Mammoth Mountain

Im going to attempt this blog thing again. Its been 18 months and a bunch has happened but Ill fast forward through. 2009 was a great poker year, 2010 sucked. I made elite on stars both years, and will make it again this year. I lived in Hermosa Beach for 12 months, back to Boston for 4 months and now Sarah and I are in Mammoth Lakes Ca at the base of Mammoth Mountain.

This attempt at blogging will have less poker and more skiing/ Mammoth nonsense. I would like it to end up being a guide to Mammoth. Listing all the things I like and don't like, including, skiing, dinning and partying. While Im here I plan to grind limit holdem online, as well as put in a bunch of work becoming better at both PLO and o8.

I landed in LAX tuesday around noon, drove the 5+ hour to Mammoth and picked up our condo keys. Tuesday was pretty low key as I was exhausted. Wednesday Sarah and I worked on setting everything up and getting this place habitable for the next 3 months. Gas, heat, groceries, driving around scouting the area and becoming familiar.

By nighttime we both had had enough "setting up" and decided to go out for dinner and a couple drinks. It was a Wednesday so we were not expecting anything amazing but still wanted to get a taste for the area. We went to Mammoth Brewhouse. I had 2 local beers both ok. I was on a Sam Winter kick for the past couple months in Boston, these didn't compare. We split the tuna apt which was great, and I had the the turkey pot pie, from the "locals favorites" section of the menu. I agreed, it was good.

Not many people there, so we headed out and decided to get one more drink on the ride home. We stopped at Grumpys, seemed like a fun spot. Ended up being the type of place thats great if you bring your own party. Lots of video games, pool table and stuff but pretty empty.

Headed on our way home anxious for our first day of skiing. I was amazed at the temperature! This place had more snow in December than any other resort mountain. But it hasn't snowed in January. The base lodge was 53 degrees, and the lift attendants had short sleeve shirts on. There is 4? or 5 base lodges and each one has an outdoor bar you can see when your loading any of the base lifts. California has a way of even making skiing an outdoor summer time paarty atmosphere!

This being my first time skiing west of Massachusetts, I didn't really know what to expect. I was disappointed with the snow. It was much better than East Coast skiing but I was picturing fluffy white powder shooting up every time I turned, that didn't happen. The weather was great. We took off a couple layers and still managed to break a sweat. I guess the temperature here can change dramatically based on the storm and where its originating from. At least that what they say!

working on my snowbeard:

Ill keep a running tally of days skied: 1