An Insider's Guide to Skiing Mammoth Mountain

[@peterslaby9782]

I've skied Mammoth for years but I definitely learned a few things. Thanks for putting this together.

[@waltysalamander]

You’re welcome! I revised this with the help of @srgskiing and the video parts are all up now. You can check it out on his channel if you want. Thanks for watching!

[@peterslaby9782]

@@waltysalamandergreat work man!

[@SportNut1]

I been skiing at Mammoth for years and didn't know there are all these hidden expert gems. I wish I found your video 2 weeks ago

[@waltysalamander]

Thanks a lot! Hopefully you can hit them soon!

[@Barock-mt8bc]

Good reason to go again !

[@richv4811]

The action figures are below Chair 23. I'm glad you didn't mention Coyote, it's still a secret 😂. A great run where a person can avoid the lines at Mill to stay mid mountaion from 3 to 5. Great narration! You know the mountain well!

[@waltysalamander]

Thanks a lot!

[@amandasmith3242]

There have also been some in past years off to the left riding 1 just above Potato Rock. EDIT: Also on 14...

[@DaleySpam]

Great guide, pretty much covers all one needs to know. Thanks for linking my Kiwi video!

[@waltysalamander]

Thanks so much! I love your videos. You showcase the best of California (and sometimes Utah). I’m nowhere near as good as you, but I hope I get to your level at some point. I’m going to Squaw for the first time in a few weeks. I’m really excited!

[@DaleySpam]

@@waltysalamander Nice dude! Let me know when you’re gonna be there, if I am open we could take some laps together!

[@waltysalamander]

@@DaleySpam I'm going to be there Feb. 1st-4th

[@DaleySpam]

@@waltysalamander Sweet dude, I can’t promise I’ll be open then but if I can I will let you know!

[@waltysalamander]

@@DaleySpam Nice!

[@andygrisham]

Sunshine glades off of 22 can be AWESOME after fresh snow...

[@michaelandrew83]

Yea not sure why he ripped sunshine glades, the winds are everything at mammoth, that area can get extremely epic wind buff, or be blown thin. It’s either or.

[@Dubmcbogie]

Keep ripping the glades…that’s fine. It’s ugly in the spring yes…but just epic after a February dump.

[@alexivanov1211]

Great tips, I also got couple more things for the true experts. Kiwis has an alternate entrance on a really good snow year if you go a bit farther down from the entrance and traverse into it, but its probably the most exposed thing you could do on the mountain being right above some huge cliffs. To the visiting expert, if your willing to go out of bounds, there's a super sick chute that goes through a huge cliff that is in that huge cliff band by dragons tail but way farther down on the other side of the mountain, but make sure conditions are good because the sun cooks that side all day and do your research to make sure you end up in the right place, and you can take the bus from Tamarack to Eagle or walk back, not too far. Also not sure if its technically allowed but I've boot packed from the top of chair 9 to the ridge when the gondola line got extremely awful on a peak day.

[@waltysalamander]

For sure! Those are all great tips! I’ve boot packed from 9 to the ridge before. It’s annoying, but you gotta do what you gotta do to hit everything from Head Chutes to Wazoo!

[@M___4444]

Great video, hopefully I can get back out to mammoth again soon

[@philipneff552]

I’m thinking of doing a video like this for my home mountain, sick vid bud!

[@waltysalamander]

Cool! What’s your home mountain?

[@philipneff552]

Antelope Butte Ski Area in Wyoming, its where all the edits are from, its a pretty sweet little hill. We find a few good zones here and there haha@@waltysalamander

[@waltysalamander]

@@philipneff552 Cool!

[@awakening80]

Great info. We'll done 👏. That helps a lot.

[@waltysalamander]

Thanks!

[@random_stuff_channel]

This video needs more attention

[@waltysalamander]

Thanks! It's actually doing quite well (for me).

[@jdbsoccer100]

Saved. Thanks for the info 🤙

[@rfdffpm]

Besides the Gondola, Chair 9 is the only chair that can get you to any lodge on the mountain. Ironic how it is along the original ski run of Dave’s run back to Eagle Lodge as the original ski run on the mountain.

[@seanbill942]

Great overview!

[@nickv3085]

I find that on 9/10 days at mammoth, bouncing between 5 and 23 is the play. Dropout / wipeout chutes seem to get some of the best snow on the hill, the wind blows it all right over the ridge into those runs.

[@waltysalamander]

That’s a great plan! Later in the winter/early spring, the gondola is great since it’s fairly reliable and the snow is softer.

[@STEEZinNUTZ]

Great video!

[@arjunski]

Great walk-through!

[@ding-go]

Good video 👍Upper Philippe's is steeper than the Head chutes imho.

[@waltysalamander]

Interesting. Phillipes is very steep, but I’ll have to check it out again. The sustained pitch is probably steeper at the top, but Head Chutes has a big vertical cornice.

[@ding-go]

@@waltysalamander Yeah, no worries. I don't really count cornice walls in run steepness. For instance, before Chair 23 (lived there 80-81). All the wipeout chutes had about 2+ turns of probably 55+ vertical cornices. Boy I miss that area but I do love the easier access of 23. Those wipeouts were much less skied back then and had maybe 5 feet lopped off of the top for the chair. It's possible they didn't lop off the top and it was just the built up pristine cornices that made it a bit higher. That top area where the lift exit is used to be roundish like the top of a huge ball. One other thing about those wipeout cornices I loved was the cornices terminated vertically at the top a lot and didn't hang over like a classic cornice wave. Probably the wind did that . But anyways, I loved how you could get a few vertical turns that felt freefallish or you could ski off an get 10+ feet of air. Sorry for rambling but I never forget how great that area was before 23. Thanks for the video, gonna it the Heads now, you inspired me. 🙂

[@waltysalamander]

@@ding-go That's so cool! I wish I could have snowboarded (well, I guess this was before snowboards) Wipeout and Dropout before 23! I'm glad I inspired you to hit Head Chutes; it's my favorite area on the mountain!

[@snowtrekker0]

Nice overview! I'm surprised you mentioned the 9 -> 3 traverse but not the 5 -> 3 traverse to access the west side while avoiding Stump Alley. It's much more direct for anyone coming from the Canyon area. And while I agree with the recommendation to avoid Chair 25 / Sunshine in mid-winter, the picture changes entirely in the spring when that area is usually the first advanced terrain to soften in the morning.

[@waltysalamander]

I consider them to be the same traverse because they turn into each other.

[@waltysalamander]

Thanks for watching, maybe I’ll try Sunshine in the spring. I haven’t done that yet.

[@waltciii3]

I also tend to do the 5->3 traverse. I snowboard and don't like walking.

[@karendurant4981]

Inside info: follow the Sun! Start on the chair nine side of the mountain in the morning and work your way around as the day goes by.

[@waltysalamander]

That’s a good strategy as long as you don’t mind ending up somewhere potentially inconvient! (There are always shuttles)

[@scottg391]

I hate to say it but 20 minutes is the upper limit for the worst line on a bad day.. Flashback to the 70's, a 1 hour line was the norm at the base areas and you could expect a nearly 2 hour wait at the end of the day at chair 2 (Stump alley Express).... (We would walk to the car a half mile away vs. standing in line after 3:30) Mammoth has come a long way in 70 years and it's hands down one of the best ski areas in the US. Not the best skiing but the best in terms of terrain and accommodating 10's of thousands of people on any given weekend.

[@waltysalamander]

You said it! I have a book on the history of Mammoth, and I can confidently say that the worst lines I’ve ever seen are in that book!

[@scottg391]

@@waltysalamander My parents were at Mammoth the opening day of Chair 1 in 1955 and of course they spent the better part of the day on a broken Chair 1....I learned to ski at Mammoth in 1969. As I recall skiing wasn't too popular until the mid 70's and then the people showed up.... The lodges were dated and run down, the food was on par with the county jail and the entire mountain was overpacked on any given weekend....Mammoth became a much better resort in the late 80's and 90's with high speed chairs, updated lodges and edible food. I gave up the sport after we sold our condo at the Racquet Club in 2008. My eldest son insists I take up skiing again at 65. I guess I'll have to give it a try...If nothing else, I can sit in the lodge and tell stories about the good old days...

[@waltysalamander]

@ Haha. Thanks for the story! I’ve hearf about the infamous opening day Chair 1 failure. Funny to talk to somebody who actually has a story about it!

[@jw3406]

Learning to ski. My itinerary 2024. Before breakfast I do a loading dose of two electrolyte fastchews from salt stick and drink 1000 ml plain water in 250ml chugs. Main lodge has two microwaves in a common area or buy breakfast 7-11 AM. Also, free filtered water refills near microwaves. Then, its chair 11, for ever. After 11 AM = Grilled cheese on sourdough, add tomato, add ham, no fries. I wash it down with FREE hot water 50% and sugar free red bull 50%. If it gets super congested at chair 11, then chair 12 on repeat.

[@waltysalamander]

I like that! Keep progressing!

[@Dyl_Pickel]

we skiied 25 and sunshine it was the greatest powder that day...

[@waltysalamander]

That’s awesome! If it’s currently snowing hard, it can be pretty good, but most of the time it’s super icy.

[@AsdfAsdf-uo1rj]

So they're only marked on ski patrol maps, but North and South Dos Pasos, the chute directly under Chair 14 and to the skier's left, exist. South Dos Pasos IMHO is the single gnarliest in-bounds run on the mountain. Also you didn't mention Upper Dry Creek. That's where I take friends who are trying to get comfortable on single blacks. Fun run, not crowded, and easy to lap from Chair 5.

[@waltysalamander]

Ha! Funny you should mention Dos Pasos. I actually am rewriting this script for a larger skiing youtuber, SRGSkiing. In that script, which will probably come out as a video in the next month, I do address it. North Dos Pasos isn't too bad, but you are correct that South Dos Pasos is incredibly hard. Super narrow and way steeper+thin cover almost always. By Upper Dry Creek, I'm assuming you mean Dry Creek because Upper Dry Creek is actually a double black and pretty hard.

[@AsdfAsdf-uo1rj]

@@waltysalamander By Upper Dry Creek I mean whatever Dry Creek run is to the right off of Chair 5 between Triangle and Rooster Tail. That's just a single black.

[@waltysalamander]

@@AsdfAsdf-uo1rj Correct. That’s a fun one!

[@nickv3085]

Nothing wrong with dry creek, but it definitely is crowded most of the time. People crawl through the “choke”.

[@rfdffpm]

Upper Dry Creek has not been on the trail map since about 2007. Upper Dry creek starts to the left of the upper Gondola Terminal, if you are facing the mountain. You access the run from Climax. Upper Dry Creek to Dry Creek at Chair 5 or Chair 3 down to Lower Dry Creek.

[@alnelson8484]

It was so good in 2023

[@waltysalamander]

Heck yeah. So many lines that are usually cliffed out or rocky were skiable last year.

[@felipebriglia5025]

Maybe a new video on where to stay? Second question: is there a boardercross run in mammoth?

[@waltysalamander]

There are plenty of places in town. Close to the mountain St. Anton is probably the best for the price. Bridges is really good for direct ski in-ski out though. They have a boardercross competition in early March usually.

[@random_stuff_channel]

You should list which are your favorite lifts in order of best to worst!

[@waltysalamander]

That’s a good idea!

[@danielwu346]

Do one for June Mountain!

[@waltysalamander]

I’ve thought about it. I can’t do it on my channel, but if I do it, you’ll see it go up on @srgskiing .

[@jmc2916]

Really appreciate the walk though

[@waltysalamander]

Thanks!

[@waltysalamander]

Shoutout to Shangrei Garret who inspired this video!

[@SRGSkiing]

❤❤

[@waltysalamander]

@@SRGSkiingThanks for commenting! I love your videos!

[@waltysalamander]

@@SRGSkiing Wow! I am honored by this opportunity! I am, however, in high school and am very busy with school work, swim practice, and being in a band. But I am 100% interested! If the job entails writing something like this video once or every other week, I'd definitely want to do that!

[@waltysalamander]

@@SRGSkiing Awesome

[@-masteryoda]

Does Scotty's get groomed?

[@waltysalamander]

Yes, it is usually groomed, but not always. You can usually tell from the bottom though.

[@richardmccaughey5928]

"An Insider's Guide"? Somewhere in there the narrator says "in my 8 seasons of skiing Mammoth". It took me 8 seasons to find my way around without a trail map. I skied Mammoth from 1968 until 1992 when I moved to Idaho. This video makes the mistake of trying to be all things to everybody and winds up being confusing. it would be far better if it were broken down for beginner, intermediate and advanced skiers. The best advice I can give to any advanced skier is "head to the top" if the Gondola is open. Break early for lunch and you can stay one step ahead of even a weekend crowd. It's a fabulous mountain. I've skied all over the West and the only mountain I would place above Mammoth for challenge and terrain is Jackson Hole!

[@waltysalamander]

I like that idea of breaking it down for Beginners, Intermediates, and Experts. Also, yes, 8 seasons isn’t THAT much, but I’ve done almost every trail and have memorized most of the map, plus a lot of the unnamed lines (pattons, scooter pie, cowboys, dos pasos, etc.)

[@surfingisfun001]

@@waltysalamanderyou should do a video on the unnamed runs at mammoth

[@waltysalamander]

@@surfingisfun001 I could do that. In the meantime, this is a great map to look at for that, mickwest.com/mammoth/

[@surfingisfun001]

@@waltysalamander that is a great map, much thanks for posting!

[@rfdffpm]

Spot on about breaking for lunch at 11 or 11:15 to avoid the lunch crowd and your back on it while the crowd heads for lunch. Busy weekends, head for Chair 12. President Day and Bankers week, head for Chair 12.