Season Vertical Detail for Mammoth and Totals

The first three rows of the table below show the vertical skied by season for Mammoth Mt., June Mt., Tioga Pass and China Peak, the 8th, 13th, 104th and 241st areas I have skied. The remaining rows are totals for all areas skied within each ski season.

Below the table are links to online reports from this region. Reports up to February 2003 were from the Southland Ski Server. Later reports, usually including pictures, are from First Tracks Online Ski Magazine No-Bull Ski Reports.

Mammoth is the closest I have to a "home" ski area, representing about 30% of my skiing, starting in 1978. I'm first listing here a few reports from China Peak, June Mt. and backcountry on Tioga Pass. Then Mammoth reports are grouped by time of season.

  AREA    \    SEASON 75-77 77-78 78-79 79-80 80-81 81-82 82-83 83-84 84-85 85-86 86-87 87-88 88-89 89-90 90-91 91-92 92-93 93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 Area Total Area Days
9 Mammoth              0.0 45.3 231.4 154.5 117.6 420.9 282.7 344.1 44.7 161.6 67.8 203.6 70.7 106.4 140.1 164.6 181.9 105.8 163.3 149.1 163.5 144.2 139.3 70.4 54.6 158.1 199.2 79.4 287.9 344.6 72.2 62.9 358.5 281.4 537.4 171.4 423.7 72.4 96.5 459.7 603.7 344.7 425.4 238.9 275.1 245.3 378.8 233.5 10,078.7 459.0
14 June Mt.             0.0 0.0 14.5 0.0 0.0 15.2 0.0 15.0 0.0 0.0 12.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.4 0.0 12.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 102.6 7.0
105 Tioga Pass 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 1.0
241 China Peak 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.5 1.0
   
Season Total 26.0 100.3 482.7 395.6 418.9 742.6 682.3 531.6 342.0 466.8 443.3 464.3 417.4 501.8 499.0 484.2 583.0 441.7 380.9 393.0 602.0 600.1 550.6 589.8 552.6 489.7 574.0 665.2 965.3 816.3 839.9 664.0 930.6 1078.6 1318.3 1151.6 1115.4 1048.9 1274.6 1072.4 1609.8 1254.5 1381.0 808.1 1057.7 1175.3 1225.5 1041.7 35,250.8 Total
Total Days Skied 8 12 30 23 24 41 35 24 16 24 24 21 23 28 26 26 28 20 22 20 32 28 26 27 28 21 28 32 48 41 45 38 45 53 72 71 59 58 67 54 73 59 70 41 51 57 66 55 1,820 Total
Total Powder Vert. 0 4 29 47 1 31 29 40 3 26 48 55 28 25 70 19 33 20 22 3 115 102 149 56 58 55 53 57 147 195 167 145 125 173 191 291 160 225 100 187 155 171 215 80 50 62 153 77 4,247 Total
Vertical per Day 3.25 8.36 16.09 17.20 17.45 18.11 19.49 22.15 21.38 19.45 18.47 22.11 18.15 17.92 19.19 18.62 20.82 22.09 17.31 19.65 18.81 21.43 21.18 21.84 19.74 23.32 20.50 20.79 20.11 19.91 18.66 17.47 20.68 20.35 18.31 16.22 18.90 18.08 19.02 19.86 22.05 21.26 19.73 19.71 20.74 20.62 18.57 18.94 19.37 Average
Powder per Season 0.0% 4.0% 6.0% 11.9% 0.2% 4.2% 4.3% 7.5% 0.9% 5.6% 10.8% 11.8% 6.7% 5.0% 14.0% 3.9% 5.7% 4.5% 5.8% 0.8% 19.1% 17.0% 27.1% 9.5% 10.5% 11.2% 9.2% 8.6% 15.2% 23.9% 19.9% 21.8% 13.4% 16.0% 14.5% 25.3% 14.3% 21.5% 7.8% 17.4% 9.6% 13.6% 15.6% 9.9% 4.7% 5.3% 12.5% 7.4% 12.0% Average
Different Areas Skied 5 8 11 10 13 18 12 7 9 12 14 10 17 17 14 10 12 17 12 13 21 11 17 14 17 13 16 23 21 15 28 21 16 21 22 33 26 28 30 23 35 25 37 20 28 33 31 34 18.8 Average
New Areas Skied 5 4 5 4 7 4 2 1 0 7 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 2 9 1 10 3 6 3 9 8 3 6 12 6 3 8 7 13 12 9 4 6 11 11 16 1 7 15 13 10 286 Total
Opening Day 30-Dec 28-Dec 18-Nov 29-Dec 13-Dec 25-Nov 13-Nov 3-Dec 30-Dec 16-Nov 21-Dec 12-Dec 27-Oct 16-Dec 30-Dec 28-Dec 5-Dec 7-Nov 26-Nov 16-Dec 3-Jan 20-Dec 19-Dec 8-Jan 24-Nov 29-Dec 3-Jan 10-Jan 30-Oct 17-Dec 30-Dec 22-Nov 15-Nov 27-Dec 29-Nov 7-Oct 4-Dec 18-Dec 18-Dec 11-Nov 12-Dec 21-Nov 2-Dec 5-Dec 2-Dec 29-Oct 23-Nov 5-Dec 8-Dec Median
Closing Day 14-May 16-May 22-Apr 1-Jun 31-May 20-Jun 4-Jul 13-May 26-May 4-Jul 29-Apr 3-May 2-Apr 4-May 27-May 26-Apr 4-Jul 30-Apr 15-Jul 22-Jun 26-May 31-May 11-Apr 29-May 28-May 27-May 26-May 29-Mar 7-Aug 4-Jul 26-May 1-Jun 13-Jun 19-Jun 1-Sep 2-Jul 2-Jul 11-May 9-May 13-Jun 3-Aug 28-May 21-Jun 1-Jun 14-May 1-Sep 5-Aug 14-May 28-May Median
Southern            23-Aug -                             19-Jul -                3-Sep -  24-Aug -  6-Sep -     16-Jul -    8-Nov -     22-Aug-                 10-Jul    
Hemisphere           3-Sep                             2-Aug               9-Sep 29-Aug 13-Sep     21-Jul   17-Nov     4-Sep                      

China Peak
March 19, 2020, 17/10

June Mt.
June Mt. is most rewarding on bad weather days when many of Mammoth's lifts are closed.
January 3, 1997, 13K vertical, 7K of powder
February 21, 2005, 16/10
January 4, 2017, 12/8

Tioga Pass backcountry
Hiking/skinning from 10,000 to over 12,000 feet is tough for SoCal weekenders without much altitude acclimatization.
May 26, 2003
July 3, 2011, Report from my son Adam

Mammoth, Early Season
Pre-Christmas skiing is generally worthwhile only on relatively short notice at ski areas within driving distance from home. Sierra snowfall is notoriously volatile, so in the dry years not worthwhile until well past the holidays. But the volatility works both ways. The better early seasons have substantial dumps, opening expansive and steep terrain and not confining skiers to a handful of groomed runs on manmade snow. November storms on the West Coast are prone to a high rain/snow line, but Mammoth will generally get all snow at its 8,900 foot Main Lodge and above.
November 13-14, 2004, Midwinter coverage after a record 82 inches in October
December 18-19, 2004, then record 44,500 vertical on 12/18
December 17-18, 2005
November 29 - December 1, 2010
December 22-23, 2010, 18/10, 21/7
October 7, 2011, Hike to ski before lifts opened
December 4-8, 2012, 107/10 in 5 days
December 18-20, 2012, 69/22 in 3 days
November 11-12, 2015, 34/7 in 2 days
November 17-18, 2015
December 12-13, 2016
December 20-21, 2016
November 21-22, 2017
December 5-7, 2017
December 18-20, 2018
December 16-19, 2019
October 29, 2021, Third October opening this century.

Mammoth, Mid Season
Inside Tracks Resort Guide, April 1998
March 2, 1984, 37,600 vertical record lasted for 12 years.
January 5, 1997
February 1-3, 1997, 90K in 3 days, first demo of K2 Four shaped skis
January 30-31, 1999
February 21, 2000, My son Adam handled a foot of new Sierra Cement better than I did (20/9).
January 27-28, 2001, 19/8, 20/6
January 3-5, 2003, 85K in 3 days
January 17-19, 2004
January 3, 2006, More wind than powder after 95 inches in 31 hours
February 4-5, 2006
January 10-11, 2009
January 5-6, 2011, Hole-in-the-Wall sidecountry
March 14-15, 2011
February 13, 2017, Deep coverage after 300 inches snowfall in the prior 6 weeks
February 14, 2017
January 9-10, 2019, 20/8, 24/7

Mammoth, WWSRA Demo
In 2011 I was coincidentally at Mammoth at the time of the Western Winter Sports Reps Association annual ski demo. This media and trade event is held each year shortly after the Snowsports Industry America trade show in Denver. The demo occupies the entire Chair 2 parking lot at Mammoth, an ideal location to test skis over a wide variety of terrain, so I have returned to this event when weather and my schedule have permitted.
February 7-9, 2011
February 11-12, 2015
February 9-11, 2016
February 7-8, 2018
February 11-12, 2020
February 8-9, 2022

Mammoth, Early Spring
This is Mammoth's prime time, especially relative to other ski areas. Only in 1977 and 2015 was Mammoth not fully covered by April. All lifts and terrain are open to the third weekend of April. High altitude and predominant north exposure mean that the upper steeps usually retain winter snow well into April. When the warm weather does arrive, there is often ideal spring corn. April is my most skied month at Mammoth.
March 31 - April 1, 1979, the highlight of my formative ski season
April 6, 1996, then record 43,000 vertical
April 18, 1998
April 8-11, 1999
April 9, 1999, 35/18, best lift-served ski day of my life
April 6-7, 2002
April 3, 2003, 35/15 by my son Adam
April 9-10, 2005, 30/13 on 4/9
May 7-8, 2005, 31/7 on 5/7
April 8-10, 2006
April 10-12, 2009, 26/13 on 4/10
April 2-4, 2010
April 17, 2010, 37,000 vertical
April 21-22, 2011
April 11-13, 2012, 29/17 on 4/13
April 9-12, 2013
March 24-26, 2014, 24/12 on 3/26
April 26-27, 2016
April 10-12, 2017
April 19, 2017, 32/4
April 9-11, 2019
April 26-28, 2019
April 12, 2021, 40,700 vertical
April 4, 2023, record high snowpack

Mammoth, Late Spring
Mammoth is a premier area of North America in late season. It remained open to Memorial Day during all of the severe 2012-2015 drought years. During most seasons Mammoth is close to half open to Memorial Day, including steep upper runs that close in spring at ski areas with less stable snowpacks. Salting of groomed runs makes Mammoth's late season more pleasant for intermediates too.
May 1-2 & June 19-20, 1982
May 24-25, 1998
May 24-25, 2003
May 20-21, 2006
June 10-11, 2006, 30K by 2PM on 6/10
May 9-10, 2009
May 29-31, 2010
May 27-31, 2011, 19/4 on 5/29. 31K on 5/30
May 18, 2013, 35,800 vertical by 2:30PM
May 4-6, 2016
May 28-31, 2017, 31K on 5/28
May 16-18, 2018
May 25-28, 2019, 31K on 5/25
June 8, 2019, 36,100 vertical by 2PM
June 21, 2019
May 10-11, 2023

Mammoth, Summer
Mammoth has been open to July 4 in its best 30% of seasons of the past 40 years. Some of the steeps remain open to closing day, along with a few salted groomers. Lift hours are typically 7:30AM - 1PM. Lift service continued past July 4 in 1983, 1995, 2017, 2019 and 2023.
July 2, 2005
August 7, 2005, Hike to ski after lifts closed
July 1-2, 2006
July 4, 2006, Closing day party on top
July 2-3, 2011
July 4, 2011, Closing day party on top
August 31 - September 1, 2011, Hike to ski after lifts closed
July 2-3, 2017
July 4-5, 2017
July 30, 2017
August 3, 2017, 1995 was only prior season lift served in August.
June 30 - July 2, 2023
July 19, 2023
August 4-5, 2023, another lift served August.