Last Friday, I drove up to Mammoth. The entire state of California was in a lull between large storms, and Mammoth had received around a foot a day the past 3 days. Fortunately, the drive up was sunny, if a bit breezy. These cold winter storms left lots of snow around, including a dusting at the top of Red Rock Canyon, at about 3000 feet elevation. Further north, the snow line stayed about 4000 to 5000 feet, but the ground was obviously damp from snow and rain the day before.
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My Annoying Cousin closed up the LB State ski cabin at Lake Crowley, and drove up the hill to meet me in town. She was nice enough to buy cereal and OJ for the morning.
The following day we went up on the mountain. It was cloudy and dreary so I thought of not taking my camera, but I decided to. Once we got above 9500 feet, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Here’s the Annoying Cousin to the west of Chair 5, with Lincoln Mountain in the background. Notice the clouds down below us, and the White Mountains way in the distance on the right of the photo.
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There was lots of powder out that day. The top of the mountain had been closed for 3 days I was told, and everyone was waiting to carve fresh tracks in it.
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We did several rounds on the backside of the mountain, skiing from Chair 23 and 14
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Here’s a better pic of me (taken by the Annoying Cousin) on the backside of the mountain.
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The Annoying Cousin drove back south late that afternoon to celebrate her 21st birthday at home, but I remained up on the mountain. I woke up at 1am, and found no new snow on the porch. At 7am though, we had 8 new inches, and I took a good half hour to shovel the porch, steps and driveway. I headed up on the mountain, without my camera, but it really was dark and dreary, with a good strong wind blowing. Lots of powder being chopped up, but long lines due to the top of the mountain being closed again. I called it an early day and headed home. If I had waited a few more hours, I’d of been stuck as the road was closed north and south due to snow.
Nice shots, and glad they made it to the Web. Next time you’re up that way and see snow, see if you can figure out where Mr. Adams was when he shot this one. Bringing it up to date—picking the right time of day, watching for carefully placed clouds, finding that horse—would be a fine mission to assess new technology.
Well, i’m guessing from the caption it was taken in or around Lone Pine. Now just to find that horsie. And get the clouds in line of course. That’s easy though, right?