Date: 01/03/03
Days: 3
Resort: Mammoth Mtn.
Hours: Day
Equipment: Alpine
Rating: 9
Primary-Surface: Packed powder
Secondary-Surfaces: Hardpack, Slush
Gender: Male
Age: 50
Ability: Expert
E-mail: crockeraf@aol.com
Loved: Snow depth and quality, weather
Hated: Not much
Closed: None
Liftline-Waits: Minimal, except base area lifts on Friday, which we avoided
Moguls: Generally excellent

Unseasonably warm weather (mid-40's), but the sun is so low that 70% of terrain retained a packed powder surface. Friday was a rare Mammoth day with no wind also. Snow depth and quality is particularly outstanding from Chair 23 north to Paranoid this season. On Saturday there was wind from the SW which deposited loose dry powder into this area and also much of the Chair 5 area. From 23 there was a smooth cruisable surface all the way down to St. Anton. On Saturday and Sunday Scotty's was groomed as well as Cornice. Sunday the wind came from the east and was in your face entering Scotty's or Cornice but calm once you got a couple hundred feet down.

Holiday crowds were evident on Friday at the base lodges and nearby lifts, but the upper mountain was wide open. Saturday was noticeably less congested down there and Sunday was very quiet. 85K vertical in 3 days is by far the most vigorous opening weekend of the season I can recall. Sunday was 27K and we left before 1PM to drive home.