These Are Dry Days : Light Snow Means Light Business for Mammoth Mountain This Winter

Dark clouds veiled the highest peaks of the Sierra just west of Sherwin Grade on U.S. 395 out of Bishop, filtering the sunshine and hinting that maybe, at last, it might snow.

Radio station KIBS, 100.7 on the FM dial, was counting down the country-and-western top 40, and the twanging sounds of Shelby Lynne’s “Things Are Tough All Over” filled the car. It was Saturday morning of the Presidents’ Holiday weekend, normally a time when traffic would be heavy along this 30-mile ascent to Mammoth Mountain, each vehicle bearing a rack crammed with skis. But not this year--just some locals running errands and a few gamblers headed for Reno and Lake Tahoe farther up the line.

Beyond the highway’s 7,000-foot summit, Mammoth loomed in the distance, partially shrouded by the scudding clouds. It looked white, almost as though the entire mountain was skiable, but the snow report told the story: Base depth, 7 to 17 inches. Everybody’s favorite ski area was more than 90% closed . . . in the middle of February.

There were even fewer cars on California 203 into town, where only an occasional small, telltale patch of sooty snow reminded visitors that it was still winter. On the radio, KMMT-FM (at 106.3) was airing a commercial urging listeners to buy a condo at Juniper Ridge, before it became “Paradise Lost.” Homeowners, the announcer claimed, could ride Chairs 15 and 24, then “ski in and ski out when you want.”

Well, not today, anyway.

At Warming Hut II, which owner Dave McCoy built a few years ago to accommodate overflow crowds from the Main Lodge, the slopes were brown, the lifts still, and a sign was posted that read: “Closed Until More Snowfall.”

Curiously, around noon, more snow did fall, in a five-minute flurry that teased everyone before giving way to sunshine, leaving not a trace of its brief stay on the ground.

Austria Hof, not far from Warnming Hut II, had its “Vacancy” sign up and was offering, “Deluxe Rooms for $25.”

In town, the marquee at Sandy’s Ski and Sports advertised the shop’s “Pray for Snow Sale: Buy 3, Third is Free.” And Perry’s Italian Cafe and Pizzeria promoted, over the air waves, its “$3.95 lunch special, every day until the snow returns.”

Still, people were skiing on the 11,000-foot-high mountain that McCoy selected for his resort back in the 1940s because he noticed that it invariably got huge amounts of snow. Let those places near Big Bear in Southern California spend money on snow-making equipment. Surely, it would never be needed at Mammoth, where blizzard followed blizzard over the High Sierra and down the Eastern Slope.

With the ‘80s, however, came the drought--Mammoth didn’t open for the 1986-87 season until Jan. 4--and McCoy acquired some snow-making gear for use on his more popular runs near the Main Lodge. This season, his foresight is paying off, or at least paying some of the bills.

Skier turnout over the three-day holiday weekend was “considerably down,” according to Pam Murphy, Mammoth’s public relations manager. “It was about 14% of normal, but then we have only 10 of 150 runs open, so that’s not surprising. On the positive side, there weren’t many lift lines.”

Across the parking lot from the slopes, Mammoth Mountain Inn still had rooms available at 2 p.m. that Saturday. “Normally, we’d be full all weekend,” said Diane Michael, who was at the front desk. “Because of the snow shortage, we had lots of cancellations.”

Michael, who has been at Mammoth for four years, still skis on her days off. “I went up just last Thursday,” she said. “The snow that’s there is pretty good. And I’m still dating some of the ski instructors.

“We’re starting to promote our mountain bikes, though, and we’ve had guests take them over to Hot Creek for a ride instead of going skiing.”

What skiing there is can be classified as mainly beginning and intermediate, but hard-core experts have continued to show up, just to stay in shape and because they like to ski . . . regardless.

Mike Fiore drove his 4X4 up from Woodland Hills, as he has for the past 25 years, but he knocked off early in the afternoon. “My wife didn’t feel like coming out today,” he said.

Fiore, who owns a condo near the lifts, has bought a Mammoth season pass for the last 12 winters, during which he has averaged 60 to 70 days of skiing annually, but he said this year he’ll probably ski only about eight times.

“This is the first year I can remember that the entire top half of the mountain was still closed so late in the season,” said Fiore, who is a member of three Southland ski clubs--Westwood, Century City and Shredders--because he enjoys racing. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen, as far as snow goes. But you’ve got to hand it to McCoy for keeping Mammoth open. Anyone else would have closed long ago.

“I’ve heard he’s had to lay off half of his employees.”

Well, not quite.

According to Murphy, Mammoth’s spokeswoman, “150 of 350 full-time positions have been eliminated in a reorganization, with 90 terminated and 60 shifted to seasonal jobs. Many of the latter will be rehired when we get more snow.

“Snowfall at Mammoth so far this winter has been only 50 inches. Normally, we would have received about 190 inches of our average annual 335-inch total by now.

“So, Dave’s first priority will be making sure this won’t happen again. He is proposing to spend $10 million in three phases to cover 350 acres with snow-making, on all of the lower and mid-mountain slopes around to Warming Hut II.

“We hope to hear from the bank by the end of the month on the first phase. It would involve spending about $5 million to $7 million for snow-making on 150 acres with 35 runs served by seven lifts, from Chair 11 over to Chair 2.”

Mammoth has operated continuously since last Nov. 29, although on a limited basis. In the past, it has frequently remained open until July 4, an unlikely occurrence this year. With Easter on March 31, the 1990-91 ski season would seem to be approaching the end of its short, unhappy life in the Eastern Sierra.

Nearby June Mountain, which McCoy bought in 1986, closed last Monday, but a sign on the bottom tower of the J1 lift added this encouraging note: “See You When It Snows.”

The town of June Lake, about 20 miles north of here, is also in the economic doldrums, according to Elaine Logue, co-owner of Ernie’s Tackle and Ski Shop for the past 17 years, who said: “This winter has been horrible, the worst ever.”

Asked what she planned to do now that June Mountain had closed and both June and Gull lakes were still frozen, Logue said: “We’ll probably still stay open four or five hours a day. Some of the people in town will be going over to Mammoth, and we’ll have ski rentals available.”

Here in Mammoth Lakes, the attention is turning toward summer.

Jeff Irons, public affairs coordinator for the town and the Mammoth Lakes Visitors Bureau, said: “We’ve just had a meeting to accentuate summer activities. We will try to make up for what we’ve lost during the winter. It has definitely not been a good winter. There are no final figures available, but the drop in tourism has affected revenue from the bed tax, meaning we’ve had to make some budget cuts.

“We’re just going to tighten our belts and try to stick it out.”

A half-hour’s drive to the south in Bishop, which is about halfway down to sea level from Mammoth’s base elevation of 8,000 feet, it’s already summer at the Bishop Country Club. Golfers were out in force over the long weekend, playing on “greens” that were more of a sand-beige color.

According to Mammoth’s Murphy, they’re liable to stay that way. “The little snow that we have gotten was so cold and dry,” she said, “that the water content was only 18%. There won’t be much runoff this spring.”

About 150 miles to the north, the situation is similar in the Tahoe Basin, where major ski resorts such as Heavenly Valley, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows have been operating primarily on slopes covered by snow-making equipment installed just recently.

The drought has been somewhat of a mixed blessing there, especially on the Nevada side of the lake. Casino operators have traditionally been skeptical of how much gambling is done by skiers in their off-slope hours, and they would much rather have U.S. 50 over Echo Summit open and clear instead of blocked by a snowstorm.

A blizzard that dumps three feet of snow sends skiers into ecstasy, but gamblers back to their warm TV sets . . . and casino bosses to the bank.