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Jessie and I are headed up to Mammoth again this weekend (March 1-2) for a last-minute trip. We just decided on Tuesday night that it was time to hit the mountain again, since Mammoth has recently received another 20+ inches of snow!

After deciding that we were going snowboarding again this weekend, the next order of business was finding a place to stay. And with that came the idea for this post. Here are some of the resources that I use to find Mammoth condos, hotels, or house shares online. Or any other resort for that matter!

Vacation Rentals sites: These sites are good if you want to book a house/condo specifically for a getaway with a group of your own and you want more amenities (e.g. full kitchen, a private hot tub) than what a hotel would offer.

• VRBO.com - You can find anything from small studios for rent, up to giant 12-person houses in the Mammoth area. Typically you need to look pretty far in advance from when you want to travel, especially for the nicer places. Handy availability calendar lets you check for vacancies.
• VacationRentals.com - Their user interface is a little friendlier than VRBO; icons on the listings page let you see at-a-glance what each listing offers without a lot of clicks.

Snowboarding/Skiing Groups: Just yourself or a few people, and need to find a place to stay without the hassle/expense of renting a condo or hotel for a few nights? Check for groups/message boards of like-minded snowboarders or skiers in your area; oftentimes group members will post vacancies in their properties. (ps - That’s how Jessie and I found our place to stay this weekend!) These are some of the Mammoth groups we belong to.

• Mammoth SnowLovers - Active message board on Yahoo Groups for SoCal skiers and snowboarders; lots of rideshares, houseshares, trip planning, and advice is regularly posted.
• Mammoth Ski and Boarder Group and Mammoth & Beyond Ski and Snowboard Group - two Meetup.com groups of Los Angeles-based snowboaders and skiers. Sometimes I see special trips posted in addition to the usual carpooling, vacant condos, and other notes.
• Time-Outdoors - our friend “Uncle Krusty’s” site; the site is ‘an online community for outdoor enthusiasts.’ Fun group of members, he organizes many trips per season to Mammoth, Utah, Colorado and other snowboard/ski destinations.
  

Hotel Booking Sites: Sometimes you just want to get a hotel and be done with it, or you have a last-minute need for lodging. I recommend using metasearch travel engines to find cheap hotel rooms in your favorite ski destinations.

• Kayak.com - This site does all the legwork for you; searches 140+ travel sites at once and lists them, then you can pick the cheapest one! No need to go to other sites.

Now get out there and book a trip - it’s only the end of midseason and we’ve still got a few months of good snow left!