 Poster: A snowHead
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Anyone been to Mammmoth? Good and bad points?
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That should had read Mammoth and not Mammmoth.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Hornster, my nephew went there a couple of years ago - he said that there was so much fresh snow that the lifts were shut for days!
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pam w, WOW! I suppose that is both a good and bad point. I would be gutted if I had to sit inside all day watching huge amounts of snow fall outside. Then again, the avalanche risk wouldn't be too healthy either! Thanks for the feedback.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Mammoth is open earlier and later than the other CA resorts - is higher and gets snow earlier.
What exactly would you like to know? I like it, I've done early, mid and late season skiing there - it's often open before my home mountain is so we generally start our season with a day there.
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pollittcl, how is it early season? looks like I maybe in the San francisco area 17thish of November......
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pollittcl, I am looking at going from to Mammoth from the 2nd April next year for a week. What is the snow generally like at that time of the season? I am after powder.
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Hornster I've only skied at Mammoth once, that was mid April and there was buckeloads of fresh 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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kitenski, Keep an eye on the weather and you might be lucky! End of October was the earliest, but then all the main Tahoe resorts opened early that year! Squaw tries to be "open" by about Nov 20th, but it can be very, very interesting!
Hornster, April can be epic - or it can be warm and sunny!  Generally the entire mountain is still open at that point, and there's plenty of fun to be had. California tends to have storms that come in for a few days, and then sunny weather for a week or so. It should be quiet mid-week and not too busy at the weekend since the LA crowd will have started playing golf by then.
Any particular reason why Mammoth - are you going via LA?
If you got to http://www.psia-w.org/photogallery.php the photos were taken @ April 24th 2009 at Mammoth.
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pollittcl, Thanks for the info. We are looking at doing a second week of skiing this season and want to try and find somewhere that has a good record of having powder in early April which is why we are looking at anywhere in the world. I feel that Europe is just too hit and miss at that time of the season but is seems as though pretty much anywhere else in the world is just as hit and miss.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hornster, And it may depend on what you call powder! I can say that Mammoth, and Tahoe, will have decent snow and good coverage, and that we enjoy some of our best skiing during April.... BUT it is often on spring snow, under clear blue skies. 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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pollittcl, sounds good to me!
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I've skied deep pow in Mammoth at Xmas and the beginning of May, both times I've stopped by.
Good points - high, can get slammed by El Nino, big area (for US), nice views of Sierra on a clear day
Bad - not as cheap for hotels as many US towns, fairly long drive from anywhere (usually LAX), best to stay in town rather than crummy added on Intrawest village or at the Hotel at the base area.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Hornster wrote: |
| I feel that Europe is just too hit and miss at that time of the season but is seems as though pretty much anywhere else in the world is just as hit and miss. |
There were loads of snow at Val Thoren near END of April last however many years!
I was at St. Moritz 1st week of April and met a guy who always go there the same time of year. Never a problem.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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pollittcl, we will be renting a car and driving from LA to Mammoth but I was told that we aren't allowed to put snow chains to rental cars in the US. Is this true? If so, are we likely to need snow chains?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Hornster wrote: |
| pollittcl, we will be renting a car and driving from LA to Mammoth but I was told that we aren't allowed to put snow chains to rental cars in the US. Is this true? If so, are we likely to need snow chains? |
Who told you that? Absolute rubbish!
On the other hand, I'm not 100% sure LA car hire places have snow chain on offer. It's a bit of a way from the mountains...
But then, I doubt you need chains at all in April at Mammoth.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hornster, I don't know about snow chains on rental cars, sorry, but if you rent a 4x4 it should have Mud and Snow tyres which would then make you legal to drive without chains in most instances during chain control in CA. When you do drive check with CA DOT on which passes are open - most of those routes that are closed for the winter will still be closed. You'll only need chains if it is actually snowing, or immediately after a big storm - the main roads are usually cleared within a few hours, and there is a bus service around the resort. I usually reckon that if I need to put my chains on my 4x4 then I don't need to be driving!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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abc, pollittcl, thanks for the feedback.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We arrived in Mammoth in early April a few years back. It was the tail end of a huge snow storm & it snowed on & off for about a week after that. Had a great 10 days skiing there then drove across the desert to Las Vegas for a few nights - great holiday, loads of snow then loads of sun!
Re hire cars - we got a 4x4 with M+S rated tyres & we needed them as we got to Mammoth Lakes & to get around on snowy days but they clear the roads very quickly so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. It's highly likely that the drive up to Mammoth from LA will be sunny & scenic - go for it, it's a great place to ski. If it's open, check out June Mountain too, about a half hour drive from Mammoth Lakes.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Do a search on Mammoth in the forum as I (and others) have posted before on their experiences.
We drove from LAX. Most of it is pretty low altitude stuff through desert. You do however ascend (gradually) until you get to the town of Bishop after which you go up at a steeper gradient. We went early April. we had lunch in sunshine in Bishop. An hour later in Mammoth it was snowing and kept snowing. We started Day 1 on over a foot of fresh snow, in clear blue skies. A few days later we got a top up. As said the weather was either sun or snow.
Go onto the car hire websites to see what they say about chains but I do recall that they were none too enthusiastic about them.
A 4x4 should be ok but, as said, LAX is maybe a bit far from snow to get a 100 % guarantee on that......our one, from Alamo, was fine.
We didnt need chains in a 4x4.....different in a saloon car I think, depending on snow. The Caltrans website has a section on this and will give you the up to date info.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/wntrdriv.htm
someone once told me that they usually close a road before it gets to R3 but I dont know if that is right...........but as said above, you probably wouldnt be driving then anyway, unless you had to !!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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as a matter on interest the Alamo website says
Tire Chains
Tire chains are available on request at time of reservation in the following countries:
* Austria
* Chile
* Croatia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Italy
* Spain
A charge may apply.
Tire chains are not offered and not allowed for use on Alamo rental vehicles in the United States or Canada.
They do offer an option of a "winterized vehicle" with all weather tires
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Alamo seem to be funny about it which is why I stopped using them (&holiday autos) for US rentals - funny presumably they'd rather you slid off the road than stayed in control. Dollar & others are no problem.
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| abc wrote: |
| Hornster wrote: |
| pollittcl, we will be renting a car and driving from LA to Mammoth but I was told that we aren't allowed to put snow chains to rental cars in the US. Is this true? If so, are we likely to need snow chains? |
Who told you that? Absolute rubbish!
On the other hand, I'm not 100% sure LA car hire places have snow chain on offer. It's a bit of a way from the mountains...
But then, I doubt you need chains at all in April at Mammoth. |
Anywhere myself of family have tried for car hire in CA have said absolutely no chains ! If you put chains on and any damage is caused, they'll charge you entirely, not the insurance. In part it seems to be a bit of a con to make people rent the more expensive big SUVs with 4wd. That said my experience of car hire is very limited, around Tahoe you can get to/from there and numerous ski areas without any need for a car, which goes against the perceived wisdom for the US! Not sure about getting to Mammoth, each time we tried to go, we were snowbound in Kirkwood!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Alamos isn't my favorate.
They quote a low price. Then when you actually pick the car up, they try to hit you with every "extras" under the sun. That's probably more tolerable for those who're used to Easijet's similar pratice. But it's still a minority in N.America. So, I stopped using them a long while back. Chuck it into the "once and never again" bucket.
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| Winterhighland wrote: |
Anywhere myself of family have tried for car hire in CA have said absolutely no chains ! If you put chains on and any damage is caused, they'll charge you entirely, not the insurance. In part it seems to be a bit of a con to make people rent the more expensive big SUVs with 4wd. That said my experience of car hire is very limited, around Tahoe you can get to/from there and numerous ski areas without any need for a car, which goes against the perceived wisdom for the US! Not sure about getting to Mammoth, each time we tried to go, we were snowbound in Kirkwood! |
Whoever Virgin holidays use will sell you the chains with the rental (at least in my few years ago experience)- the Virgin "package" includes car hre (but not insurance) & as they are selling holidays to Tahoe & Mammoth etc it would be absurd not to let you use chains.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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fatbob, Virgin have told me that we won't get snow chains with the car rental and that we will need to hire a 4X4 with M&S tyres.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I spent 5 seasons living in mammoth (and have subequently been on 3 holidays there since) - so have experienced a few different April's in mammoth.
Out of most places in the USA, mammoth generally has some of the best snow in April. If you go to the mammoth website, there is a snow-fall history table which gives you an idea for the last 40 odd years. Fair to say that it is more likely to be spring conidtions than powder at that time of year but still great spring snow.
In relation to car hire, if you have a 4wd you will in 95% of cases not need chains. I spent 2 seasons driving a 2wd vw up at 6am most mornings to get to work before all the roads had been plowed and never used or owned chains.
The drive up from LA is such that it is only the last 20km that potentially may have snow on the road (once you are past bishop) - they shut this section of HWY 395 a few times a year but normally only for a few hours at a time so you can generally wait in Bishop for a few hours until it opens.
Roads in mammoth lakes itself do get a lot more snow than HWY 395 however they are plowed often with good grit on them. On the odd occassion when there is a very big blizzard and they go to R3 restrictions, it is very easy to take the ski bus on these days and leave the car at your accomodation - R3 is quite rare (say 5 times per season and usually only for a night or afternoon).
I've skied around the world and still rate mammoth very highly - enjoy
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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perthpowchaser, Richard_Sideways, Cheers guys.
We have now booked the holiday and will be skiing in Mammoth from the 2nd April to the 9th April. From what everyone has posted on this forum and the photos and other websites I have researched it looks as though Mammoth is as good a bet as we are going to get for getting powder at that time of the season. It has even worked out way cheaper than I have ever paid before for a similar package in Europe which was totally unexpected!
Looking forward to it now! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hornster, I hate you so very much right now... Enjoy
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Skied Mammoth about 4 or 5 seasons ago.....what can I remember well enough to receommend.....errmm, ski at June Mountain on a day at the weekend - the place was empty. Take breakfast at 'Stoves' in town (I think that is what it was called?), Drive just out of town and walk to the hot springs one afternoon, then get your kit off and jump in. The view is unbelievable - very surreal experience. Can't remember lifts and specific runs, but chair 23 is ringing bells.....and there was a great restaurant (well, burgers and bbq etc.) on the slopes out towards the furthest point away from the town (it'll make sense when you get there  ) and a great Mexican in town.....
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I wouldn't touch Mammoth.
Souless bar and restaurant scene - all a bus away from the slopes.
Tendancy for 5 day white outs (happened to me twice)
Mountain huts - do they know what they are?
Boring slopes - courdroy groomed.
Long way from LA
Don't bother.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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bramhall182, you just want the whole mountain to yourself!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Perthpowchaser speaks the truth. I'm not sure I'd even bother with 4 wheel drive vehicle, just hire a regular car with no chains, especially if the cost differential is huge and you don't need much cargo space. LA to Mammoth is longer than SF to South Lake Tahoe, but easier and flatter trip. Many Euros that go so far to ski in California like to add a few days to the trip for sightseeing in SF or LA.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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looks like some early snow on Mammoth the past weekend...
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Richard_Sideways, are you going out to mammoth again any time soon? I notice you're London, so am I, due a trip out on the 19th of this month for a pre Xmas Jolly... know anyone heading out at the same time? am going to be a regular visitor all next year as own a property out there with a business partner...
WOuld appreciate your Londoner's insight!
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Straightlining Hangman's is what we want to hear about.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Hi Hornster,
Went late March and the conditions were fabulous. The drive from LAX was part of the experience and is possible to drive to death Valley from Mammoth if you fancy a change of scenery for a day trip?
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FAQ
