Coming from New Zealand where we use Celsius to measure temperature it has taken me a long time to get use to thinking in Fahrenheit, (let alone feet, pounds and quarts!)

The Fahrenheit scale was invented back in 1796 and was superseded by the Celsius scale by most countries except the United States, Cayman Islands and Belize (wikipedia).

To me the Celsius scale makes more sense, water freezes at 0C, boils at 100C (or close to it depending on atmospheric pressure) but then again I grew up with that scale. Back in New Zealand I knew single digits were cold, twenties were nice, anything over thirty was hot, if you were crazy enough to live in Australia it would get into the forties.

Me and the flies in the Desert heat of the Outback, Australia

I guess you grow up associating the number behind a particular temperature with an expectation of what to expect should one venture outside. Moving to the States threw that out the window somewhat. After living here for two years I now know I need air conditioning if it’s in the nineties, I’ll be fine wearing a T-shirt in the seventies and that I should put an extra layer on and break out the hand warmers if it gets below thirty!

Best to put on another layer

If you are good at maths it is not that hard to convert temperatures between the two scales, just use this ‘simple’ equation.

Tf = (9/5)*(Tc+32)

Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32)

One of my favourite weather sites is www.snow-forecast.com, it provides a good six day forecast for any resort you can think of and I’ve found it to be pretty accurate. It has a neat feature where you can change between metric and imperial measurements giving you both Celsius and Fahrenheit. Also here’s a table to help give you an idea of different temperatures on each scale.

Interestingly the only time the two scales intersect is at -40C/-40F, I hope I never get to find out just how cold that is, at least not here in Mammoth! Whilst I’m talking about measurements, and don’t get me started about miles and kilometers, I’d like to know why we measure skis in the US in centimeters and everything else in inches?

It has been a difficult few days for weather forecasters at Mammoth. First we had snow predicted with a storm that hit on Friday, all we got was 100 mile an hour winds, any snow that may have fell got blown into Nevada and beyond. That was meant to be it but a sneaky second storm rolled in on Sunday with barely a days notice from the weather guys. This storm delivered a much needed 12 inches of snow to the mountain and has set things up nicely for Thanksgiving week.

The Mountain has plans to open chair 2 this week which will be great. They have also stated they would open 10 and 4 provided there was enough snow, fingers crossed on that one.

Here’s some photos from this morning

Top of Mammoth through the trees

Sunrise to a Winter wonderland

The Sherwins

Sunrise

Today should be one out of the box, with bluebird skies, no wind and new snow! Have a good day out there if you are lucky enough to be on the hill, and happy Thanksgiving!

Personally I prefer wearing sunglasses when skiing but I’m probably in the minority. I do wear googles however when it is snowing or flat light.

Currently I’m onto my second pair of Smith Goggles, in particular the Phenom with Sensor Mirror Lens.

Smith Phenom with Sensor Mirror Lens

Flat Light Conditions:

I haven’t used a better goggle in flat light conditions, ever. The Sensor Mirror Lens works a treat.
Bright Conditions:

Not the best goggle in sunny conditions although I usually have my sunglasses on then.

Durability:

Durability could be a little better. The foam on my first pair froze to my helmet and then started to tear and come away from the frame. Having said this how long they last comes down to how well you treat them. I’m using them a lot too so they do take a hammering.

Design:

A neat feature of the goggle is the clip at the back making it easy to take on and off over a hat or helmet, just make sure you do the clip up properly if you are adjusting them on a chair lift! The goggles also have an adjustable vent allowing airflow and helping to avoid the goggles from fogging up. Adjusting the tightness of the strap is pretty easy too although not with bulky gloves on.

Cost:

This goggle hasn’t changed too much since I’ve been using it. You can often find older season models online for very reasonable prices (about $100), the only difference really being in the color. If you want the latest fashion then expect to pay more.
Overall:

I would recommend this goggle to anyone looking for a flat light or storm day goggle, with the Sensor Mirror Lens it is not going to be the one stop shop for all conditions though. For more versatility you could purchase the more expensive I/O version from Smith which has interchangeable lenses.

My advice when purchasing new goggles is to decide when are you going to be using the goggles, flat light, sun or everything? Then try on as many goggles as you can to find the one that fits your face the best (leaving no gaps for air to get through), don’t forget to bring your helmet with you as you will want the goggles to fit that as well. Then you should be able to pick a lens that is going to work best for you, most product lines come in a variety of lenses with some even having interchangeable lenses. Happy goggle hunting.

If you would like a ‘Tip of the Day’ at the moment it would be to be careful and not venture off the groomed runs. It is always easy to get excited at the start of the season and venture into places that are not so flash to ski. You’re eying up a little powder stash that no one has skied but it is likely to be hiding rocks and other obstacles just under the surface. Unless this is your one day of the season then I recommend taking things easy.

Early Season Signs

Here’s a shot of Upper Dry Creek, the rocks that you can see are the size of cars and usually covered up during the season. Right now it is pretty obvious that they are there but one big storm can bury them just under the surface of the snow.

Upper Dry Creek rocks

The good news is that in a lot of places there is a decent base and it won’t take much snow for runs like Face of Three, Stump Alley and even Cornice to open.

Face of Three

You might ask then how the groomers are skiing? The other day I took advantage of a nice morning to warm up the legs and check out the snow around the hill. On the open runs the coverage is really good, Broadway was my favourite. There was considerably less people around than the weekend making it much more fun to ski.

Broadway

Andy’s Double Gold was a close second for run of the day, it is a great pitch although had irregular grooming so you had to keep your eyes peeled.

Looking Down Andy's DG

There was also some nice bumps to get into on Saddle Bowl (Here is the only exception I’d advise to staying on the groomers).

Bumps in Saddle Bowl

Mambo was less appealing, however they had been making snow on it, so I reckon it should be good in a day or two. This will be welcomed by intermediate skiers as an alternative to the often busy and daunting Broadway.

Mambo

So get out there, enjoy the mountains and scenery, work the legs into shape for the long winter ahead, but be safe!

Mammoth’s opening day was a success all round, good snow, good weather and good company. Woolly was there as usual to make sure the day ran smoothly. He even spared the time to pose for a photo for me.

Woolly and ensemble

The skiing was pretty decent given how early it is in the season. Broadway was probably the run of the day although it wasn’t the only run open (Powder Bowl, Far West, Saddle Bowl, Sesame Street) The snow, a mixture of natural and man made, skied pretty well with the odd patch of firmer snow around to watch out for. The new RFID gate system for the lifts worked well and lift lines were smooth although not very big.

Bottom of Broadway

For park enthusiasts Mammoth had done a good job in getting some features open including one reasonably sized kicker. There were also lots of boxes and rails set up to try out.

Terrain Park

There is a little bit of snow in the forecast for today and tonight (Friday) but unfortunately the storm is not going to be as big as first expected. Overall even if we don’t get much new snow its worth a ski, even if it’s just to get the legs working, I must admit to feeling a little burn yesterday!

First day in uniform for the new season

There is less than two days to go until opening day and things are shaping up really well for a good first day. It snowed over the weekend and snow making has been working when conditions allow.

Snow Making under the Gondola

Chairs 1,3,6,11 and the lower gondola are slated to be ready for opening day which is great news. Chair 2 looked like it needed some more snow before that gets going too.

Chair 1

In other news Ski School will be operating their early season private lessons at $95 per hour, that’s a great deal when compared to peak season rates. Having Chair 11 open will be great for beginner lessons and intermediates will be able to access some good terrain off Broadway Express (Chair 1).

Chair 11 will be open for beginners

I’ve put more photos from today in my photo album, check them out!

Posting about the Corona commercial a few days ago reminded me of another commercial filmed at Mammoth Mountain that aired last year: The Capital One Venture Card Skiing Vikings/Goat!

The first chairlift shown, with the Vikings that should have gotten lessons (hehe) is Chair 20. The goat sliding down the hill is filmed at Chair 2 – Stump Alley Express – which if you pause the video you can see the name on the lift in the background. Silly goat!

Mammoth Mountain received 6 inches of snow overnight and the snow guns are blazing getting ready for opening day. There is more snow expected tomorrow, every little bit will help. Equally good news is that temperatures have dropped low enough to make snow. It is hard not to get excited at this point!

The other evening I went for a walk to check out the new Chair 5 express quad aptly named the High 5 Express. It was pretty cool walking around the ski area without any snow on it. On the way I passed one of the mountains half pipes located just off Chair 4, like the one at Main Lodge the resort has done some earth works to shape the dirt into a pipe.

Standing beside the newly shaped earth half pipe

Buddy enjoying his walk

It looks like Chair 5 is all good to go. When I was there a earth mover was leveling some of the ground at the bottom. The lift will now be easily accessible from the bottom of Coyote and Upper Dry Creek which is great.

Bottom of Chair 5

They have also realigned the lift. It is now further over to the lookers right of Sanctuary.
I couldn’t really see the top very well so I’m not sure if the location for that has changed too much. I can’t wait to use the lift for the first time!

Yellow path roughly shows the new Chair 5 line

Buddy and me sitting on Chair 20