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Well, our most recent Mammoth weekend was somewhat bittersweet. We were so excited because there was 21″ of new snow from earlier in the week, and we figured with the grooming that Mammoth Mountain does every day, and continuing cold temps, the conditions would still be good.

We drove up late afternoon on Friday, and saw some amazing light in the mountains and high desert as the sun set.

Little did we know that by Saturday morning, winds in town were 40+ MPH and on the top they were reported to be nearly 80MPH! Our condo-mates headed up to the hill right at 8am so they could be in line when the lifts opened, while Jessie and I did our usual, wake up after 8 and relax a bit with a good breakfast and some coffee. This turns out to be for the best… Mammoth only opened 3 of the “beginner” chairs due to the winds all over the mountain - bummer. So basically you could pay $79 and only access the beginner chairs.

With this in mind, we didn’t go up to the mountain until 12:30 - we bought a half day and snowboarded all afternoon on Sat. They still didn’t open half the mountain (the higher chairs) due to the continued winds, so we were more or less restricted to the Canyon Lodge runs and occasional Chair 5 and Gold Rush.

It wasn’t a great day - overcast with flat light, crunchy conditions, freezing wind, and crowds because all the people were clamoring for the same chairs and runs. Check this out… you couldn’t even see the top!

We did Whiskey Creek for half price food and $10 pitchers for apres-ski on Saturday afternoon when we got off the hill, then Saturday night we went out to Hennessey’s where they had a dance floor cleared and a DJ in there. It was pretty fun, definitely an older crowd than our former haunt, Lakanuki. We danced and met some cool people (yes, some hotties on the hill!)

On Sunday we were on the hill by 10:30, and by then conditions had vastly improved!

A gorgeous bluebird day, but sadly, the winds on the top on Sunday were A HUNDRED MPH! Even worse than Sat.! So they still didn’t open the top gondola or Chair 23 (our fav runs) all day. Here’s a pic of the gondolas parked at McCoy; they couldn’t go higher than that cuz of the winds.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed a really nice day on the rest of the mountain - Spook off Gold Rush down to Lower Dry Creek was awesome, we did it at least 4 times in a row. The snow was nice and soft, not even hardpack in many places. A little icy on some of the runs, but we still rocked it.

And capping off the weekend, at the end of one of those runs we ended up seeing Woolly at the Mill Cafe! Sunday definitely made up for Saturday.

Juicy is headed back up for the Roxy Chicken Jam at the end of the month; I won’t be able to make it… but I expect a full report! Look for her post in a few weeks.

More pictures from the trip are available at our Flickr page.

More details on our recent Mammoth weekend to come, met lots of fun people and had a great day on the hill on Sunday, but the best moment of this trip was MEETING WOOLLY!!

We got to the bottom of Lower Dry Creek and I was bent over unstrapping my binding to get back in line, when Jess screamed out “There’s Woolly!” We both started freaking out, making a scene, and yelling “WOOLLY! WOOLLY! OH MY GOD!” like the nerds we are… everyone in the lift line was laughing and pointing, even the lifties! Woolly came over and was dancing with us and taking pics, totally hamming it up. So cute!

Highlight of the trip! WE LOVE YOU WOOLLY!

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!

Check it out… www.beer4chicks.com. Twinkie tipped me off to it this morning. Cool service here in LA dedicated to educating women about beer and dispelling some of the misconceptions women may have about enjoying beer as part of a dining experience. Or to educate women who already like beer and want to learn more!

I’m never one to decline a cold frosty one that’s decidedly heavier in color and taste than the Michelob Ultra’s of the world… but for those women that just don’t consider themselves beer drinkers or who just want to learn more about it, this site and the service from its author, Christina Perozzi may be just the ticket.

From the site: Christina leads beer tastings, teaches seminars and classes, and participates in public and private events - large and small. She also teams with innovative chefs from around Los Angeles to hold Beer Pairing Dinners, most recently with Proprietor Josh Loeb and Chef Samir Mohajer or Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen and Chef/Owner Jared Simons at Violet Restaurant. Christina also consults as a beer expert for restaurants hotels and breweries.

Needless to say, the gal knows her beers! Read her blog here: http://www.christinaperozzi.com/.

First let me start off by saying that this outing began as a coffee meeting with Christina from the VeniceSurferGirl blog. We met through reading & commenting on each others’ blogs! (See, good things CAN come out of the internets, it’s not all a bunch of crazy stalkers)

It was great fun meeting a fellow female action-sports blogger, and sharing our blogging experiences. She was really cool to talk to; we had a quick bite to eat and discussed our past shoulder injuries and recovery (both of which resulted from enjoying our favorite sports, argh!) Christina is almost 3 months in to her recovery from shoulder surgery, but is recovering nicely and is even back out in the water. You go, girl… and we WILL hit the mountains together soon! Enjoy Tahoe this weekend!

Okay, with that aside, after our meetup, we headed over to ZJ’s Boarding House on Main Street in Santa Monica. They were having a big sale on all the snowboarding stuff, it was ALL 30% off. Christina picked up a nice padded bag for her impending trip for less than $50. Maybe because of the sale, there wasn’t too much left to look at or choose from. I think overall the shop is definitely dedicated more to the surf/skate sports than snow.

There were maybe 2 racks total of women’s jackets and pants, about 6 different boots to choose from, a very limited goggle selection, and just a few women’s bindings. However, lots of snowboards left, as well as a huge selection of beanies.

The staff at ZJ’s was really nice, and the store overall has a laid-back, neighborhood vibe. There were tons of flip-flops, t-shirts, and hoodies as well (oh yeah and it seemed like a hell of a lot of board shorts, of course…) I didn’t really check out the surf stuff at all because I’m still in a winter/snowboard mindset and I’m lucky if I get in the water when it is 65 degrees, much less in the 50s (Yep, I’m a wimp!) Prices on the snowboarding items were pretty comparable to what I’ve seen at other shops, and made that much sweeter with the big sale discount.

Next door is the women’s annex section (the Ladies ZJ Lounge) where you can find lots of bikinis and cute fashioney surf clothes from your favorite brands like Roxy and Billabong. Only passed thru here really quick; it was a fairly small store yet had a lot of stuff crammed onto the racks.

I’ll be back when the summertime shopping fever hits me!

2619 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 392-5646
www.zjboardinghouse.com/

(all images courtesy of Yelp.com by Joan S.; read more store reviews on Yelp.com)

Man… what a great week this has been!

• Monday, started the week with a half day boarding powder in Vail to finish off a greatweekend
• Tuesday, had something offered to me that I had been hoping for
• Wednesday, confirmed appointment to try out in person for Jeopardy! after passing the online test
• Thursday, found a $50 bill on the ground

I told my friends that I better buy a lottery ticket this weekend - powerball baby!

I think I’m gonna hit Mt. Waterman here in L.A. on Sunday. They got 4″ fresh today. Hoping good snow conditions (not to mention my luck) holds out thru the weekend!

Take care everyone, and have a good one!

Meet Victor - the guy in the middle between the gals. (um, I didn’t get the name of the guy at left!)

Victor’s from New York and rides a 167 K2, regular. His favorite mountain is Windam in New York. Yay! Another snowboarder. And a very fun and nice guy to boot!

Rate this hottie: (1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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Nate and Dustin were two very cool guys from Minnesota! They both snowboard.

Nate rides regular on a 162 Salomon board, has 8 years of riding under his belt, and he loves Spirit Mountain, Minnesota.

Dustin has been riding for 12 years, rides regular on a 159 Nitro board, and his favorite mountain is Afton Alps in Minnesota.

They had tons of fun boarding in Vail, as their local mountains appear to have less than 2000 feet of elevation each!

Great meeting you guys.

Rate ‘em: (2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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Ali and Cole: These two were part of a big crew from New York that we met. Both of them are skiers and have been skiing for a long time. Their favorite mountain is Stratton in Vermont. Hotties!

What do you think? (3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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Meet the fabulous T and T (as I called them!) Two fun folks from SoCal also, that we met in Vail. Todd is from San Diego, and Tina from Orange County.

Both were in town to enjoy the massive snowfall. Todd skis and Tina snowboards (but skied that weekend so she and Todd could hang together on the hill.) Fun meeting you guys!

Rate these hotties: (4 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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