracle Storm Cycle of 1991. I installed duct tape on my poles and marked the first 18 inches, then extended it up to the 3-foot mark.
Off the hill, we lived right below Canyon Lodge at the 8200-foot level. I started measuring snow at that location with a 6-foot snow pole, which I quickly extended to 18.5 feet for the 1992-1993 winter. Our deck would also serve as the 24 total stations back in those days.
As I recorded the snowfall, I would post my findings in a notebook and also online on the original Mammoth BBS board.
Measuring snow during the first storm cycle in 1991 was so much fun that I have continuedto do so over the last 30+ years. Been blessed to be on the hill for over 95% of the snowfall events shown below from 1985 on.
On average, I find that the Powder Fields of Mammoth Mountain receive around 30% more snow than is measured at the Sesame Street snow study site.
Many of our storms, especially the early ones, offer heavy wet base snow. This type of snow allows the ski area to quickly open up a lot of terrain in the later parts of the Fall.
A couple of years ago, I was skiing on the third Tuesday of November and was walking over dirt to get to the three trails that were open. Two days late, we had a 5-foot solid base of wind-blown snow, and you could ski off the top.
All that heavy base snow that falls early in the season is set up as a firm base, which can take months to melt off. That base also turns into some perfect corn snow later in the Spring and during the early Summer months.
Back in 2017, there was enough base to ski until August 6th, and back in 95, they kept access to the snow up top until August 16th.
Of all the big snow years, 2017 was the deepest base of snow that I have seen on the hill.
Pretty impressive, if you look at the chart below. The Mountain had a 60-inch September back in the early 1970s, with an 85-inch October in 2004. That October was the best early-season skiing most of us old-timers in Mammoth have ever had.
Snowman