Mammoth, California January 2023:

[speeder]

I've been meaning to post a few pics from last week in Mammoth. Some friends have a beautiful house right in the village, (walk to gondola), they have been too busy in LA to make it up so far this winter, so invited me to use the place. My only contribution is to shovel some snow, (NBD, right?), lololololol...

They have a service that comes and clears the driveway but the steps up to the house are not shoveled unless someone is there to do it. When I arrived, it looked like this:



That is about 6-7' of "Sierra cement," or perfect snowball making snow. Wet and heavy. Another 3-4' would fall over the weekend, I arrived on a Friday. I had to ask them to send me a picture from the summer because I could not tell where the steps were, other than the beginning and end. Total stress test on my 63 y.o. heart, shovel I did.

[speeder]

A LOT more snow fell while I was there, here are a few photos to illustrate. I am from Minnesota and I have to say, people there do not know what snow is...unless you have been in the California Sierras during a heavy winter, you have no clue. Double the annual snowfall of the Colorado Rockies...just unbelievable.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

The most snowpack of anywhere on earth at this time

[Rick Lee]

My band played at that town square next to the gondola, but it was in August, 2021. Still wasn't real warm. I rode my bike up there in Nov. about 13 yrs ago and froze my ass off.

[masraum]

I've seen a lot of snow, and that's a crap-ton of snow.

[gregpark]

21.5 feet deep at the summit of Mammoth mountain. (Think 2 story building)

[speeder]

Originally Posted by gregpark

21.5 feet deep at the summit of Mammoth mountain. (Think 2 story building)

Yep. 17' at the base and 21' at the top. I was under the understanding that number is just from the latest storms but maybe it's the total(?)

[MikeSid]

The pitch on the roof of that lighter colored house doesn't look well designed for the location. That's a massive amount of weight on that roof!

[ckissick]

Here's a pic of a two-story condo at Bear Valley, CA, south of Tahoe. Nearby Tamarack (where I will build a cabin next summer, if the snow ever melts) recorded 37.5 feet on the ground in 1911. Tamarack also had 74 feet of snow measured in 1906-1907.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by ckissick

Here's a pic of a two-story condo at Bear Valley, CA, south of Tahoe. Nearby Tamarack (where I will build a cabin next summer, if the snow ever melts) recorded 37.5 feet on the ground in 1911. Tamarack also had 74 feet of snow measured in 1906-1907.

It's only some flurrys

[Bugsinrugs]

I don’t think people realize how much work that took to shovel out that much snow. Altitude plays into it and Sierra cement puts it over the top. Hats off my friend!!!

[911boost]

That
looks
miserable.

LOL

[A930Rocket]

Don’t use the snow cat!😂

[Marine Blue]

That is just insane! I can’t fathom how much effort to dig out that sidewalk!

Makes the snow I grew up with in Upstate NY trivial.

[speeder]

The hard part isn’t scooping it, it’s tossing over the 10’ snow bank. After a couple of scoops, it starts getting heavy.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by speeder

A LOT more snow fell while I was there, here are a few photos to illustrate. I am from Minnesota and I have to say, people there do not know what snow is...unless you have been in the California Sierras during a heavy winter, you have no clue. Double the annual snowfall of the Colorado Rockies...just unbelievable.

It's a lot for sure but the U.P. of MI isn't very far from MN and they get serious snow fall too. Houghton gets about 15-20 feet/year.

[tdw28210]

It's absolutely beautiful up there. Drove to Tahoe area from "the city" many times in the late '90's/early 00's. But there is no effing way I would subject myself to these conditions. Just too many ways to die during the winter - especially as one grows older. Denis and Charlie, stay safe.

[ramonesfreak]

wow. looks beautiful. but no thanks. last year when we got our first big snowfall, the snowblower wouldn’t start. bad gas, ruined carb. so i shoveled. felt a pop. here i sit over 1 year later with a heating pad and back brace on. consider yourself lucky you did not damage yourself. once done, i hope you had some good dark beer and homemade french onion soup in front of a fireplace.

[Seahawk]

Great photos, Denis.

One of the guys I ran rivers with in college lived in Truckee during the winter.

He called me one week during the winter when Truckee was expecting 3 to 4 feet of snow.: "Come on up for the Donner Party we are having!"

Apparently that was a thing in the 70's in Truckee during big storms.

[Alansglide]

I lived in Mammoth from 79 to 89. There were some years when the snow pack was insane. Can't tell you how many hours I spent shoveling snow.