Why Go?
One of the southernmost of California’s ski areas, Mammoth gets 300 days of sunshine a year, yet still gets more than 30 ft of snow each winter. The lava dome of the mountain sits on open ground, providing mighty views of surrounding peaks. There’s a cool California vibe and because accommodations are spread throughout the little town of Mammoth Lakes, it’s easy to keep to yourself in a cozy condo. Family-friendly sister resort June Mountain, featuring many beginner slopes, is a short distance away.
The Skiing
Mammoth by name and mammoth by nature. Slopes top 11,000 ft, there’s a vertical drop of 3,000 ft and the mountain has more than 3,500 acres of terrain. There are runs for all ski levels, including plenty of novice slopes around the Schoolyard Express lift placed at Canyon Lodge base area for getting kids to lessons. Other easy and slightly more intermediate runs cut across the face of the resort, in between black diamond routes. There are easy routes down from many lifts, although beginners will want to avoid making their way down from the Panorama gondola, where off-piste double black diamonds plunge down the mountain.
The Resort
The Village at Mammoth is the ski resort heart of the somewhat spread out town of Mammoth Lakes. A gondola is available to take you up and over the smart, modern lodging to the Canyon Lodge base, where you’ll find the lifts and skiing. The Village features the large Westin Monache Resort and the Village Lodge at the hub of a vast array of modern condos and neat B&Bs, motels and cabins. Many of the modern accommodations are brightly painted Pacific timber-style with lots of timber furniture and huge stone fireplaces. Some condos are ski-in, ski-out but much accommodation isn’t; even though free buses are available along a number of routes, location can be crucial if you’re ferrying youngsters about. Other attractions include cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
Children’s Facilities
There are full or half-day ski or snowboarding lessons for all ages. Private family lessons are also available, enabling parents and children to bond on the snow. There’s childcare by the hour, half-day, full day or evening. This is a place for budding snowboarders, with five terrain parks, plus four half pipes. Children four and under have free access to the slopes with no blackout dates.
There’s plenty for families to do with Woolly’s Tube Park, family snowcat tours to Minaret Summit (wine and charcuterie for adults, waffle sundae and cocoa for kids) and the Rock ‘n’ Bowl, with 12 lanes of bowling, golf simulators, darts, ping pong, and restaurants. Each Saturday afternoon, Woolly the elephant and his friends parade from the ski school through the Village at Mammoth with plenty of music and dancing.
Getting Around
Mammoth Yosemite airport is only a few minutes away and has connections from San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Pick up a car there or book a shuttle service. It’s a five-hour drive from either San Francisco or L.A., albeit a spectacular treat whichever way you come, taking in sequoia forests and skirting Yosemite. Reno is about three hours away. While you don’t actually need a car in the Mammoth resort, it can certainly be a help if you have a young family when you want to get around. It’s not easy to get to either the slopes or restaurants if you’re waiting for buses all the time.
Nick Dalton, a U.K.-based travel writer for newspapers, such as The Times, has visited nearly 90 U.S. ski resorts (and another 20 or so in Canada). When not skiing he’s also an expert on cruises, and his children, Georgia and Henry.