Mid May: Mammoth vs. Snowbird

[gores95]

I already posted in the Mammoth forum but based on conditions right now what would you think of either of the two resorts for May 17-21? It would be myself and my oldest daughter who is graduating college. I know it's been a pretty epic snowfall winter but neither of us have ever skied so late in the season. Will there be a real difference in terms of open terrain and conditions? Do both groom this late? We've been to both just not this late in the season. If cost was equal where would you go? Thanks!

 

[Bill Miles]

I have been to both in Mid May and would slightly reccomend Snowbird, but you could have good late season skiing at either.

About 2/3 to 3/4 Snowbirdshould be open. About 1/3 to 1/2 of Mammoth. Definately more vertical open at Snowbird since Mammoth is only 2100' from Main Lodge to top. In recent years, Snowbird access from the bottom or top to bottom has been limited to the Tram, which I don't really care for, although sometimes Tram is down for maintenance in May so they run Gadzoom and Peruvian. I have not seen a lift schedule for this year.

Both do quite a bit of grooming. Snowbird has slightly better exposure on the front side, at least on the Peruvian Gulch side, while Mammoth salts some of there more porpular runs. If you like to get an early start before things get slushy, Mammoth opens as early as 7:30. I don't remember for sure at Snowbird, but think it may still be 9:00

If cost were equal (and Snowbird might be a little less staying in SLC), I would go to Snowbird, depending on lifts open, only because the drive is less than half as long for me..

 

[KingGrump]

TBH, the Bird is one of my top three resorts in NA. The place just feel right and ski well. Mammoth hasn't earn a place in my heart - yet.

That said, I like the snow at Mammoth in May more than Snowbird.
I have skied the Bird many times in May. Always a bit disappointed by the feel of the snow. Had a great time in Mammoth last may. Will be there to 5/17.
Keep in mind, the bird only operate weekends in May. So 5/21 may be a no go.

 

[gores95]

I didn’t realize that Snowbird is only open on the weekends in May so that wouldn’t work. The plan would be to ski Sunday and Monday.

 

[Bill Miles]

I saw on their facebook page that they will be open daily through May 12. When they go to weekends, it is Friday through Sunday.

 

[Tricia]

TBH, the Bird is one of my top three resorts in NA. The place just feel right and ski well. Mammoth hasn't earn a place in my heart - yet.

That said, I like the snow at Mammoth in May more than Snowbird.
I have skied the Bird many times in May. Always a bit disappointed by the feel of the snow. Had a great time in Mammoth last may. Will be there to 5/17.
Keep in mind, the bird only operate weekends in May. So 5/21 may be a no go.

We are planning a mini gathering at Mammoth some time after we're in Colorado the first week of May.
Details TBD

 

[KingGrump]

We are planning a mini gathering at Mammoth some time after we're in Colorado the first week of May.
Details TBD

Another Pugski gathering.

 

[SKI-3PO]

Another Pugski gathering.

Somebody hide the bread!

 

[sbooker]

Another Pugski gathering.

Mr Grump. I don't know you from a bar of soap but I casually observe you do a hell of a lot of skiing and 'work' doesn't seem to factor in any equation.
Please PM life advice so I can arrange myself to be in the same position some day.

 

[KingGrump]

Mr Grump. I don't know you from a bar of soap but I casually observe you do a hell of a lot of skiing and 'work' doesn't seem to factor in any equation.
Please PM life advice so I can arrange myself to be in the same position some day.

This is a skier friendly forum. Please refrain using the four letter word that starts with a W.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

We are planning a mini gathering at Mammoth some time after we're in Colorado the first week of May.
Details TBD

We would really like to attend that. We just need to get through all of Gavin’s graduation events first. We are free around May 9/10. Did I mention we made our LAST tuition payment!!!! This is a blatant hint for dates around May10!

 

[Larry]

I might be up there May 10 weekend too. In fact, I'm looking for 1 person to share a room with me. I got a good deal at Quality inn

 

[Josh Matta]

if the tram is open, and they are limiting where you are going, Snowbird is basically 100 percent open if you know the risk.

 

[gores95]

So I’m now leaning towards Snowbird. Easier to get to from the East Coast… Can fly direct. What do you guys think of Breckenridge extending its season through memorial day? I don’t think they will have anywhere near as much open a Snowbird/Mammoth. I think I read somewhere that Snowbird has gotten 600 inches of snow this year in Breck is only around 250.

 

[John Webb]

Tahoe, Mammoth, Snowbird, & Jackson (closed) all got record/near record snow this year !
Less but still decent snow amounts in Colorado.

 

[Nathanvg]

The primary factor in my opinion is how much terrain will be open. At Mammoth it will be gondola, 23, 1, 3 and 6. That's maybe 25% of the mountain and a lot of the lower mountain is pretty flat.

I'm not an expert on what Snowbird will have open but people on this thread are talking about 50%+ which is a lot more terrain than Mammoth.

Breckenridge was also mentioned. It is harder to predict open terrain there since this is the first year they decided to stay open late. Breck is high but east facing so I'm expecting a lot of closures by mid May. If you got to Breck, Abasin is a short drive and will have more open but by mid may, they close a lot down too most years.

Snowbird looks like the best bet. I assume your dates are set in stone but if you could move your trip up a week or two, odds would be much higher for more open at all places.

 

[Tony]

Mammoth could be running way more than 5 or 6 lifts, especially on weekends and over Memorial Day. See my post in Mammoth thread at https://www.pugski.com/threads/2018-2019-mammoth-mountain.10509/page-17#post-347668 for what they ran Memorial Day 2017.

But OP said easy access from the East coach is important and Snowbird is much easier, although as others have said, they will only be open Fri-Sun.

 

[Nathanvg]

Agreed, Memorial day will likely have more lifts open but the weekend before is a different situation for the OP. I wouldn't count on any more than the lifts I mentioned.

 

[Nathanvg]

So I’m now leaning towards Snowbird. Easier to get to from the East Coast… Can fly direct. What do you guys think of Breckenridge extending its season through memorial day? I don’t think they will have anywhere near as much open a Snowbird/Mammoth. I think I read somewhere that Snowbird has gotten 600 inches of snow this year in Breck is only around 250.

So where did u decide on?

It has been a cool spring ideal for keeping terrain open. A complete rundown of open terrain below. In summary, a lot of the recommendations above were overly optimistic. Conditions are pretty typical for mid May in UT, CO, mammoth and canada. The Pacific states ski areas vary a lot year to year and this year was very good for California.

Breck still has imperial, t bar, independence and peak 6 lifts open

Mammoth has gondola, 23, 1, 2, 3 and 6 plus 10, 5 and 4 on the weekends.

Abasin is running all lifts but recently, all double diamonds are closed due to wet slab avalanche risk

Snowbird is running Peruvian, little cloud and mineral with 35% of runs open. Open weekends only.

Squaw has kt, Siberia, shirley, granite and lift to and near high camp. Squaw late season is highly variable and this year it is great.

Bachelor is running Martin, sky linear and summit (weather permitting)

Timberline is running Norman, magic mile and palmer (weather permitting)

Heavenly, donner and az snowbowl all have less open but still 10+ runs. killington has 1 run open. All of these are open only on weekends.

Sunshine (banff) is running all lifts except goats eye with almost all runs open.

Whistler is running gondola, fitz, red and emerald.

 

[gores95]

We ended up at Snowbird. Only one lift open for us on the front side but plenty of runs from the lift. We didn’t venture through the tunnel to Mineral Basin (was only open one of our days). Conditions were good even with limited visibility most of the time. Yesterday the sun came out enough to have lunch outside but mostly it was winter conditions. Near the bottom the snow got a little choppy and sticky but we had a great time! Never having skied in May we picked a good weekend to come out!