From Hot to cold: Mammoth mountain
As the go-to winter spot for most Californian's, Mammoth offers consistently solid snow without the risk of mowing down crowds of skiiers on the mountain.
Christmas break more often than not challenges my body by taking me from the warmest to coldest places in a two-week span. A couple days after getting back from Aruba, we drove up through Central California for six hours. 85 degrees to 65 degrees to 45 degrees in three days, and I love it.
A nice sight to see in the park by our rental house
I ended up spending the majority of the first two days trying to convince Amanda to get off the green and blue runs. She's only skiied a couple times, but as a dancer herself, it was easy for her to get used to it. I've been snowboarding for six years and by no means am I some professional stud who only boards double blacks and does back flips, but I can pretty much do everything else. Granted, we still covered a majority of the mountain together the first few days before a storm came through and kept us inside the last two days. Here's what to do, both on the mountain, and off.
On the slopes
Mammoth is..well, mammoth. There are three main lodges at the base, Eagle, Canyon and Main. I typically stick to Eagle and Canyon lodges because that's where most of the houses and hotels are, plus the gondola from the village goes into Canyon lodge. This time around we were at Eagle, which is basically the beginners area of the mountain. Take Chair 15 up and there are several green runs to choose from, the most popular being Holiday. My route of choice when teaching beginners, such as Amanda, is off Chair 15, down Holiday, then taking a shortcut via Manzanita. If you're feeling adventurous, this shortcut leads to Chair 22 which takes you basically to the top and offers wide, "easy" black runs, along with super challenging tree runs and double blacks. My favorite route on the mountain is Chair 15-->Chair 22-->Chair 9 (down Gold Hill) because it has a wide spectrum of scenic backdrops, along with good variation in difficulty, from wide easy greens to intensely narrow tree runs.
Going from Eagle Lodge to the rest of the mountain requires a bit more skill, for there are no green runs and the blue runs tend to get slightly steeper (and more fun) in certain areas on the way to Canyon Lodge. From Canyon, you can go anywhere on the mountain. It offers undoubtedly the most access on the mountain, which also correlates to the most crowded of the three lodges.
Eat
When it comes to food, both Eagle and Canyon have their pros and cons. I can't comment on Main lodge because it has been years since I've been there. Eagle Lodge is small, overrun with kids, but does have a full service restaurant along with a bar. Personally, I love the vibe of the restaurant. There's an outdoor grill where you can get burgers, hot dogs and the works, with outdoor seating at the end of the slops right underneath the chair lift. The indoor area is small and crowded, but once you do get a table, the wait is worth it. Eating lunch while snowboarding is a time that you want to just relax and not worry about going through buffet lines, finding a table with enough seats, making sure you don't accidentally switch gloves with the people sitting right next to you, etc. The perks of of being in a restaurant at Eagle outweigh the perks of the buffet-style at Canyon Lodge. With that being said, Canyon lodge does provide more options and the food is generally very solid with an impressive cultural spectrum for a ski lodge.
In the town
Generally speaking, you're not going to find much to do in any ski town, but in recent years Mammoth has done a great job bringing in new restaurants, bars and activities. Eating at Gomez's is always a solid bet for great Mexican food and spicy jalapeno margarita's, plus has a great environment for watching sporting events. The Westin Monache provides great luxury and a decent location near the village and Canyon Lodge gondola, plus offers an amazing spa and great restaurant. Campo has seriously amazing pizza. Essentially, anywhere you go in the village offers a warm and rustic environment with better-than-you-expected food.
Mammoth also does a good job in organizing community events. One night, there was a free silent disco where we put on headphones and jammed out for over 20 minutes while waiting for our table. There are concerts several nights a week, fireworks, and a long list of other activities that all ages can get involved in. They do their best to make a boring ski town exciting, and I appreciate that.
There is also a place called Rock'N'Bowl, which advertises itself as a bowling place but is much, much more than that. There are golf simulators, a full restaurant and bar, arcade room, and more. This place does get very popular, as it fully caters to both adults and children, so be sure to make a reservation or get there early if you want to actually bowl (we didn't and ended up playing darts and getting drinks).
There's a certain character to Mammoth that a lot of other ski towns don't have in my opinion. I have been to Park City, Lake Tahoe, and Whistler in recent memory and none of them feel as intimate or welcoming as Mammoth does. So I definitely have to strongly commend the folks who have helped in developing Mammoth in recent years.
Stay
In my opinion, Mammoth is a place to rent a house with another group. Enjoying a private place with your own fireplace and maybe a Jacuzzi on the patio makes for much more appropriate experience when you're 10,000 feet up in the cold. Plus, you don't have to deal with the hassle of hotel parking and you can make the house as dirty as you want (as long as you clean it sufficiently before you leave). When we stay in houses, we either rent at the 1849 complex, or more recently at a house in the complex beside Juniper Springs Resort.
Views from the Jacuzzi, on the lookout for some bears
With that being said, the best resort for access to the slopes is Juniper Springs. It's a ski-in-ski-out resort with a nice pool area and great staff. If you don't care as much about being on the slopes, definitely stay at the Westin. Like I said, it's Mammoth's luxury option and pulls out all the stops of a traditional luxury resort. A few minute walk down some stairs and across the street puts you directly in town with a plethora of shops and restaurants, along with access to the gondola which takes you to the centrally located Canyon Lodge.
No matter where you stay, Mammoth is the best option to thrive while hitting the slopes during the winter months.