Mammoth Mountain Ski Area improvements

Get excited! Cloud Nine Chairlift is nearly complete. I took this picture while mountain biking on Oct. 28. The 6-pack chairs (or 'couches' like MMSA's Tom Hodges likes to call them) are just awaiting the seat cushions and a load test. The ride will now take half the time to access some great powder runs.

Opening Day of the Ski Season is 1 week away from today! Althought the skies are clear and daytime temps are in the 50's, they are dipping low enough to blow snow at night, so I suspect just the runs around Main Lodge will be open.

But the mtn biking is still great. With recent weekly snow and rain storms, the dirt is compact and the snow level is just above Paper Route. Many trees are marked for removal down on lower Juniper for the paved bike path planned along Lake Mary Road.

Other upcoming developments include the following:
- High speed quad chair at Chair 5 (summer 2008)
- Eagle Lodge (starting summer 2009 - another year delay from what was expected). The 'temporary' white tent at Little Eagle is going on its 7th year, I think.
- A gondola from Canyon Lodge to the top of Chair 15 Eagle Express (2009). Helps to spread traffic to that side of the hill and towards the new Cloud Nine chair.
- The proposed ski-back trail (along Minaret, or along the uptown/downtown mtn bike trail) is open for public comment right now, which is an important step to getting approval for the trail. The whole point is to help elleviate car traffic from Main Lodge down to town after ski lifts close on busy weekends. Instead, you can right ski down to The Village.
- Real Estate: Altis will break ground again, instead of being a fractional concept, Starwood will be releasing them for 24 whole ownership units. These are located along Bridges Run near Chair 15 and have incredible views. Also planned are 68 condo-hotel units at Eagle Lodge and 19 townhomes at Canyon Lodge (on the lot between 1849 and Snowbird). Rumors swirl about the planned "1" Hotel, but a Starwood developer assured us that they will be releasing the project for sale in Fall 2008.
- Keep an eye out for charter air service (30-seater turbo-props) from Vision Air with a route from Las Vegas to Mammoth to Carlsbad and back again possibly starting this season.