Mammoth and June Mountain Spring Break

Last year for spring break our ski week in Utah with the Munselles was well and truly jettisoned by the onset of COVID in the US. This year we decided to roll the dice again, but instead headed south to Mammoth Lakes for a week of skiing at Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain on the eastern edge of Inyo National Forest. It’d been a few years since the Valtenbergs were in Mammoth, the last time we visited was as part of our camping trip through the eastern Sierras back when Max was a little ankle-biter. While Mammoth isn’t as legendary as Arapahoe Basin, Mammoth has a reputation for some great above-treeline skiing and drier snow than the high-moisture Sierra cement we often receive in the northern Sierras around Tahoe.

For the first four days of the trip it was just the dads with Max and Camryn: Lisa, Amy, Lilia and Maysen headed to Scottsdale to visit Cheryl as part of a girls’ trip for Lilia’s and Maysen’s tenth birthdays. So early last Friday morning Lance, Max, Camryn and I set out in two cars from Geyserville, making a beeline for Reno where we left one of the cars for the girls at the airport for when they flew back into Reno from Arizona on Monday. It was a mission of a drive, a touch over seven hours from Geyserville to Mammoth Lakes. Fortunately we didn’t hit any snow or traffic across the Sierras or on our route down 395 along the border between California and Nevada, the kids were troopers in the back seat for what was pretty much an entire day in the car.

We were blessed with a little over a foot of fresh, dry eastern Sierra pow on our first day in Mammoth. The cold temps made for an amazing bluebird powder day, we managed to find plenty of untracked snow all day and there was lots of stoke from Max and Cam as we explored the glades off Chair 25. While it only has acreage roughly equal to that of Squaw Valley, Mammoth seemed huge on our first day and we only managed to explore the southern third of the resort. We capped off the day with a few outdoor (freezing!) brews and dinner at Mammoth Brewing Company, couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the week.

I feel like I should give a bit of a legend to the vid below, given everyone has face masks and goggles covering their faces:

• Max: orange helmet/blue jacket
• Lilia: orange helmet/green jacket
• Camryn: pink helmet/blue jacket
• Maysen: pink helmet/purple and green jacket
• Lance: black helmet/blue jacket
• Amy: green jacket/purple pants
• Lisa: white helmet/turquoise jacket
• Sam: blue helmet/grey jacket

June Mountain is a roughly 30 minute drive north of Mammoth just off Highway 395, a stone’s throw from the tiny mountain town of June Lake. One of Lance’s friends – who is a ski patroller at Mammoth – suggested we hit the resort on one of our days in the area: even though June is only a little more than a third the size of Mammoth, he mentioned it is great for families and has excellent tree skiing. We weren’t disappointed! The slopes received another few inches of fresh snow the night before we skied June, making for another bluebird powder day amongst the exceptional gladed runs off of Chair 4 and Chair 7. Max and Cam were having an absolute ball (listen for their squeals in the vid below)! Unfortunately Cam tweaked her leg on the last run before lunch so had to sit out the afternoon with Lance in the lodge, but after some expert ice wrapping from Lance that evening she was rearing to go the next day (phew…).

Cold temps made for another great day of snow conditions on day three back at Mammoth. We took the littles (as we often dub Max and Cam…) to the top of the Mammoth gondola to absorb the views from 11053 feet. Absolutely breathtaking! The kids charged down the blacks from the top of the summit twice, I’m pretty sure both Lance and I had our chests puffed out under our jackets as they descended. In an effort to preserve the littles’ legs we cut the day short on day three, heading into the desert after lunch to explore some of the natural hot springs in the basin east of Mammoth Lakes. We were lucky to arrive at an empty Shepherd Hot Springs and have the place to ourselves for about an hour, so much fun sitting in the piping hot water in the freezing outside temps with the peaks of the Sierras in the distance. Lance and I couldn’t believe how soft our skin felt after an hour-long soak in the mineral water. I didn’t want to take a shower afterwards but I’m glad I did as there was definitely some algae from the springs making its way down the drain that night!

The girls arrived from Scottsdale via Reno on the Monday night of our stay in Mammoth Lakes, great to have everyone back together after they all had a fun four days of shopping and horseback riding with Cheryl in Arizona. We took the girls to June after having so much fun there earlier in the week, more powder for us again as another southbound storm hit the eastern Sierras (and made for a bit of a sketchy drive from Mammoth Lakes to June Mountain!). The last couple of days we spent back on the slopes of Mammoth, where the snow stayed excellent until the afternoon on Wednesday, when it warmed up a little and caked all the powder in the trees. Such an awesome week, no question the most consistently good snow I think I’ve skied in California. I’m very glad the Munselles and my kids overruled my desire to head back to Utah for this year’s spring break!