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Mammoth 2013

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#1 ·
The 2013 Mammoth season is about to start winding down.
However, there are some significant trail updates to some classic trails in preparation for the upcoming Kamikaze Bike Games.
Skid Marks, Bullet, and Follow Me have seen significant trail work due to their inclusion in the enduro race course.
You'll find several sections significantly easier on all trails, but the overall speed of the trails have been greatly improved.
Skid Marks is now stupid fast if you want it to be with minimal worry about high speed pinch flats-feels like a totally different trail with speeds WAY up from where they used to be. Before you used to worry about pinch flats, now you just know you should be going faster.
Similar story on Follow Me-some sections are easier now, but just add speed and the whole trail comes together really well. Speeds are way up now. Cool bridge ramp thing now to eliminate collision potential with riders on Paper Route.
Bullet now has official go arounds for the enduro course and word is they'll stay part of the trail and be signed for the future. Rock gardens and stunts are still there if you want them. Main rock garden is significantly cleaner though.
Overall these trails "flow" better and are more consistent in speed for most of the way down.
So, some people will say they are easier, some will say faster, but most will probably say better after a few runs down them.
If you've been riding Mammoth for years and have a fondness for high speed interrupted with uber tech, you may be a bit bummed. Just add or maintain speed though and the trail work is legit.
Basically if the updates to Chainsmoke broke your heart, you may feel the pain again.
What I have noticed is that more riders are now trying the "difficult" trails. Chainsmoke is way busier now than it has been in years.
I expect Bullet and Follow Me will soon see lots of repeat riders.
 
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#6 ·
Mammoth does not allow free access, at least that is what the signs all over the mountain state. If you only want to ride the trails, you are supposed to purchase the "trails only" pass. I did not see any enforcement but I did hear radio chatter about trail poaching (while in line next to a lift operator) and they wanted to send somebody to check it out. I don't really know if that happened.

I look at it this way - you are on their property with permission by purchasing a ticket. The money goes towards the development and maintenance costs of the mountain. It is just plain bad karma if you are trespassing and poaching.

There are other trails that are not part of the mountain and those are free. Any on the main require paid access.
 
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#13 ·
I look at it this way - you are on their property with permission by purchasing a ticket. The money goes towards the development and maintenance costs of the mountain. It is just plain bad karma if you are trespassing and poaching.

There are other trails that are not part of the mountain and those are free. Any on the main require paid access.
+1

Pay up if you want to ride the park trails.
 
#2 ·
T
Basically if the updates to Chainsmoke broke your heart, you may feel the pain again.
What I have noticed is that more riders are now trying the "difficult" trails. Chainsmoke is way busier now than it has been in years.
I expect Bullet and Follow Me will soon see lots of repeat riders.
ChainSmoke was my favorite....when you pinned that trail you earned it....sad how they dumbed it down...even riding the Lava flow was fun and challenging picking a line before they bulldozed that flat.
 
#4 ·
They have not as of last weekend. I don't know if they will for the games. There were preping the gondola lift out of the village to Discovery Lodge. I didn't see them running any of the lifts on the hill other than the gondola, Chair 2, and the Discovery Zone chair. One of the lift crew told me there were plans to open a chair on the village side permanently next year but I couldn't tell you if that was a legitamate fact or just talk.
 
#7 ·
If you're pedaling around before they open I think its pretty unlikely you'll see anyone. I'm not sure what they could say even if you did since there's no place to buy a ticket that early.

If you're out there after 9am though a pedal pass is only $15...
 
#14 ·
thanks for update.
dam, for all my years of riding mammoth, i still don't think i have ridden follow me (always hit up flow-pipeline or bullet to end at the village), sounds like i need to do it. also, what is juniper like?

chainsmoke is real flowy now, i really like that trail.
i probably shouldn't say this, but the last run of my 3 day trip i poached dc10. thre is no reason why it should be closed, trail was the same as always and in fine shape:)
 
#15 ·
Lots of people hitting DC10 currently even though the closed sign is up.
Not quite sure why DC10 is marked as closed still.
Juniper is the best section of XC trail on the mountain. Just steep enough to keep the speeds up with fun hits all over the place. Trail is in the trees and has a nice mix of rocks, roots, turns and real dirt.
Follow Me is/was "Bullet Light". No extended rock gardens, nice mix of speed and classic Mammoth loose and steep turns in roots and dust. Some small drops and line options, but overall a fun old school trail. It never sees much traffic once the the season gets going because it's a pedal to get to. That will likely change with the updates.
 
#16 ·
Some cool updates to lower Flow-the part you'd hit if you opt to stay on Flow after the drop instead of cutting over to Pipeline.
The steep and super loose litter box below the right hand paver turn is now high speed ramps and pavers. Lots of wood and lots of pavers instead of all that speed killing deep pumice leading in to the wallride.
 
#17 ·
Wow, even shotgun has been hit by the sanitization fairy. Not sure if its new management or what, but I wonder what the motivation is for suddenly tinkering with trails that have basically been untouched for a decade.

I'd wish they would just focus on maintaining the trails instead of changing them. The pumice was mighty deep this weekend. I think I saw about 5 people eat it on the new sand trap on Beach Cruiser.

Also overheard after 9/15 its Fri-Sun only, and only ch. 2 and the shuttle.
 
#18 ·
Anyone riding on Monday? Planning to run blacks but friend had to dropout so would be glad to get some company.

Pissed big time about closures of Bullit and Follow Me. I guess mostly due to festival since two are end right at where festivities are.
 
#20 ·
Bullet and Follow Me are seeing lots of riders, but everyone either cuts out to Paper Route to Flow or Big Ring/Shotgun to avoid the "closures".
Flow is in the best shape in years-hit lower Flow instead of going left to Pipeline.
Best run for quick laps in the park currently(IMO) is Velocity-Twilight Zone-Chainsmoke.
Lower Chainsmoke is so fast if you jump in to the big wood ramp and stay off the brakes after making the turnoff from twilight Zone.
 
#21 ·
That's the plan, run some loops on chair 2. We did nice runs on Bullit last time we where there, but those changes to fast looks nice. Never managed rock garden all the way before. Now seems much more doable.

PerfectZero, I think I seen you there. Been riding blues with my wife two days, so will stick to Velocity/twilight tomorrow. White Pivot Phoenix.
 
#26 ·
Rebuilt section of flow sure is fast but gets boring as well. At least there was little drop at the end before, now feels just like 7 bridges. Best part of Flow is very top IMHO, the one that have bypass option.
Still bummed they had many closures on major holidays, but hope for better next year.
 
#30 ·
Yeah that is pretty fun. If you are pinning it it kinda feels like a small moto track. It would be cool if they made real lips on those things. I can't figure out why they'll put serious lips on some jumps and they say "oh lips are too dangerous" on other jumps. The bottom of that trail could be better then pipeline potentially since you wouldn't have to pedal until you cough up a lung to hit a 40ft double.
 
#31 ·
indeed. how big is the 2nd black gap on pipeline i wonder, finally hitting it now. basically hit the berm as fast as you can, descend alittle past a bump, then pedal like a mad man. i skip the first black ramp cause its just more pedeling, so now its blue-black-black for me.
 
#32 ·
Just finished two days in Mammoth. Hadn't been in three years, things definitely improved since then.

Gotta say though: I wish their web site listed all the trail closures for the Kamikaze Games in advance. At various times in the last two days Kamikaze, Shock Treatment, Richter, Velocity, Follow Me, Paper Route, Big Ring, Brake Through, Twilight, Jills Jumps, Bullet, and Shotgun have been closed. If I had known so much would be closed I would not have visited this week.

On the bright side: they're actually working on race trails.

The altitude here pwns me.

Gotta get back here earlier in the year in 2014!
 
#33 ·
Yeah, the trail closures sucked and communication was poor at best.
Lots of pissed off and bummed out riders lately.
I'm all for the Kamikaze Games and the return to racing at Mammoth, but the mountain did a horrible job of communicating and managing the trail experience for non racing visitors.
The mountain could have done a way better job of communicating and managing expectations. They really should be updating their trails status daily with the amount of work and closures going on.
Between the race prep and the general maintenance in the last month, you could have easily blown a vacation if you timed it wrong.
I went up today for a few quick laps and it wasn't worth the effort with the trail closures and lack of accurate trail info. High winds didn't help, as many of the usual options for high wind days were not open.
 
#35 ·
Just posted today.
Lame-should have got the word out earlier.
It's also not accurate with all the race practice going on.
Kamikaze was closed for much of the day so there was no direct way to access Upper Shock Treatment.


Trail Report

Kamikaze Bike Games trail closures

9/4-9/8: Follow Me to Brake Through, Lower Paper Route closed at Juniper, Lakes Trail closed at Juniper, Timber Ridge closed at Juniper, Bullet, Follow Me.

9/5-9/7: Lincoln Express from Skid Marks to Follow Me

9/5-9/6: Gravy Train from Bearing Straits to Kamikaze, Richter, Brake Through

9/7: Big Ring, Paper Route, Uptown, Downtown, Shotgun

9/8: Skid Marks, Lincoln Express

Enjoy the Games at Canyon Lodge!
 
#36 ·
The wind today on Off the Top was comical, and I got a little sideways gondola bonus funtime on my ride up.

To Mammoth's credit the people staffing the booth by the Adventure Center were really helpful as always in suggesting re-routes around the closures. I really do get the feeling that most of the staff there give a crap that the guests have a good experience. Not the case everywhere!

Brake Through: more pedaling than I remember from three years ago. <pant pant pant>
 
#37 ·
Gondola stopped running today.
2 more weekends of Chair 2 and that's it.
Kamikaze games took a toll on a few trails, but the riding is absolutely killer right now.
Full on blown out kitty litter dust fest, but with the rider traffic dropping off you can do more in a few hours now than you could in a half day a few weeks ago.
Follow Me is blown out but it's stupid fast. All the updates are positive in my opinion. Trail is faster now with a good mix of old skool DH to keep you honest.
Bullet is smoother than it has been in YEARS. The Kamikaze games prep buffed it out. Rare to see it in good shape this late in the season.
Lips are rounded off on Recoil, Twilight Zone, and Chainsmoke so you can go full speed in to the faces of jumps and just go for distance and speed.
Skidmarks to Bullet + Follow Me has seen more traffic in the last month than it has in several seasons.
Coming up to ride Chair 2 for the last weekends is totally worth it in my opinion.
Also, now is the time to start riding up Off The Top to Skidmarks for long pedal days. No downhill traffic + bus shuttles and cool temps make pedaling around the mountain for a full day worth it.
Got 60+ lift days in this season and now looking at a month+ of uncrowded pedal access.
Mammoth 2013 was awesome.
 
#38 ·
Must be nice Norm! We thought about coming up this weekend but in light of the snow and it being a long drive for just a weekend, looks like we are done for this year. I can't claim 60 days but we did get in 15 days this year. We had a great time over the Labor Day week and enjoyed the Kamikaze games. Lots of swag too... Once I figure out how to do some editing for the GoPro, I will post a video clip of a deer running right in front of my son at the last jump of Twilight. I thought they were going to hit!
 
#39 ·
Riding the bike park is all I want to do once the lifts are open.
Being local makes it easy.
About the deer, similar experience for me on the last jump on Chainsmoke-had 2 run across the top of the table right in front of me. Lucky I saw them coming before I was on the face and could tap the brakes and go right. I was in the air while they were just exiting left.
There were a bunch of deer hanging out on that area of that mountain late in the season. Heard a few stories about close calls.
 
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