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Finally!  This past weekend, Jessie and I took our first trip of the season to Mammoth together.  Last year we went so many times, this has been a disappointing season, mostly due to my strained calf injury. 

We got really lucky with weather.  There was no new snow, so this was good for our drive up, but potentially bad for the hill.  Luckily, the temps and the winds were at that just-right “goldilocks” level so that the snow didn’t get too icy and also didn’t melt and get slushy during the day!

(Looking up from Cornice, a little wind picked up - look how empty it is!)

Both days were clear bluebird sunny days and the snow was just perfect.  And no crowds!  Except for certain areas off Chair 23, and coming down to Cornice from the gondola at the top, there was virtually no ice.  The wind picked up a little bit in the afternoons on both Sat & Sun so it did get a little cold and by Saturday night we both felt wind-burned in the face.  Definitely wore the face mask out on Sunday!

 (Jessie about midway down Cornice - perfect bluebird conditions!)

I was tripping out a little bit on what the top held in store - I don’t think I have EVER seen the Mammoth sign buried with so much snow! Everybody was stunned and we all took turns taking pictures of one another (all the different groups up top) posing on top of the sign! There must have been 12 feet of snow on top alone. Amazing!

My leg held up well - I guess my intense physical therapy and devotion to getting back to the gym and practicing my physical therapy-assigned exercises helped me to get strong pretty fast.  By midday on Sat. after a few runs, I felt totally confident again. But I still wasn’t pushing myself TOO hard, as I was still a little scared to fall, feeling like the slightest sudden movement in my leg might make that freshly-healed torn calf just rip apart again (ew, what a visual!)   The good news is, I am ready to keep riding and getting stronger.

Not much to report on the night-life front - usually we make a night of it on Sat. at Lakanuki, dancing and partying till closing, but we are kind of over Lakanuki at this point, and decided to try something new.  We learned that there was a house music DJ playing at the Westin and went there.  It was so weird - they had a meeting room cordoned off, with a bar set up outside the room, and the DJ & monitors was set up in there with a cheesy light show.  We liked the DJ though; he played great music.  Weird setting…

No hotties on the hill to report on this trip although we did see these fun guys in the lift line at Gold Rush, wearing kilts:

 And of course no trip to Mammoth would be complete without a Bloody Break at either Mill Cafe or the Steeps Bar at McCoy station… this was us midday on Saturday:

Overall the weekend was GREAT except somehow midway through Sunday Jessie’s pocket got a hole in it (we are thinking it ripped apart at the seam on impact on a hard fall she took) and she ended up LOSING her car key and her cell phone on the hill somewhere!  We went back and tried to retrace our steps from when she saw both went missing, but on that giant mountain and in still-loose snow, who knows where they ended up.  And Mammoth Lost & Found had recovered nothing either. We had to call a locksmith to come out and MAKE a new car key for her.  Has this ever happened to anyone else?

 ( here’s the locksmith breaking into her car to make the key)

All worked out in the end, $250 later and we were very late getting home… but oh well, we made it home in one piece, and all in all was a wonderful weekend.  Glad to get back out there!