Mammoth Daily Snow

Update

It's been a little while, everyone. To be exact, just a touch over 2 months. I apologize for not getting to the final wrap up post that I wanted to do earlier. I've been out in the field almost for at least 50% of the time the last 2 months. That's a lot of time away from home, and as you can imagine there are house duties that I have to attend to when the weather is better in the summer. 

But one duty that I did not skimp on was skiing in August! I got to enjoy my final turns of the 2022 - 2023 season today in none other than Mammoth Mtn. The conditions was spectacular for August. I finally achieved a life goal of skiing at a resort in August. This is only the 3rd time in Mammoth's recorded history. And the last time was in 2017 when I was hiking in the Mammoth area in August and didn't know how to ski yet! This is the final weekend of skiing on the mtn, so get after it! 

Weather

I won't really focus on the weather going forward as it hasn't been all that exciting, at least from a snow perspective. Like I mentioned 2 months ago our chances for seeing accumulating snowfall at Main Lodge dropped to pretty much zero after the middle of May. We were warming up and drying out.

But... then June happened. June was an exceptionally cool and wet month. But not cool enough for snow to fall, so we ended our snowfall in May. Both 2010 - 2011 and 2016 - 2017 were the last biggest years and they both have a small amount of June snow. So we kinda broke the trend of seeing snow every month of the ski season through June during big impressive years. 

Recap & Records

So we finished this season with 715 inches of snow! That is 46 inches greater than the next biggest season! So we didn't just break the record, we absolutely crushed it! 2010 - 2011 was a truly incredible year that 2017 tried to beat, but it didn't. But then 2022 - 2023 happened and the snow just never stopped from December through March. We had a lull in April and then May delivered another 10 inches to truly seal the deal. 

We broke many monthly records, including the biggest March of all time with 192 inches! Other monthly records include biggest December through March and biggest January through May. I could go on and on about how incredible our winter was, but you all know that. You all skied it, boarded it, or lived it out there. It was the most unreal year I believe anyone has ever experienced and we can only wish to have another one quite so glorious again! 

Surprise

Like I said life has been hectic the last few months with all the field work. I finally had the funding and gumption to buy my girlfriend of the last 6 years an engagement ring. We've talked about getting married for a few years but financial delays along with just general life has just gotten in the way. Well I finally bought the ring over a month ago and it just so happened that it was going to be delivered, since it was a special order, while I was out on a field work trip in New Mexico. I had to get my girlfriend to pick it up from the airport because of customs issues, and she definitely had a suspicion that I was planning on proposing. 

Well she got me! Last weekend, right after my work trip finished and I came back home I had a friend visiting that I've been backpacking and climbing with for the last 9 years. She suggest that we go to Mammoth and I obviously agreed and viewed it as an opportunity to go skiing! 

We get on top of the mtn with my friend and next thing you know she's exclaiming to me how some of our other really good friends just happen to be up there. And just as I turn around she drops on one knee and proposes to me! Mammoth is my absolute favorite place in the world, so this was truly an incredibly special event and moment for me. She wanted to surprise me, since her surprise was a little out the window. 

I'll still be proposing to her in the next couple weeks on a backpacking trip. And I know she's excited to see her ring. It's been a whirlwind of a year with lots of big life events including new jobs for us both, a record breaking snow year, an engagement, and more! 

I can't wait to see what next winter brings. I'll be providing musings by sometime this October. By the looks of it, a Strong El Nino could certainly bring us some exciting weather...

Till the next one... Mike out. 

P.S. 

Some photos of our engagement and skiing on the mtn today!