Came up to ride for the week. Had some business to take care of in town yesterday so today was the first day of riding. Was out the door by 7.30 to meet a friend for breakfast then up to the mountain.



Little cool in the morning and breezy all day; the top never got to 40* but the early season riding is awesome. The bonus is this place is deserted, we maybe saw a dozen people all day.

Got a quick meeting in the morning, manning to be on the mountain riding by 9:30 - 10:00 though.

Back up again for my birthday on the 30th, plan to stay thought the 4th.

Would be cool to get a group up, the crowds are expected to be very, very light this year.
I know it's early but if this weeks any indication of the expected light crowds it'll be a great summer riding here.

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Our severe drought is your pleasure.

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Obama's America: Our enemies don't fear us; our allies don't trust us.

A bonafide TR. And sounds like a good time. Thanks Dwill

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"it can go full porno alley"

- Kimba - One love, many bikes - 2020

I'm not quite sure what the drought has to do with riding in Mammoth.
But whatever.

It's pretty nice here even if a little cooler than "normal" for this time of year.
Anyway, I'm off to bed; up early in the morning for a meeting the. Off to ride some more.

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Drought=less snow, so...

I've been up there before around June 21 and the top trails were still all closed due to snow. Good time to be up there this year.

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Obama's America: Our enemies don't fear us; our allies don't trust us.

Yeah, not much snow this past winter. But still it wasn't a bad ski season here. I managed 15 days most of it with good coverage.

Last year I was here the same week, remaining snow was about the same. The difference this year though is that more of the mountain is open (although not during the week) and the weather is much cooler, nit cold just cool and windy.

There's also a much, much smaller crowd. If you've ever been to Mammoth I early to mid October when it's slow, that's about how many people are here. That's good and bad I guess.

My take from talking to friends and the realtor I'm working with (who is also a long time friend) is that business is continuing to drop because people are growing ever more tired of getting nickel and dimed by the mountain.

The latest money grab is the parking fees to park in the lot at the "village". It'll now cost you an extra $10 - 30 to ride a Mammoth if you want to park at the "Village" and ride from there.

This is forcing most people to park up at main lodge, which in turn is taking some business away from town. Though I did notice some people parking at the lot at the hut (Canyon lodge for the non old schoolers)
Not to worry though; management at the mountain is on top of the trouble. There's rumors of plans to start charging for parking at main lodge as well.

While Big Bear may offer less riding for more money it is and likely will become a far less expensive alternative.

In any event the crowd here is far smaller than the same time last year. I'm told season ticket sales for the summer were far less than expected and season passes for the upcoming ski season are down as well.

Anyway, I'm ride for the rest of the day. Tomorrow is the last day, then back to SD for a couple days before heading home to Montana for a bit.

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I'll be riding the 28th weekend and again the 3rd to 6th...