Mammoth Mountain Skiing 

Mammoth was founded in 1953 on the concept that everyone can have fun on the snow and what better place than Mammoth with its diverse terrains, bountiful snow (average over 500") and 300 sunny days a year. Mammoth Mountain offers over 150trails with 29 Lifts ( 9 Express Quads) to truly make for a full day of fun for everyone. 

Here are some cool facts about Mammoth Mountain:

Base Elevation   7,953 ft

Top Elevation   11,053 ft

Vertical Feet       3,100

Skiable Acreage 3,500 

Start your day of fun at one of three locations: 

Main Lodge

The Main lodge offers full service amenities from Ski School, Snow Boarding Lessons, Snowmobiling Adventures, Ski Patrol, Small World Child Care, Lockers, Cafeteria and even Mammoth Moments Photo service. It is from the main lodge you can get the Gondola to the summit at 11,053 feet great fun even in the summer. At the Main lodge you will also find the Unbound Main Park which features Super Pipes and Super-Duper Pipe. 

Eagle Lodge

Located on the other end of town at the end of Meridian Blvd. Eagle Lodge is less than 1mile from the

Condo at Krystal Villa East #418 ( a quick shuttle ride). This is a great place for beginners because of the New Learning Area that was opened in 2006-2007. The New Learning Areas (also available at Canyon Lodge and the Main Lodge) are on gentle slopes that offer kid-friendly instructors, lunchrooms, carpet rides and uphill magic. All designed for beginner skiers and snowboarders to have fun while learning 

Canyon Lodge

This is a full service Lodge offering ski school, lockers, rentals, cafeteria, guest services and ski patrol.

You can catch the new Village Gondola in town and connect in six minutes to Canyon lodge. At the Village mountain center you can purchase your rentals, buy tickets, and sign-up for lessons. At the end of the ski day enjoy walking around the village and grabbing a bite in one of the many eateries. The Village comes to life in the evening with music and dancing at numerous hot spots to continue your day. On the more relaxed side you can enjoy a casual stroll through the village and take in the art galleries, wine bars and reminisce the day by the village pond and the fire pit. 

What is the Terrain like at Mammoth Mountain?

There is something for everybody and for every age.  

Beginner         25%

Intermediate  40%

Advanced       20%

Expert           15%

 

In the beginning, the history of Snow Skiing

Snow Skis reach back to the past as far as 4500 years ago. Wooden skis ranging from an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 years old have been found in Scandinavia. The oldest snow ski was a short, wide ski found in Sweden. It is believed that these every first skis were commonly used by travelers or hunters in their migrations during the long winters in the Scandinavian countries. As far back as these early skis date there is evidence that snow skis may have been around even longer. This is evident by cave and rocks drawings that have depicted skis before 4500 years ago. A rock carving of a skier was found on a Norwegian island has been dated as being over 4,000 years old. Other rock paintings and skis found in bogs indicate that hunters and trappers used skis at least 5000 years ago.  Since the purpose of these skis were for survival they were not designed, so to speak, for speed but rather to keep the hunter or traveler on top of the snow to allow  for easier movement as the traveled. The sport and fun of snow skiing did not come into it’s own till much later.

Moving along in time, by the 17^th century the Norwegian military had been using skis and subsequently speeded up their development and speed which lead to military having skiing competitions in the 1670’s. Skis were used by Norwegian scouts to spy on enemies. Regular ski drills became commonplace, for the Norwegain Ski Company and this has been said to be where the first use of leather straps around the heel, in combination with the toe-strap, came into existence to keep the ski from falling off when skiing downhill.  Finland troops used Ski patrols to resist Russian intruders during World War II and in 1945, U.S. army Ski troops fought Germans in the mountains of Italy.

The first know civilian ski race took place in 1843 at Tromso, Norway. These same people from the Telemark area of Norway can be credited for developing skiing into  the sport it has evolved into today. They invented the Telemark and the Christie turns as methods of controlling speeds on downhill descents. They were also liked jumping. As a result both Alpine and Nordic skiing owe their existence to these early pioneers.

Sondre Norheim, from Morgedal in Telemark, known as the father of modern skiing because it is believed he invented the equipment and techniques that led to modern skiing as we know it today. The story about Sondre as the father of modern skiing was largely constructed in Norway from the 1930s, especially in connection with the Olympic Winter Games in Oslo in 1952. Norheim, at the age of forty-three, went on to become the winner of the first Norwegian downhill skiing competition in Christiania, now known as Oslo.  

Although Sondre Norheim brought to the forefront these invention such as, the birch" binding that enabled skiers to ski without the risk of losing their skis or the short and the curved, flexible ski he made in order to allow for easy turning in soft snow, it is believed that most of these inventions attributed to Norheim were known a long time before him.

In 1880, the Englishman, William Cecil Slingsby, helped inspire ski mountaineering after his crossing of the Keiser Pass in Norway, on skis. Later in 1888, the Norwegian, Fridtj of Nansen made the first crossing of Greenland, by travelling from East to West on skis. The report on his expedition aroused great interest in skiing in Europe and the United States. From then on skiing was regularly in the news, and was soon adopted as a sport by the wealthy classes of Europe, as well as being adopted by the army in several countries.

The first organized events in skiing, jumping and a type of cross-country race, started in the early 1800's, and both used the Nordic system. All of the early skis had a boot mounted to the ski only at the toe, with the heel free to move up and down, what we now call a Nordic ski.  

Skiing grew more popular in the 1900's. The sport utilized Nordic equipment during much of this time. This is seen in the events of the first Winter Olympic Games. The inaugural 1924 Games in Chamonix, France had only 5 sports, and the skiing events were both Nordic: Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined. Cross-Country Skiing made it to the Winter Olympic games in 1932 at Lake Placid.

As skiing continued to evolve and the terrain more challenging the techniques and equipment adapted to the challenge. The Telemark turn emerged, it suited the flatter, rolling terrain of Norway, but lacked the control necessary for the steeper slopes of the Alps  This lead to the birth of Alpine skiing.

Skis were used in the Sierra Nevada gold fields in 1850 and later to ferry mail from Carson City, Nevada to Placerville, California in 1856, crossing 94 miles in 4 days. Downhill ski races, with speeds of up to 90 mph, were organized between competing mining camps by 1857.

Alpine ski equipment consisted of a boot mounted to the ski at the heel and toe. This allowed the skier greater control in negotiating steeper slopes and going faster speeds. As a result of this new equipment Alpine downhill and Slalom came about and were introduced to the 1936 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

It was in the 1930’s that the ski area industry began to invest and develop equipment that would eliminate the cumbersome, exhausting and time consuming climb up the  mountain for that scenic view and those few minutes of sheer bliss of skiing down hill. It was not till after the second World War when Austria and Switzerland developed the first such ski areas.

Skiing in America is just over a century in age. In the US, it is debated whether natives taught the Americans to ski or whether skiing was introduced by Norwegian gold miners. The first U.S. ski club was formed in 1872, and the National Ski Association began in 1904. Skiing gained popularity in the United States as a recreational sport from the 1930s.The advent of ski tows and lifts further helped the sport in popularity. The implementation of snowmaking machines and televised broadcasts of ski competitions also contributed greatly to the sport's growth.

Today we enjoy skiing for pleasure, fun and competition a far cry from it’s humble beginnings.

For a complete history of Skiing along with incredible early ski posters and more ckeck out the Mammoth Ski Museum, just click the link below to be  connect to the site http://www.mammothskimuseum.org

 

Snow Skiing Equipment : Snow Skis and  Snow Boots

Skis. Ski Poles, Ski Boots, Ski Bindings, Ski Helmets, Ski Goggles, Ski Clothing, Ski Accessories and Ski Roof Racks.

Manufactures of Ski

Alpina
Alpina makes touring, telemark, and backcountry cross country skis

Atomic
Offers a full line of downhill, back country, cross-country, telemark and mountain skis.

Blizzard Ski
Blizzard Ski manufactures a variety of cross country and alpine skis.

Bstinger Skis
Manufactures one-size-fits-all skis. A fun ski.

db Skis
db ski company manufactures carbon powderskis.

Dynamic Skis
Produces a downhill skis in freeride, competition, and pleasure skiing styles.

Dynastar
Offers  a variety of alpine skis.

Elan Skis
Elan manufacturer a mountain rider, competition and junior styles ski.

Evolution
Manufactures alpine and, telemark skis  as well as snowboards.

Fischer
Manufactures  a wide variety of downhill skis in addition to a full line of cross country skis in back country, sport, adventure, racing and junior styles.

Front Runner Tail-less Skis
This Manufacture produces a ski with nothing behind the binding ( no tail).

Germina
Germina produces many downhill and cross-country ski models and poles.

Goode Skis
Goode manufactures a downhill ski.

Head Sports
Manufactures Alpine skis in freeride, easy extreme,  racing, all round, junior.

K2
A large manufacture  which builds of  some of the best skis in the world.

Kneissl - Dachstein
Bold alpine ski builder.

Lacroix Skis
There are many model to choose from.. They are light  with good edge grip.

Olin
Available in many models. Downhill skis, all-terrain, performance ,hardpack and juniors.

Rossignol
One of my favorites. Rossignol offer a large variety of skis from Alpine to Nordic, for every terrain and every variation. Definitely a full line skis.

Salomon
Another. favorite of mine, Salomon offers  alpine skis, cross country, boots, bindings, and accessories.

Visu Ski
Manufactures  skis for backcountry, racing-performance, fitness, touring, sport and juniors.

Voile
Voile manufactures downhill skis and snowboards.

Volant
Volant is known for  makings skiis with steel construction for downhill racing.

Volkl Ski
Offers many different alpine skis.

Zag Freeride Skis
Zag Freeride is a blend between a snowboard and a ski.

 

SNOW SKI BOOTS: Your gear for skiing

Alfa
Backcountry and Alpine ski boots.

Alpina
Boots for downhill, as well as the Telemark boots.

Andrew
Telemark boots.

Atomic
Many different kinds of boots

Crispi
Telemark boots and Alpine.

DalbelloDachstein
Alpine boots in carving, cruising, and junior categories.

DaleBoot USA
Maniufactures custom made boots for people with hard to fit sizes

Dolomite
Makes alpine ski boots.

Dynafit
Alpine boots  and snowboarding boots.

Fischer
Makes boots in racing, sport,  performance and junior categories.

Garmont
Telemark and Ski Mountaineering boots.

Head
Alpine boots in carving,  sport. racing and juniors

Heelside
Snowboards, boots and bindings.

Karhu
Cross Country skiing boots.

Kneissl
Alpine ski and snowboard boots.

Lange
Many types of alpine ski boots.

Raichle
Alpine skiing boots and snowboarding boots.

Rossignol
Complete line of cross country and downhill ski boots.

Salomon
Alpine and Nordic boots for women and men.

Tecnica
Offers a large variety of boots including boots for beginners to expert.

 

More Snowing Gear

In addition to your snow skis and boots you will need a few more accessories to have a fun and safe experience.

Boots: a few of the more popular binding manufactures are Head, Marker, Rossignol, Salomon, Look, Dymanic and Atomic.

Polls: several popular brands are Rossignol, Scott, Voile, Masters, Excel Poles, ColdPole  DaleBootUSA, Reflex and Chukgrip.

Helmets: Carrera, Giro, Leki, Pro-Tec, Briko,  Acid helmets and Boeri.

Ski Clothing/Apparel: Gates Gloves, Grandoe Gloves, Kombi Gloves and sockes, The Backside, ski gloves, googles and accessories, Patagonia, Yoko Gloves and Shread Alert head wear/hats.

Ski Googles: a must to protect your eye the following a more popular manufactures, Carrera Sports, Scott, Smith Sports Optics, EL’s Googles, Oakley and Spy and Smith .

Roof Racks: A way to get your stuff up to the slopes, REI offer Yakima, Thule and  Rhode Gear Ski Racks. Additionally, you can find Yakima and Thule at L.L.Bean and Rack Attack.

Now you are ready to go have fun. Don’t forget to make your accommodation or lodging reservations preferably well in advance for your desired trip. MammothRentalbyOwner.com offer you lots of lodging options. Accommodations from luxury to budget from small to large. To view our complete line of condos, cabins, homes and houses visit our " more condos section" on this website which you can find at the top of the page on the black navigation bar or just click this link http://mammothrentalbyowner.com/mammoth_MoreCondos_ForRent.php?ct=0  

If you have fallen in love with the Mammoth Lakes area and are interested in purchasing a property visit our section on "Condo Sales in Mammoth" and "House Sales in Mammoth". You will find these sections on the top navigation bar or just click this link http://mammothrentalbyowner.com/mammoth_MoreCondos_ForRent.php?ct=4 to view a complete list of beautiful properties that are available for sales in the Eastern Sierra’s of Mammoth Lakes.

The beauty of Mammoth Mountain is unsurpassed anywhere, its grandeur, majesty and longevity. Mammoth has withstood the test of time as a symbol of strength, determination, tradition. Many of these same qualities are what a marriage is built on. These are the reasons why Mammoth is such a popular place for weddings particularly a white weddings. If you are considering a winter wedding,a white wedding, explore the options that Mammoth Lakes has to offer for weddings. Your wedding pictures or wedding photos will be stunning, and you will have a memorable place to return for your wedding anniversary. Imaging how your wedding songs will resonate in the mountain air unlike anywhere else. It is truly a Mammoth of a wedding experience.  If you need wedding ideas we are available to help you for your winter wedding, spring wedding, summer wedding or fall weddings. Mammoth lakes offers world class chiefs to complete your wedding day festivities. Capture nature and this one moment in time that you will remember for ever with beauty that can not be matched anywhere.