Mammoth May 26 - June 2, 2010

I went to Mammoth and man oh man it was SICK! On May 26, our trip got off to a great start before we even left; my boyfriend and I were bringing one of the kids who rides for the shop with us and we switched cars with his parents because they had a truck and it would be more roomy. The mom drove our WRX down a steep bump and instead of going at an angle, she went straight... so she scraped my bumper. :(

Our other 2 friends, Scott and Lakota, came to our house (late, as usual) and we finally left at like, 2pm?! We decided to drive to Vegas and spend the night there and then finish the drive to Mammoth the next day.

Utah sucks.


Utah doesn't suck.


Hello Vegas!!!

Vegas was fun, we ate some delicious In-N-Out, swam in the pool (well the boys did, I tanned. HA!) , and finally hit the road May 27 at 3pm-ish. I actually ended up doing the whole drive to Bishop, CA from Vegas. I was pretty nervous because the drive there is a 1 lane highway, so you gotta go into the incoming lane to pass. I really hate doing that and I'll only pass when I can see there is no car for MILES AND MILES. Thank god the truck was a stick, it scooted fairly quick when passing. Just before I got on 395, I drove on this really fun road that went through a canyon, it was like a rollercoaster seriously! I wished I had my WRX for that road. So curvy and bumpy and whoopity whoop! Only downside though was you had to go pretty slow on the super curvy parts, like 20 mph so it took a while to get to 395.

We finally rolled into Bishop at like 8:30pm, ate some BBQ, and my boyfriend finished the rest of the drive to Mammoth, a mere 30-something mile drive. We were surprised to see it was snowing, but it wasn't sticking to the ground. I immediately went to sleep because I was so tired from Vegas and driving all the way to Bishop. I woke up at like 8am and immediately started gearing up... SNOWBOARDING YAAAAAAAAAAAAY

It actually snowed a few inches over night, enough to cover the roads, and I made my boyfriend drive the truck because I tried driving that same truck in snow before, and let's just say I prefer my WRX and I am scared of trucks. Haaa. Also, some guy on the road to Mammoth got stuck on barely any ice. California drivers, heh.

MAMMOTH!!!!!!!! (this pic was taken on my 3rd day riding)

We started off our trip by taking a lap through the park, and uhhhhhhh ehhhh it was definitely a LOT better than Arapahoe Basin but not quite like I remember when I went there last time. My friend who lives in Mammoth later explained to me that Mammoth said they won't have a lot of stuff out for the end of the season because there's only TWO park staff. With that in mind, the park is definitely great for only having 2 guys, although it does look like some features needed more of a lip, like the side-approach stuff. I don't know if Mammoth always has what looks like a roller for the side-approach stuff, or if there's a distinguished ramp with a lip, but either way, it was still hittable and really fun. Just weird for me because I'm used to seeing like a ramp going up towards the rails.

The snow on the first day was really soft and bumpy (it had snowed 6 inches!!) so it was hard to get speed for anything and I didn't bother hitting the jumps because the snow was so bumpy. I did hit the rails, boxes and this wall ride thing, all real fun stuff. I hit the jumps the next day when the snow was all smoothed out and they were FUN! Really poppy and juuuuust the right size.

Later in the day, the gondola to the top opened so we quickly hopped on it and went to the top. OH MY GOSH IT WAS AMAZING. That 6 inches of snow I mentioned, was untracked and it was REALLY REALLY good for almost June!! I was so damn stoked, it was the most fun I've ever had. Yeah, the snow was a little heavy, but sooooo good. We dropped the cornice at the top, then dropped a small cliff in the middle, and just did big wide turns. It was liberating. We did it again and again and again. By our 2354624th trip up, some kids opted to get off in the middle and go to the park. Psssssssh, most of us decided to go to the top again. This would be our final run, and we went to the back that comes out to the front again, and hiked for a little bit when it went uphill, strapped in, and took what would be OH MY GOSH, MY BEST RUN EVER!!!!!!!!!!

The snow there was totally untracked, and there were lots of wind lips and bumps so we all kept doing 180s off them. I had a field day, going front 1, switch back 1, front 1, switch back 1, and got dizzy HA! We all went through trees which were spread well apart and it was just incredible fun. Easily my best run of the whole season, it's amazing how much fun can be had when you ride with your friends in the summer. Yes, I consider end of May summer.

The next 2 days after that were beautiful sunny, warm days, just sooo much fun. Mammoth also had the Katal Landing Pad open, it's basically 3 jumps that go to an air bag. My friends and I went to try it out, and I really liked it a lot. Way better than the Barn at Woodward in Copper. I hate that snowflex material they use, sooo sketchy. However, with the Katal pad, you had to hit the jump like normal, and if you land on your feet, you need to sit down after landing and slide down to the snow. The best part about it is the run-in is all snow, not scary snowflex stuff! The landing pad is really soft, doesn't hurt at all even if you land on your face like a few people did. Yikes.

On our last day riding, we finished the day off on the Katal landing pad. I've always wanted to do a rodeo 5, so I tried to get it on the pad that day. My friend who is also a coach was there and he helped me out by giving me tips for getting a frontside 5, and after a few tries, I stuck it on the landing pad! I was so stoked, and then I went to try a 5 rodeo, and got it first try!! This air bag is seriously so fun and is such a huge help in learning new tricks. I watched Lakota Sage just crush it, even inventing a new trick in the process. He was so giddy about it, he can't wait to do it in competitions next year.

Lakota's new trick

We ended up staying a little longer than we should have, but the people working at the air bag were nice enough to break out the snowmobiles and tow us to the top (chairlifts closed!) so we could keep hitting the air bag without having to hike.

Elin Tortorice and Lakota Sage getting a ride up


Elin Tortorice going huge


Can you see mini-shred Redman Gerard upside-down?!?!

After 20 minutes or so, we had to wrap it up and go home. We helped the workers roll up the bottom part of the Katal pad (or put huge blocks on it... I can't remember) and then we were told to ride down this groomed part and follow the snow cat to the base. That actually was really fun! Hahahha. We were just turning really fast and slashing each other and riding switch and throwing snowballs at each other... ahhh yes.

We caught up to the snow cat. It's slow.

My boyfriend and I bought beer for everyone at the end of the day, it was such a fun day and a great way to end our trip!!

Brendan Gerard, myself, Redman Gerard (no, he didn't drink), Adrian, Jose Magra


Dustin Linker, Lakota Sage, Scott Blewitt


Bye bye Mammoth!!! Thanks for such a fun trip!!

As we were leaving Mammoth, we stopped at the "I AM SNOWBOARDING" exhibit, but we missed it by one day!! Regardless, Adrian wanted a shot of the shop team under the sign, so here it is!

Scott Blewitt, myself, Lakota Sage

We then hit the road and started heading towards.... yeah, Las Vegas again. Ha! On the way to Mammoth, we passed two brothels, one was seriously a trailer, so we all reminded ourselves to stop and take a picture. Too bad I missed the trailer one, but this other one was easy to stop at since it was a gas station and we needed gas. Kind of weird that there's whorehouses in the middle of nowhere!

Adrian, Lakota, Scott. I like how sheepish Lakota looks haha

Scott took over the captain's chair and drove the rest of the way to Vegas. Thanks so much, Scott, that was huge help!! As we got closer to the city, we made our mandatory In-N-Out stop. I scarfed down my Animal Fries and Protein Style Cheeseburger, oh god, SOOOO GOOD. I get my cheeseburgers protein style because that way, I can eat all my animal fries AND the burger!

Hello Vegas, we meet again. Our hotel.

Our second stay in Vegas was easily more fun than the first. Oh yeah, if you're wondering, "Hey, wait a minute, didn't you have a young kid with you?" at this point, yes, yes, we did have a kid, Red, with us but he wanted to go with his big brother, Brendan, who was also going back to Colorado. So we left him with his brother and took off for Vegas! We hit the town and there was a lot of fun-ness that went down. But.... only two pictures. HAHA! I know, I suck. Oh, we didn't win big money, but we did find 99 cent Newcastle!

Lakota with Mexican Elvis and White Elvis


Easily the best part of the whole night. Lakota out-danced the dancer on the poker table and he drew such a huge cheering crowd. You should had seen his moves!


Apparently Scott stole the sign from a homeless guy. Naughty naughty.

The next morning, we ate at the Hash House A Go Go for breakfast and we ordered the fried chicken and waffles. Adrian told me about this entree before, and I thought he was crazy because I had never heard of it, and he thought I was crazy because I've never had one. Ha. We decided to share a plate and get it. Lakota and Scott got the same thing too, and shared a plate as well. How cute. I had ate at the Hash House before in San Diego and I told them the portions were HUGE! This place is no joke.

OH GOD YUM. Pic found on google.

It turned out to be... REALLY REALLY GOOD. OH MY GOD. AMAZING. I LOVED it. I wish there was a Hash House here or at least in Denver so I can get this shit again. It's incredibly amazing how fried chicken and waffles just go together, like peanut butter and jelly. Wow.

We finally left Vegas at 4pm after a failed attempt at finding a skatepark (we found one but they said it wasn't open yet... hmmph) after stopping at In N Out, of course. I drove all the way to I-70, and right after I merged on I-70, Scott told me to pull over and he would drive. He ended up driving a lot, I think we switched places back just before we got to Grand Junction. I drove all the freaking way home, getting home at 5am after dropping Scott off. AAAHHH!!! It was definitely worth it, but I am done road tripping for a while. Everyone always want to leave so late in the day! Mammoth was so much fun and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to go out there!