Mammoth, utterly buried.
When it rains, it pours. And when the freezing level is low enough, it completely buries. Such is the case for many mountain landscapes on the Pacific side of North America right now after last week’s prediction came true. Unless you’ve been purposefully avoiding viewing anything snow related in your social media feeds, you’ve likely seen the plethora of powder that fell in abundance from Alaska to California.
From the looks of it, Mammoth Mountain was Ullr’s favorite child this time around. They did something to please the snow gods, and are only now starting to dig out after two consecutive storms dropped 4 feet each between Saturday and Tuesday. Pro snowboarder Rebecca “Possum” Torr lives in Mammoth and got amongst it this week: “When people were saying it was going to be “Miracle March” I was super skeptical,” she told us. “But then almost 8 feet of snow came with another 4 feet on the horizon…I think I believe.”
The next storm cycle will start this evening and continue through the weekend, so if you haven’t yet made plans to be amongst it, now’s the time to use any and all frequent flier miles; or hall passes with your significant other. Head somewhere this weekend and call in sick Monday.
It’s pretty easy to bet on the Tahoe area benefitting most from this next wave. Forecasters are predicting the freezing level to start out fairly high, meaning wet, sloppy snow for coastal and low elevation areas. But high up in the Sierras the storms should hold out, and as the freezing level drops over the weekend the snow quality has a chance to become that orgasmic, light fluff we all love.
Hopefully common sense precludes the warning, but I’ll say it anyway because, well, Darwin: Please wait a few days after these storms to go into the backcountry. A lot has happened in the past couple weeks, from warm periods to variable snow conditions, strong winds and Murphy’s Law. So take your time before stepping out, even when just beyond the ropes. It ain’t worth it. And with as much snow as there is piling up, this spring touring season promises to be a good one.
Browse snow forecasts here and up-to-date avalanche info, here.
