Mammoth Weekend: Good Friends and Groomers

Despite the lack of snow and 5 hour drive, I was convinced by a couple friends of mine that a trip to Mammoth for the weekend would be a good idea. It was.

Thomas and Josh (said friends) drove up to meet me at work and tackle the 5 hour drive. Since Josh was afraid of car trouble, we decided to swap out my shitty car for his. Pretty much the only way we were going to fit 3 boards, 3 people, 3 magnums of champagne, and 3 cases of beer in the car was with the boards shotgun and the guys in back. I put on my chauffeur hat and we hit the road early enough to make it by 9pm, just in time for some Mammoth Double Nut Brown and Thin Mint shots:

1 part Rumple Minze Peppermint Schnapps

1 part Frangelico Hazelnut Liquor

(i think)

We hit the mountain early enough and met up with our local friends for some spring condition groomer runs. Wait, what month is it? The lack of coverage was pretty well combated by the snow makers on the runs that were open, and even made for some neat pictures like this one.

We were testing out a new goPro mount I made as we rode. I pieced together a little homemade pole mount for about three fiddy, if I have time I may post the instructions. It seemed to work out pretty well, but after one too many crashes we did end up snapping some of the mount piece. Fixable.  Here's a video still with Josh and Thomas gettin' steezy (steezy).

Our host for the weekend (thanks Sandra!) shredded it up with us on her 23rd day of the season so far. Rough life Sandra.

Turns out, it was Night of Lights weekend at Mammoth, the second year in a row I have accidentally been able to go. We headed off the mountain to relax for a couple hours before heading out to Canyon for the party. Night of Lights includes:

* Synchronized Snow Cat Driving
* Synchronized Skiing (with flares)
* Christmas Music
* FIREWORKS
* Wooly and Santa
* Beer

 We were standing right up there where the "M" is in this cool picture Mammoth posted.

Sweet Night of Lights pic from Mammoth's Facebook Page

 After the show, there was a concert by The Naked And Famous. I hadn't known who the band would be beforehand, so this was a pretty cool surprise. These guys were good live, and I was really enjoying the music right up until someone from the crowd hurled a beer bottle at the band. They stopped for a minute and told the crowd to shape up, then came back on with Young Blood and rocked about half of it before another beer bottle hit the guitarist and they stopped the show for good. Thanks jackass.

The Naked And Famous on stage at Night of Lights, from Mammoth's Facebook Page

After heading back to Sandra's place, Thomas and I proceeded to completely dominate everyone on the Foosball table for about two hours. Copious penalty shots of tequila for the losing teams were had. Also, we introduced one of our English buddies to a friendly game of Fuck The Dealer where he was somehow unceremoniously punished much more than normal. Sandra and her roommates had the place pretty festive.

 Overall it was a great trip, Sunday was getting a little crowded on the mountain so we called it early, watched some football and drove back down south. Kickass weekend everybody!