In February, Alicia and I flew to Reno and drove down U.S 395 to Mammoth Mountain for a weekend of skiing in the Sierra Nevada. On the first two days, a blizzard and winds up to 70 miles per hour forced the resort to shutter the lifts that serve the mountain's upper half. On the third day, the storm broke and we saw for the first time the jagged summits of the Minarets and other nearby peaks. All that remained of the storm was 16 inches of the kind of dry powder that makes it painless to fall. The first time I took the gondola to Mammoth's peak, I mistook the false summit for the real thing. I was thrilled when the gondola car crested the ridge and kept ascending for another 500 feet.
Avalanche bowl on Lincoln Mountain
The gondola spans maybe 300 yards from the support tower on the false summit to the support tower below the true summit.
Chair 23
I think Alicia is skiing the Cornice Bowl.
Chair 23
U.S. 395 skirts the west side of the Mono Lake Basin.
