Mammoth Mountain

[pcbowman]

I am new to this board and was wondering if there are any riders in Mammoth. I go up three times a month from Southern Cal. I can't find anyone in Mammoth to rent a board from to try alpine carving. I condiser myself an agressive freerider but would like to make the jump to alpine carving. I had a 166 Arbor A-frame and after riding on it 90+ times it is not stiff enough so I just bought a Palmer Crown LE and after reading this board I still don't think it is going to be stiff enough. Would anyone consier letting me ride one of their boards in Mammoth and teaching me a little bit. I have been riding for 15+ years and very proficient at riding the whole mountain. My daughter is on the ski team and my son competes in the unbound competitions and looking for a new challenge.

Thank you,

Peter

[nekdut]

Hi Peter,

There are a handful of us here who ride up at Mammoth and June. I am there about three weekends a month, and hopefully more often this season.

You have a few options actually. Wave Rave does indeed have some alpine boards, way up in the back of their racks. They don't really even know what they are, but I think they rent them out for $20 a day. You will need to provide your own bindings and boots though, and probably help them find them up in the racks. I know they at least have a Burton UP 162 and FP 167, as well as a few in shorter lengths.

I know this is a ways out, but you will have a wide range of excellent boards to ride in April at the Sierra Nevada Expression Session that I am organizing (along with some help hopefully guys? :)). Donek has agreed to provide some demos, and Prior will hopefully come through as well. I have a feeling you will need your own boots and bindings for this event as well though, as I have not been able to secure any boot or binding demos yet.

How much do you weigh and how big are your feet? You could probably ride my Burton Coil 165. You might even be able to get away with softboots on it if your feet aren't too big.


With that said, who's going up this weekend? Looks like we finally got a good storm! Lets hope this keeps up. :D

[pcbowman]

I am 6ft tall and weigh 175 pounds. My foot is 10.5/11 in regular shoes, but I bought a pair of high-end burton SL-8 (size 10) last summer so I could have a better response then the step-ins I have been wearing for a number of years. I am used to cramming my foot into a boot because of rock-climbing and don't mind them being tight because I enjoy the performance. If I buy a pair of boots, can you rent bindings and a board at Wave Rave?

Thank you for your quick response.

Peter

[Randy S.]

If you make it up to North Lake Tahoe, I probably have enough equipment to get you set up to try hardbooting. I'm pretty sure at least one pair of boots around my house will fit you, and I think I can get heels together for a full pair. I have some spare bindings and lots of boards around. Track me down if you make it up this way. Otherwise find one of the socal folks to help out.

[garyj]

Peter I've got some old burton stuff you may want to try. I also have a Vokl 178 RT and burton reactor boots size 29. All you need are the bindings! Often lots of carvers at Mammoth/June and most are friendly, helpful and oppinionated :argue: all in good fun! Keep in touch through the profile section.

Neil are you up right now? Any significant snowfall yet?

[nekdut]

Neil are you up right now? Any significant snowfall yet?

Nope I am still down south. I am going to head up on Friday morning hopefully. This does sound promising though:

AREAS ABOVE 8000 FEET WILL BE NEARLY ALL SNOW AND COULD SEE UP TO 3 FEET BY EVENING WHILE AMOUNTS SHOULD EXCEED A FOOT IN THE 7000 TO 8000 FOOT RANGE. :biggthump

Unfortunately, I am not sure how much time on the snow I will be getting as I plan to be painting my new place for most of the weekend.

Are you heading up?

[D-Sub]

neil did you buy a pad?

if I get stuck in SoCal this winter (looks like I might due to a family thing)...you might have someone to share gas with you if you have a couch or somethin!

[nekdut]

neil did you buy a pad?

if I get stuck in SoCal this winter (looks like I might due to a family thing)...you might have someone to share gas with you if you have a couch or somethin!

Dave,

Yessirreebob.. got a little place at Mammoth a few weeks ago. It needs a decent amount of work though. Once I'm done, we should have some space on the couch for the occasional crasher :)

[D-Sub]

need help with the work?

the more I think about it, the more it looks like Im staying for the winter, and I dont want to spend all my time at bull**** big bear resorts. baldy rocks when it snows, but...

so...keep me in mind, man. I am handy with tools, paint, whatever

[carve4life]

need help with the work?

the more I think about it, the more it looks like Im staying for the winter, and I dont want to spend all my time at bull**** big bear resorts. baldy rocks when it snows, but...

so...keep me in mind, man. I am handy with tools, paint, whatever

Dave,

do you even consiter going to big bear any more? last time i went there i couldn't even make one turn with out having someone else there. limit lift tickets my A$$. i wont go back any more.

seems like the drive to mammoth is well worth it these days


oh and to the original poster:

there are a bunch of guys up at mammoth who have more boards than they know what to do with. sometimes i swear they want to own every board made. seems like tuthill has just about ever burner out there. but i'll talk to my pops and see if i can get you some emails to talk to one of those guys. they are way cool and always down to help out a convert. real good riders too. but nekdut is right you will prob need your own boots.

[pcbowman]

While I am in mammoth this weekend I will get sized by a boot fitter so I can ensure I get the right size. Once I find the right size, anyone have any suggestion on a good used boot/binding i should buy so i can try this sport.

On a different note, do use alpine boards in powder, it seems that they are more for early morning groomed runs. I have a powder board i bought last year, o-sin 168 swallow tail.

I am looking forward to having a full quiver of boards to use this year. And to start smoking skiers who think they are faster than boarders. I usually tied my friends that where skiers on my all-mountain board so i am looking forward to the speed of an alpine board and riding the mountain and not the park!

Peter

[nekdut]

need help with the work?

the more I think about it, the more it looks like Im staying for the winter, and I dont want to spend all my time at bull**** big bear resorts. baldy rocks when it snows, but...

so...keep me in mind, man. I am handy with tools, paint, whatever


I'll let you know Dave. I have some friends helping with paint this weekend. But I'm going to be doing flooring eventually. Thanks for the offer. :)

[D-Sub]

Dave,

do you even consiter going to big bear any more? last time i went there i couldn't even make one turn with out having someone else there. limit lift tickets my A$$. i wont go back any more.

seems like the drive to mammoth is well worth it these days
]
havent in a LONG time. although Ive heard mid-week is still empty most of the time. I usually just wait til it dumps at Baldy (iffy) or go up to Mammoth. I dont mind the drive...its the altitude problems that get me

[jayj]

do you even consiter going to big bear any more? last time i went there i couldn't even make one turn with out having someone else there. limit lift tickets my A$$. i wont go back any more.

seems like the drive to mammoth is well worth it these days

I used to hit up summit all the time, and for being largely stuck in SoCal, I didn't think too poorly of it. That was 'bout 7-8 years ago. Now I look them up again, and their tickets are $60+ on holidays/weekends (which is about the only times I can get out of work, used to be ~$35-40)! :angryfire I'm sorry, but Summit is not worth sixty bucks, esp. when Mammoth is only $10 more! Guess I'll be driving straight past Big Bear on the way to Mammoth from now on.

-Jay

[garyj]

Are you heading up?

Neil, work is intense right now and will remain so untill after Christmas, but I do have two days, most likely Tues/Wed of next week or the following depending on the snow conditions.

Dave your back in the south land? Should be a fun cast of characters this year :biggthump looking forward to ridding with you boys.

[D-Sub]

yeah, Im back. tentative right now. was planning on throwing caution to the wind and heading to CO...shoulda done it when I was free, now something came up with my dad, so I dont know whats going to happen

[garyj]

Don't sound so bumbed. It's not all that bad---snow is not too far and a great group of carvers to share it with. Are you in Orange county or LA county?

[D-Sub]

Fullerton, amigo

dont mean to sound bummed, but Im not a fan of driving 2-3 hours for one day of riding, and I always get sick when I go to mammoth. goin from sea level to altitude just messes me up these days.

plus its darn $70 a day:)

edit: tryin to remember who it was I ran into that one day at mammoth (not literally)...when I was testin out the coiler AM? talked for about a minute then never saw each other again

[nekdut]

Guys its dumping Dumping DUMPING up there right now!

3FT expected by the end of the evening!!

:1luvu:

[garyj]

edit: tryin to remember who it was I ran into that one day at mammoth (not literally)...when I was testin out the coiler AM? talked for about a minute then never saw each other again

Chair 25, super choppy crud :barf: conditions were variable at best and difficult to ride with any speed or angle, but still fun. I hope you didn't sell the coiler based on that day---it looked like a great board.

Anyway Neil's last post is what we all need to hear.

[carve4life]

plus its darn $70 a day:)



gotta pay the price, if you wanna carve the ice!!

[Miltie]

Peter,

I have a set of Burton Race Plate bindings you are welcome to borrow. Can't help you out with boots since my feet are much smaller than yours. Might be able to hook you up with a loaner board depending on what length you are interested in.

Many of us prefer June over Mammoth because of the better grooming and lighter crowds. Not sure if this works with your family but you may want to check it out.

Take care,

Tom

[D-Sub]

Chair 25, super choppy crud :barf: conditions were variable at best and difficult to ride with any speed or angle, but still fun. I hope you didn't sell the coiler based on that day---it looked like a great board.

Anyway Neil's last post is what we all need to hear.

so that was you! sorry...crappy memory

nah, I sold the coiler cuz it just didnt feel right to me. not my cup of tea. it was hella stiff, too (8.9 on bruces scale. pretty stiff)

that day SUCKED and I was having a hella hard time. holy crap I just typed hella twice and Im not even from the bay area.

[nekdut]

it was hella stiff, too (8.9 on bruces scale. pretty stiff)

Hmm... You mentioned being over 200 lbs from what I remember, and you found an AM at 8.9 stiffness too stiff huh.. I just picked up an AM172 with a stiffness rating of 8.6, and I'm just over 180. This will be interesting. Not sure if this board will work for me, give what you're saying. Hand flexing, it feels very stiff for a board of its length especially considering its supposed to be an all mountain board.

[RJ-PS]

Peter,
You should have no problem carving that Palmer Crown LE. If I were you I would spend the money on an awesome pair of boots a cheap pair of bindings and ride your Palmer until you can carve the snot out of it.
Then move on to another more carve specific board.

[Mike T]

Hmm... You mentioned being over 200 lbs from what I remember, and you found an AM at 8.9 stiffness too stiff huh.. I just picked up an AM172 with a stiffness rating of 8.6, and I'm just over 180. This will be interesting. Not sure if this board will work for me, give what you're saying. Hand flexing, it feels very stiff for a board of its length especially considering its supposed to be an all mountain board.

Be careful comparing the Coiler stiffness index on different models! My PR 188 is a 6.6 and has a much stiffer feel than my AM 182 which is a 7.1. My wife's FC 165 is a 7.4 or 7.6 (I cannot remember) and I would probably break it if I rode it - but it's the perfect flex for her.

If the stiffness index measures something like deflection at the waist by supporting the ends and then hanging a fixed amount of weight from the waist, where more deflection is a smaller index number, then it all makes sense... a longer board, the deflection would be greater.

D-Sub - holy **** that thing must be stiff. I had a PR 184 with a 6.7 stiffness, so your PR 184 would have to me much, much stiffer. What did you tell him when you ordered? Mine was *perfect* for 195 pounds and variable conditions.

nekdut - definitley post here after you've ridden your AM 172. I would like to know how it felt to you.

[nekdut]

nekdut - definitley post here after you've ridden your AM 172. I would like to know how it felt to you.

Definitely. I may give it a try tomorrow because of THIS:

It's powder heaven! The mountain is covered in 2 feet of fresh powder at Main Lodge and 3 feet at the top! The winds continue to howl out there letting us know that this storm isn't over yet. We are expecting snow to continue throughout the day with temperatures remaining in the 30s.

Mother Nature gave Mammoth just what we needed. With 2 feet of new snow, we will be opening Canyon and Eagle Lodges tomorrow with access to Canyon Express (16), Chair 8 and Eagle Express (15).We plan to operate 16 lifts this weekend.

It'll finally be way less crowded with the full width of the mountain open. Woohooo!! :ices_ange

[D-Sub]

mike, my PR ws only 7.0

[carvedog]

On a different note, do use alpine boards in powder, it seems that they are more for early morning groomed runs. I have a powder board i bought last year, o-sin 168 swallow tail.

Peter

I ride nothing but plate bindings and hard boots (Burton Fire's that are all cracked to squat but still holding) in all conditions and all boards from Burners to Primes to a Frontier 185, Canyon 173, Burton Air 172 etc ad naseum infitum. In bumps, crud, pow, everything. Well I don't do parks and rails. I never let my edges touch anything but snow actually, no wood or other skiers or lift line loadies. Too much gear for sure. The point is you don't need to have two sets of boots.

Good luck with the boot fit.

[Mike T]

mike, my PR ws only 7.0


Ah - you were talking about a different board I take it...

[D-Sub]

Ah - you were talking about a different board I take it...

yup. 2 seasons ago I bought a coiler AM177wide from jack pearce. that was the 8.9

I didnt know jACK about modern carvers...and I sold it to Neuffy from here. poor kid is much smaller than I am, so it was definitely not right for him either. Ive felt funny about that ever since, but I simply didnt know!

mammoth is lookin sick! typical stormy blowout right now:)

[Mike T]

mammoth is lookin sick! typical stormy blowout right now:)

Bachelor too. Another foot expected before the lifts open tomorrow. The storm *might* let up enough so I can bring a skinny stick on Sunday (i.e., < 5" of fresh) but I'm not goimng to complain if it keeps snowing, I :1luvu: powder as much as carving. Your Steepwater Plow would be loving it!

[Kirk]

Lookin' forward to a Mammoth trip this season for sure (possibly during the SNES during the first of April :biggthump ).

Does anyone know if we'll be missing the spring break maddness during those days? DO NOT want another experience like last season - Mammoth in particular :barf:

BTW, northern Utah's getting it right now too - startin' to look like winter ...FINALLY :biggthump

[garyj]

Kirk my kids spring break is later in april and it seems that most breaks range from mid march to late april. It doesn't matter anyway, just go to June when Mammoth is crowded. You can ride it on the same ticket if the ticket was purchased at mammoth.

I'm trying to put my plans together for the WTC. Have the venues been decided yet? Maybe Park City and Snow Basin? Just got an email from oldvolvosrule and he is ready to go with tickets in hand. Anyway tell me what you know about the event. Thanks. GC

[Kirk]

Yeah, we had Mammoth/June passes and were MUCH better off at June. I've ridden there about the same time (late March/early April) every year and I never saw it like it was in spring '05 :eek:

Should still be plenty fun though :biggthump

[oldvolvosrule]

Neil, what are the conditions like up there? Is it freshies or did you get some groomers today?? Gdbytyler will be riding there tomorrow on his new Donek FC1 163, He will be with a few other guys on hardboots but from what Erwin told me they are just starting out on a carving set up. Keep an eye out for em!!

[nekdut]

Neil, what are the conditions like up there? Is it freshies or did you get some groomers today?? Gdbytyler will be riding there tomorrow on his new Donek FC1 163, He will be with a few other guys on hardboots but from what Erwin told me they are just starting out on a carving set up. Keep an eye out for em!!

Well......................... I'm up here and been here since Friday afternoon...

but I havent been to the slopes yet.. :angryfire

Things at my place are taking way longer than expected. I hope to get a little time on the snow tomorrow. Wish me luck.

I'll keep and eye out for Erwin if I do make it out.

[garyj]

Neil, stop what you are doing and go ride :smashfreaAaron sent you an email .Were you able to ride locally? Need some info on the Utah trip. Once again I am spending way too much time on this thing. Gotta get out more.

[oldvolvosrule]

Gary, I checked out the webcam for today and all it was was just a strip of snow down Miracle Mile, it actually looked kind of pathetic so I opted not to go. There is supposed to be much cooler temps up the hill for the next few days, if that is the case I am hoping that they are able to open some more runs. I have Monday free and also Friday of next week so I am hoping to make it up one of those days.

Maybe I can talk my father into flying to Mammoth for some turns. Let see, Mammoth or Snow Summit? MAMMOTH!!! by a landslide.

Talked to my brother, who lives in Riverton, near the Jordan River, and he was able to make it out today for a few turns on skis, not at Riverton but up at Brighton.

[Tim Tuthill]

Whata ya mean me and boards??? The English pateint has 16 Hots on his rack at his Mammoth place not to mention Franks Burnners,Hots, Mads, Sims all mountain stuff and boards I don't even know about in his garage. If I'm there, more than happy to help out. Bring Duct tape if a buckle goes out!!!

[carve4life]

Whata ya mean me and boards??? The English pateint has 16 Hots on his rack at his Mammoth place not to mention Franks Burnners,Hots, Mads, Sims all mountain stuff and boards I don't even know about in his garage. If I'm there, more than happy to help out. Bring Duct tape if a buckle goes out!!!

i'm just busten your balls tim. that first time i met you, you had soo many boards. although i think you brought a bunch to show brian. i wish i had your guys quiver. hope to see you in dec in mammoth?

[Tim Tuthill]

Devin: No biggy!! You are more than welcome to use what I bring. I got a box for the car. Works great. No boards in da car!!! Hope I can get to Mammoth prior to the 22nd. Speaking of Pryor, where is the boy??? avatar, Nice scope!!!!

[oldvolvosrule]

Pryor, yeah where is he?? I tried callling him on a few occasions only to keep getting an answer machine, I leave a message and noone ever calls back. Anyone know his address, it is right up the road from me, I will cruise by and see whats up.

[Ray]

you guys up in Mammoth between Christmas and new years?
I might come up a couple days...

[Tim Tuthill]

Ray: Nuff Said!!! May try prior to Christmass. Ill let you know.

[nekdut]

you guys up in Mammoth between Christmas and new years?
I might come up a couple days...

Ray,

I will be there, probably from the 26th until the 2nd.

I will probably stay away from Mammoth and stick to June due to the crowds though. We'll see how bad it is. :)

Hopefully I'll actually get some time on the snow, unlike this past weekend!!! :angryfire

[gdboytyler]

Gdbytyler will be riding there tomorrow on his new Donek FC1 163, He will be with a few other guys on hardboots but from what Erwin told me they are just starting out on a carving set up.

I rode Mammoth on Sat and Sunday and snow conditions and coverage were excellent. Grooming was sub-standard as usual. Cornice and Hangmans were open. Very light crowd. Longest wait in a lift line was maybe 2 minutes.

The first run on my Donek FCII was terrible. Halfway down Stump Alley, I even did a nice face plant. I'm glad I was wearing a helmet. The problem was the storage wax that came with my new board. I just left the storage wax on and figured the excess would just rub off. But it just made the board unrideable. When I got to the bottom, I scraped off the wax and rubbed on some new wax. Then the board felt like the Donek I demo'd last spring.

My buddies showed up Saturday afternoon and they tried out their new alpine boards on Sunday. One new hardbooter was on a Swoard 161 /TD2/Raichle setup and the other new hardbooter was on a Burton FP 167/Burton boots and plates.

I saw one other guy (looked like a teenager) on hardboots but didnt' talk to the guy.

[Tim Tuthill]

Tyler: Did you ride Hangmans on an alpine board?? If he did, the boy is nuts!!! Sounds good for coverage if Hangmans is good to go??

[Brian]

Tim and Ray

Confirmed my reservations for Dec 18-22 today, hope to see you guys up there...let it snow. :cool:

[carve4life]

hey Brian: finished your avitar, check your email.

[gdboytyler]

Tyler: Did you ride Hangmans on an alpine board?? If he did, the boy is nuts!!! Sounds good for coverage if Hangmans is good to go??

I haven't done Hangman's on any kind of board! If I ever decide to drop in on Hangmans, it will be on my O-Sin 4807 on an epic powder day.

For my first 2 days of the season, I stayed on the lower part of the mountain.

I didn't talk to anyone that did Hangmans. But the people I talked to that rode Cornice, said the coverage was very good in the middle. And Cornice actually had a cornice, the groomers hadn't knocked it down yet.

[Tim Tuthill]

Brian: The same place?? It will depend on the conditions!!!

[Brian]

Tim
Yes, and it does depend upon conditions but we should have decent converage by then. Email me at my other address.