Wednesday, November 9

Winters opening Day

In the United States and the rest of the northern hemisphere, the first day of the winter season is the day of the year when the Sun is farthest south (on December 21st or 22nd). This day is known as the Winter Solstice.

Winter for me starts on the same day the Ski Resorts open. Mammoth Mountain opens tomorrow Nov 10th (Bear Mountain should open a few weeks after.. maybe thanksgiving ). Surely I will be there on opening day. Its unlike Baseball's opening day where every single seat in the house is sold. Bear Mountain's opening day (usually Thanksgiving) is never crowded. Perhaps they presume snow coverage is marginal, especially when there's not enough natural snowfall. But whether there is natural snow or not the hardworking crew of Bear Mountain never fails to pack, trim and groom the man-made snow hard enough on the open trails for a good day of riding (and yes here in SoCal were used to that hard pack snow, in fact we look forward to it). Opening day (for those of you who's never been) is an excellent day to ride. Granted there's usually only 2 or 3 ski lifts open, opening day has never been about skiing all day or spending the day at the park hitting jumps. Opening day is about welcoming the Snow Season, its a ceremonial event, it's like harvest for the farmers or christening of a new ship. Well maybe I'm being deliriously excited about this, but heck its coming and I cant wait.

Bear Mountain resort abruptly increased their Season Pass a whopping $50.00. Great, these ski resorts increase lift ticket prices annually (an average of $2 a year) but a $50 increase for the Season Pass in one year? That seems exorbitant.. Well what I am going to do, not go? I guess I'm forking it out.. Aspen received 12 inches today and Mammoth got an absolute gift, a full 18 inches of snowfall. A wondrous opening day indeed.

That's me on the far left, Conrad and Kris.... @ Mammoth Mountain almost 13,000 feet above sea level

2 Comments:

At 9:39 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Mammoth is corporate now Bam. Sixty years ago Dave McCoy started his Mammoth Mountain ski resort with a single rope tow powered by a truck engine. Last month, he sold it to a private investment firm headed by hotel mogul Barry Sternlicht and pocketed over $80 million, according to the Los Angeles Times in what is reported to be the largest ski resort sale in history.

One of the country's three most-visited ski areas during the last ski season despite its lack of good air connections and its distance from major cities, Mammoth is better-known for its snow than its upscale ambience, but all that may be about to change. The new owners plan to develop 1,000 residential units and 30,000 square feet of commercial space over the next five to seven years, and according to one of my sources, Sternlicht is out to turn Mammoth into the Aspen of California. Is that good or bad?

 
At 9:50 AM, Blogger Marc Gabay said...

Change is bad.. yes i read this in the Times as well...

We're going to Utah this year... haha

 

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