Elegant Ellery & Getting Mortal @ Mammoth – 06/23/11

#SUMMER SKIING!

Date:

June 22nd – 24th, 2011

Location: Yosemite (Tioga Pass/Ellery Bowl) and Mammoth Mountain, California. (in the white section due East of SF)

Weather: Blue skies, warm temps, and no wind. (You can see Kirkwood down there..mid-June 2011)

Skier:

Skier666

Cameraman:

666

POV VIDEO – Elegant Ellery & Getting Mortal @ Mammoth

Music: Marcus Intalex – ‘Celestial Navigation’

Synopsis:

It is now the Summer Solstice of 2011…and we finally have some summer weather to get in some proper summer skiing! Tioga Pass opened from East to West through the Sierra on June 18th, 2011. With a family Tahoe trip planned for the following weekend, a solo drive through Yosemite was in order to document the record snowpack. As luck would have it, I was greeted to 100 F valley temps and perfect blue skies with a cool yet still warm 58F at the highest spot near the East Gate.

After a quick evening ski on Ellery Bowl, it was time to shred a full day at Mammoth in my glorious lonesome. Without a previous night’s freeze, the snow was already ripe for attack at 7:30am. The day consisted of lapping the morning groomers, to covering the upper boundaries from the Upper Gondola to Phillipes. Suncups were minimal and the halfpipe was cut to perfection (for June 23rd). Once in Tahoe, the family boat was backed into a lake called Tahoe….and by that, Summer officially began.

Java Porn: Espresso and water in a can….

June 22nd, 2011:

The East Bay hills are finally turning their true colors…

Time to crank the heater in Tracy!

On Hwy 120 through Yosemite, there were plenty of scenes like this…

This is a Dome rising out of Yosemite Valley…

These are rock formations created a couple years ago…

This lake is actually not real, it’s a mirage for the tourists….

Stone factories…

Dana Meadows in a late June ice age….

A very calm stream….

I asked the Ranger to turn off the bubbles, but he said they lost that ability to budget cuts…

Ellery Bowl now in sight @ 7:45pm…

The chutes bask in the Solstice sunset…

Ellery Lake still looking quite cold…

I decided to hike up for a better view…

Figured that I should bring my skis, why not?

It was now 8:45pm and it was getting quite dark rather quickly, so I made my descent…

Minimal suncuppage….

A left turn…

This kid made sure I made it down safely, so I waved….

June 22nd, 2011:

Its Mammoth Summer Skiing Time!

Groomers were amazing…

Perfect Corn…groomed….first thing in the morning…

It was so good that I skipped my morning coffee….

Off-piste was almost the same….

So I decided it was time to hit up P4 to Phillipes…

Smooth like Brandy…

Pretty much have to add this shot into the TR for a 2011 reference…

A short hike to Chair 23 kept out, well, everyone….so I did a few more laps

A good day…

Even the brown snow was good….

Weeeeeee….a halfpipe!

Phillipes was way more filled in than this time last year…

Good times…

No dirt skiing on the descent!

Just make sure you out-ski that slush slough…

Chair 23….lonely.

Near Hangman’s….

Another lap through the pipe….

…and its goodbye Mammoth!

395 North….

Bridgeport has the views….

Tallac on June 23rd, 2011…

Early morning baby wake-up photo opportunity…June 24th, 2011

Golf with the Mrs….

Jaunt over to West Shore…

The Cobalt is maxed out at 6220 ft….

Lake and mountain…

Mountain and lake….

A plane lands…on water.

Bye Bye