The Mammoth Mountain Ski area has one of the best snowmaking systems in the country. It's the main reason Mammoth Mountain has been able to open in early November every year since the system was installed, back in the Summer of 1990.
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As soon as Mammoth has the right weather conditions, they can start making snow and have snow all winter long, even if they get no natural snow at all. Aside from air temperature, the Snowmaking staff at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area keeps a close eye on the Wet Bulb.
Mammoth gets its heavy snow due to the altitude and topography surrounding it. In most years, Pacific storms hit the western slopes of the Sierra and rise into thinner atmosphere against the ridges.
Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliability of their snow cover and to extend their ski seasons from late autumn to early spring. Indoor ski slopes use snowmaking.
High-Pressure Air and Water Guns: At Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, high-pressure air is propelled through water lines embedded in the hillside. This combination of high-pressure air and water is employed to create artificial snow.
Palisades Tahoe trail map. Palisades Tahoe's position in the Lake Tahoe basin means that Pacific storms are funneled directly into the resort, so it historically has had higher levels of snowfall than Mammoth. Both resorts get absurd amounts of snow and are notorious for receiving mega-dumps.
Line chart shows the total inches of snow at Mammoth Mountain, by season, starting with the 1969 to 1970 season. This season, 2022 to 2023, has seen a record number of 695 inches of snow, surpassing the previous record of 668.5 inches during the 2010 to 2011 season.
The 22/23 winter season is officially our snowiest season on record with over 700 at Main Lodge and close to 900 at the summit. Take a behind the scenes look at some of the depths we recorded across the mountain in this video taken on April 14, 2023. This opens in a new window.
Mammoth Mountain is the leading four-season mountain destination in California. Owned by Alterra Mountain Company, Mammoth Mountain offers the Ikon Pass for ski and snowboard access to the mountain.