Daaamn, it feels good to be back up in the mountains. While we’re grateful for 75 degree weather year-round, the daily surfs at a handful of the more famous breaks in the world, and the countless upsides to living in Southern California, we missed the fresh corduroy, jib sessions, and post-slope beers. And in that regard, Mammoth’s opening weekend was everything we looked forward to all summer long.
The short drive up to Mammoth from Los Angeles late at night made for quite the ride, with an unsafe amount of anticipation spiking an absolutely necessary amount of caffeine — but all was well as we needed to get up there for the premieres, the parties, and, most importantly, the laps through the park and down the newly covered frontside. With early risers grabbing a coffee and bagel before getting in line at the chairlift and afternoon runs to the nearby hot springs in the plans, there really was no other option than to high-tail it out of the office, dust off the gear, and pack it into the car. And, let us tell you, we weren’t disappointed.
We followed Arbor team manager Sean Black to Central California where we met up with the Arbor team, including riders Ian Sams and Daniel Brown. But that is far from the entire crowd to converge upon Mammoth. Jamie Anderson, Danny Davis, and loads more coming from Tahoe, Big Bear, San Francisco, and wherever else they spend their off-seasons made themselves comfortable in a place many consider their home away from home.
The snow wasn’t that signature Mammoth powder, but that only means we have that much more to look forward to throughout the rest of the season. Here’s to hoping and praying for that El Niño.
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