Mammoth Mountain

February is practically over and I have been a bad blogger. I do have my reasons and that's because 2 weekends we spent driving up to Mammoth Lakes in the eastern Sierras. The kids got 2 3 day weekends to enjoy back to back and for we decided to go for it.



The first weekend I drove up with the kids and met my friend Julie along with her cousins & friends so total us up all together and I think we were 10 sharing a condo at The Village. Our drive up was uneventful (which is great) but when we reached Mammoth the weather definitely different. Cold & windy with snow in the forecast but we were all nice a cozy in our penthouse condo.



We had plenty of restaurants to choose from and we just take the gondola there to the right to Canyon Lodge. We had to bundle up to go snowboarding to face the elements.





I think we would have done better if it weren't for the windy conditions.



Not that we were heading up to the top of the mountain but we couldn't see much past the lifts.

 

It was hard to keep track of both boys on the slope. Everyone looks the same, more or less.



Sunday was better weather-wise but not much. We managed the best we could.





Maybe this is why we usually come up during the spring to avoid this kind of weather. :)
Naturally Monday was beautiful and calm when we headed home.



The kids didn't seem to mind clearing the car of overnight snow.

Look, I'm snowboarding!!

I used my iphone to record the kids snowboarding and here they are...

Mammoth trip: Instagram version

I love taking pictures...

Lately I've been simplifying my gear to keep it as easy as possible for me. I do love my DSLR but lugging it around with all the lenses can be tiresome so I switch it up with my film Canon and iPhone.

We took a sort of impromptu trip to Mammoth one last time before the snow completely melted. Their last day of the snow season is Memorial Day weekend. Hector was able to take Monday off so we quickly planned a long weekend with the kids.

I took the kids out of school early Friday and we drove up that day while Hector took a flight to Mammoth the next morning. It worked out nicely. We got in 3 days of snowboarding in absolutely gorgeous weather. It was so warm we dressed as light as possible.

On this trip, the snowboarding lessons really clicked with both boys. We knew it would eventually but boy there were lots of complaining, whining and tears and all of a sudden, they're snowboarding. :)

Hector was able to get Tyler a board/bindings so we could just rent Tyler boots until his monster feet stop growing. :) Tyler admitted to me that having his own board really helped and he even said he had fun. It was nice to hear since T is that half sullen teen that doesn't get enthusiastic about practically anything but he acknowledged it  so I'm happy. :) Tyler was able to do the beginner runs without falling he will be set for next season and the intermediate runs.

Joshua did great as well even though he fell a couple times each run. He would get discouraged since he is such a perfectionist. I was surprised that Tyler mastered the snowboarding thing before Josh although Josh is better technique-wise.

On Mother's day the boys were super sweet with cards and gifts. The kids happily took a break mid-day at McCoy station so Hector and I could take a couple of runs on Stump Alley. The mountain was glorious and empty. I wore a long sleeve T and vest which was perfect. Hector wore a Tshirt and his arm got sunburned which quickly turned into a tan by next morning.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. Looking forward to next season. :)

Hwy 395. Pic taken by Tyler.

Pretty clouds.

Airport

On the Stump Alley lift.

This was the most crowded time of the day. :)

Hector helping Josh.

Ready for their last run!!

Discovery

The past week has been pretty hectic and stressful so I needed to step back and take it easy. I can get worked up fast so it was nice to do some other things.

We had a nice long weekend at Mammoth mountain and here is a video of Joshua, our youngest. We've been telling the kids that we were going to start them on snowboards this season and Josh was very excited of the two kids.

Each one had 2 lessons and for the most part, they are around the same area of learning although Josh is able to come down the run on his heels a bit faster than Tyler. They will continue their lessons next time but for now you can enjoy the Discovery run with Josh...

Mt. Waterman

Chair 1.

On Saturday, Sherri and I took our snowboarding trip to Mt. Waterman. It was our first time there and we had a great time. The drive was pleasant and scenic. We had moments of being in the clouds then deep blue skies. It took us about 2 hours to get there and that was me being a tad slow since I wasn't familiar with the roads .

Warming hut.

It's a small, family run place that is quaint and charming with no frills. There are only 3 chair lifts and when we arrived, only chair 1 was working with chair 2 almost ready and chair 3 was still being dug out. All the recent storms left a nice base of 5 feet and the temp was about 50* at the most with nice drifting clouds.

On our way up.

Chair 2.

I don't think I would pay full price for a lift ticket ($50) but I got us half price tickets off Groupon a while ago so that turned out well. The runs are on the short side but it all worked out well for Sherri since she hasn't snowboarded in over a year and still needed to work on her basic skills.
The runs were not crowded so she had plenty of room to practice. I usually let her go first to watch her and she usually fell once but after lunch I went first, glanced over my shoulder surprised to see her right behind me following, continue on and she still is keeping up. That run was the break through for her. Monkey see, monkey do. :)

Sherri in action.

So now we need to get Sherri (and Hannah) to go again this season for more practice. Mammoth, anyone??

Experts Only

I should have spoken up when I saw that sign...Go back to the 90's I can't remember the exact year but I'll guess around 1995 Hector and I went to Lake Tahoe for a snowboarding vacation. Back then we could stay in a run down motel for a week with breakfast daily and $7 towards dinner too with discounted lift tickets to any of the ski resorts around Tahoe. It was pretty fun, trying a new place every day.

I'm kneeling by the sign because my legs were probably too weak to support me.

This time we went to Kirkwood. I learned to ski here when I was at UOP so I was familiar with the bunny slopes. By this trip I figured out that I didn't like skiing so I took up snowboarding a year or two before because it looked like so much more fun. Hector was way more advanced than me so I should have been more suspicious when he took me on a new lift. Before we even got on the lift, a big noticeable sign was posted saying, "Experts Only" but silly me pushed that thought out of my mind thinking there must be an intermediate run too. Yeah, that skull and crossbones should have set off my danger alert but hey, I laugh at danger. Not really.  As we got higher and higher and the run got steeper and steeper, I got nervous. I get off the lift and there is only one way down and it's not even a run but a drop of 5 ft or more to start the run. YIKES! Oh my, what am I going to do! Hector assures me that I am ready for this and if all else fails, I can slideslip down which is the snowboarding version of a snowplow.

Hector goes down first and gets into position to take all these photos. You can see from the photos that this hill is steep and I manage to stay upright until the photo where my sunglasses are off and I'm squinting, probably some contact lens problem. The main point is that I survived and I didn't break any bones. It's a good story since Hector hoodwinked me and definitely got me out of my comfort zone. Story of my life! ;)

So far so good. Note that my board is pointed straight down the mountain which is terrifying especially to a aspiring  intermediate boarder.

Ack, you can tell how by my hands that I'm ready to eat the mountain.

I'm sure that Hector's photography skills increased the steepness of the mountain but hey, I look good.

Snowboard Day

Super fun day.