Group shred sesh. Photo: Christian Pondella

Photo Essay

Mammoth Mountain

UNCONTROLLABLE HIGH: Soul Sessions During Mammoth Mountain’s Deepest Season

What a time to live and ride at Mammoth Mountain. Atmospheric rivers and ceaseless snow cycles in California’s Sierra Nevada range made this past season the deepest on record at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. Basically, it snowed straight from November through March. 

In early November it snowed several feet, providing a solid early season base. The next couple of storms felt more par for the course—they were spaced out a bit and dropped a foot or so of snow. Still, it was snowing consistently, and the community was buzzing. It’s hard to describe the buzz that happens when the snow is falling in a resort town, but it feels like an uncontrollable high. As storms kept rolling in, hopes grew that it would be an especially big year. But few went as far as to guess that it would be historic. The prior year had seen a big December, but the taps turned off in January. Then the timing between storms diminished. It snowed 30 inches in 48 hours in mid-December, closing all roads in and out of town…

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