Mammoth Mountain gets the ski and snowboard party started

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Woolly — the Mammoth Mountain mascot — had a breakthrough moment this morning while opening the resort’s 2019-2020 ski and snowboard season. (Photo by Peter Morning/Courtesy Mammoth Mountain)

By Jerry Rice

Let the skiing and snowboarding begin!

Mammoth Mountain opened this morning for the 2019-2020 snow season. First chair was at 8:30 a.m., and the winter kickoff party continues all day with live music on the Main Lodge sundeck and an après party tonight that includes a screening of “Joy: A Snowboard Film.”

Three lifts and four trails were open, with the slopes pretty much exclusively covered with manmade snow at a base depth of 12 to 18 inches. While there’s no snow from Mother Nature on the horizon — the 10-day forecast has lots of sunny and mostly sunny days — overnight lows in the teens and 20s means there’s a nightly opportunity to make even more powder.

In any event, there was plenty of excitement on the slopes this morning. Here’s what that looked like:

The opening weekend celebration continues Sunday, with more live music on the Main Lodge sundeck, and free skiing/riding for active duty military and veterans on Monday, which is Veterans Day.

For the latest conditions and information, visit www.mammothmountain.com.

In the weeks ahead, Mammoth Mountain will be joined by several other resorts for skiing and snowboarding up and down the state. Among them:

  • Snow Summit and Alpine Meadows/Squaw Valley, Nov. 15
  • Bear Mountain, Mountain High, Heavenly and Northstar California, Nov. 22
  • Snow Valley, late November
  • Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Nov. 27
  • China Peak and Tahoe Donner Cross Country Ski Center, Nov. 28
  • Sugar Bowl, Nov. 29
  • Mount Baldy and Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area, early December
  • Diamond Peak, Dec. 12
  • Badger Pass, Dec. 20