Galleries

Majestic Sierra

This shot of the snow-covered Sierra was taken at about 10,200 feet elevation at Mammoth Mountain (I believe off the Solitude run), using my Android phone. Skiing takes on a new dimension when these are the scenes that surround you.

Hanna's best friend

Hanna fights for space on the couch with one of three loving Labs.

Not your ordinary socks

Sandi's birthday is on New Year's Eve, and she's testing some weird socks i got her that are designed to ease the stress on your feet by separating your toes. They're allegedly so potent you're supposed to kinda ease into them by wearing them only a little bit each day (with spacing adjustments accordingly). The jury is still out on whether they work or not, but they've been fun.

Why they call it Mammoth

Mammoth Mountain is so named because it's huge, not only in size but also its usable space. This is just one of many wide runs that make it a great place to ski. I love the Eastern Sierra because its scope and beauty is humbling.

Rush hour

Lift lines can get long on holiday weekends, and Thursday was no exception. Fortunately, we spent a lot of time on some runs out of the way that minimized our time in lines and maximized our time on the slopes.

The Girls

Hanna, Susi and Sandi during a break from shopping

Scenic slopes

Wide slopes mean there's less time focused on elbowing other skiers out of your way and more time looking at the scenery.

Shopping at The Village

The Village shopping area is in the background, behind the Christmas tree. The recession really has hit Mammoth hard, but so has some bad management of the Village business properties. A year ago, many of the storefronts were vacant, as business owners refused to pay high rents. Cooler heads have prevailed and the majority of spaces are filled, with new businesses on the way. There's still too few restaurants to feed the existing dining base, though, so here's to opening up a few more spots to minimize tables waits and sometimes horrific service.

Jeff and the dogs

Jeff walks the three Labs in the forest at least twice a day, and moves so fast my Android shutter was unable to catch a clear image of him.

Water geeks

Water is a huge issue in the Eastern Sierra but water politics tends to be a "boring but important" topic that few people care about. Imagine my surprise while visiting an independent bookseller in Bishop (about 45 minutes southeast of Mammoth on the drive up from Bakersfield) to find two shelves devoted to water issues. But, get this, while I was there, a real human (a younger man who had cool written all over him) came in and asked a clerk if they had a specific book on water politics. Egads! I felt like I was in "The Twilight Zone."

Room to play

Just another shot showing how wide some of the runs are.

Winter wonderland

There were lots of people on the slopes on New Year's Eve, but the mountain disperses the traffic pretty well.

Last run

This was the last run of the day, a long sloping path back to Eagle Lodge.