Just got back from a week down at Mammoth. It is incredible how much snow there is over there. Rather than walking down stairs to exit from the Gondola at the top of the mountain, you exit the building directly onto snow! The sign that is normally 11ft plus at the top is buried except for the last two feet of it. The skiing was incredible after it had softened up. Thursday was the first day of skiing and a Western Regional Team training day. The weather did not cooperate. It was howling out, the snow never softened and it was overcast. We spent most of the day on Chairs 10 & 2 until they closed the mountain at 3:00pm. Friday was the first day of the PSIA-Western Division Annual Spring Convention, Although it was sunny, the temperatures never climbed high enough to soften the snow, the same was true for Saturday, though there was some good chalky snow on Dave’s, Dropout and Wipeout. Sunday through Wednesday became progressively warmer and the overnight freeze with the daytime thaw created some really good corn snow. Although lift access was limited we covered some terrain as everything was filled in. Hangman’s is the easiest it had ever been. The added bonus was being able to watch the “soon to be U.S Development Team” girls practicing and trying to earn a spot on the Dev Team. Even though these girls were only 15 to 16 years old, they are ripping skiers and produce a good visual to hang onto. You can stand right along side the training course and watch them go by, lap after lap. After a great week down at Mammoth, no way are we ready to hang our skis up in the garage – we’re trying to figure out when is next time that we can get down there and do it all over again.
Tag: Richie Jameson
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Zeb’s Most Recent Eastern Sierra Adventure
NASTC guide Zeb Blais at the top of East Peak, with Mt. Gibbs in the background
Wind ripping across Dana Plateau and deposting snow on the eastern flanks of East Peak
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PSIA-W Convention
PSIA-Western Divison will be holding it’s annual convention at Mammoth April 29th to May 1st. Chris Fellows will be heading down there to present Total Skiing to the membership. Convention is an education event, where instructors from all over the state of California will assemble and participate in on-snow clinics for three days. It’s a great event, because the energy his high, everyone is game to learn and ski and you see familiar faces that you might not get to see otherwise. The event also gives the membership an opportunity to get together and get to know one another off the snow and form stronger bonds and relationships. The event will also host Mike Rogan, Mike Hafer , Richie Jameson and Robin Barnes as guest clinicians. We are proud to be members of such a strong division and organization.