Weekend Escape: Tamarack Lodge : Mammoth Cozy : A scenic hideaway for cross-country skiers, with gourmet meals and miles of pristine trails

With my boyfriend facing the trauma of a 40th birthday, we left town.

Is there a better way to beat the blues than pausing at the top of a snow-packed bowl with your cross-country ski tips pointed in a death-defying angle downhill?

We arrived at Tamarack Lodge, in Mammoth Lakes, in the middle of a snowstorm. After picking up our key from the log-cabin lodge, we tromped through knee-deep snow to our tiny studio cabin about 30 yards from where we parked, toting bags and our ski gear.

While most skiers in Mammoth head to the lift lines for downhill slopes, Tamarack provides cross-country enthusiasts with more than 25 miles of maintained tracks, cutting through forests, skirting various lakes and opening into spectacular mountain views.

Nestled in the hillside overlooking the Lower Twin Lakes, the lodge is a warm, friendly place with a roaring fire in the stone hearth. Sitting more than 8,000 feet high in the Eastern Sierras and almost three miles from town, Tamarack feels like a world away--no televisions or radios. Nor is there ever any real reason to leave--you can cook in the cabins, bringing groceries when you arrive, or eat sumptuous meals at the lodge dining room, a short ski or walk from the cabins.

A word of warning--if you do plan to eat at the lodge, make dinner reservations when you reserve your lodging accommodations. (We arrived on a Saturday in March, the dreaded birthday, only to find that the Lakefront Restaurant was completely booked. The maitre d’ re-evaluated the seating capacity and arranged a late-night dinner for us when she realized she faced two guests who were about to melt down.)

Little did we know that chef Steve Mejia had wooed and won most serious diners in the area, including the downhill-ski crowd, by offering such fare (with soup or salad and veggie) as house-smoked pheasant linguine ($23.50), rosemary-and-walnut-crusted venison medallions with a sun-dried cherry and green-peppercorn sauce ($26.50) and rack of New Zealand lamb with red-onion confit and a Merlot-rosemary demi-glace ($26.50). The food is rich and mouth-wateringly satisfying. Perfect after a long day skiing. Or after a five-hour drive from Los Angeles.

Tamarack’s ski school will rent equipment and provide lessons for adults as well as children. They also offer skating skis, the latest fad to hit the trails.

On short skating skis, you propel yourself forward much the same as you do with ice skates, balancing your weight from one leg to another. Your toes point out, creating a huge V-shape with the skis. We tried them at dusk our second night. The initial feeling? Ungainly. Worst-case scenario? Your feet slide off in opposite directions as you do a split in the trail.

At Tamarack, once you arrive, you need never use your car again (though we did go to town for a much-appreciated massage). The trails start right behind the lodge and cabins, so you walk out the door, put your skis on and take off, heading for the numerous snow-covered lakes at the foot of the mountains. The trails--all in Inyo National Forest and groomed until April 15--are well-marked, with colored tags indicating which are advanced, intermediate and beginner. This way, novice skiers won’t be surprised by a steep, twisty, tree-riddled course.

The countryside is dotted with lodgepole and ponderosa pines whose limbs are usually heavy with a coat of snow during the winter. At points, the trees knit together overhead, making a cathedral-like dome over the trail. Elsewhere, you emerge from thick forest into breathtaking vistas of mountains and lakes.

*

When we first skied up to Lake Mary, about a two-mile trek from the lodge, we were startled to hear strains of the “Brandenburg Concerto” in the midst of the forest. As we got closer and closer to the lake, the music became louder. Rounding a bend, we came across the Lake Mary Cafe--a real-live restaurant that serves hot chocolate, as well as food, and can be reached only by skiers.

Unfortunately, not knowing about this place, we’d brought our lunch in knapsacks. When we asked if we could buy cups of steaming cocoa and eat our sandwiches in the empty cafe, we were brusquely turned out. (For us, it was the only rude note in an otherwise pleasant stay.) So we selected a large log by the lake, sheltered from the wind, and devoured our lunch while the chickadees landed at our feet. This season, a second cafe--Lake Pokonobe--is open for winter wanderers.

Tamarack was our first experience with meticulously groomed trails. Before, on other ski trips, we had either followed in the crude tracks left by previous skiers, or we’d cut our own trail, which can be a laborious task in fresh, deep snow. Tamarack’s trails allow you to think more about your form than staying on your feet. We also set our own course, departing from the trails to explore and to practice S-shaped telemark turns. Whether or not you stay on the tracks, you are required to pay for a daily pass. (The full-day pass for Tamarack guests is $12; half-day, $8; and twilight, $7. Seniors and youths, from 11 to 17, pay $10 for a full day; $7 for half-day; and $5 for twilight. Children under 10 ski free. Outsiders pay slightly more.)

Our favorite trips were the ones that took us to the farthest points from the lodge, such as Horseshoe Lake and Lake George, at 9,008 feet.

At the end of the day, we would wend our way back to our cabin, which we upgraded on our second day to a one-bedroom with a small living room and fireplace. There, overlooking the lakes, we built large fires, cooked up spaghetti dinners, dried our ski boots and mapped out our next excursion. Although the kitchens come equipped with basic pots and pans, remember to bring your own cooking essentials, such as salt, pepper and oil.

Tamarack can accommodate 110 guests, 30 in the lodge and the rest in a cluster of cabins that all have kitchens, private baths and gas heat. Some have fireplaces or wood-burning stoves. Our first somewhat-cramped cabin had neither. We figure where there’s snow, there ought to be fire. So we switched. It was well worth the $21 extra per night--our second cabin had a comfortable kitchen with a table overlooking the lake, a living room replete with Scandinavian wood furniture and a comfy sofa. Best yet, it had a fireplace as well as a bathtub.

Our lodging included breakfasts at the Lakefront Restaurant. Every morning, we skied to the lodge, unstrapped our gear, and went in for a hearty meal of, say, silver-dollar buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup, or thick wedges of citrus French toast with Grand Marnier fresh berry compote, or the three-egg Sierra omelet, filled with bell peppers, ham, onions and cheese. Facing the prospect of vigorous exercise, and perhaps, face-biting cold weather, we rationalized eating enormous quantities and thoroughly enjoyed every breakfast.

Built in 1924, Tamarack Lodge has passed through various hands before landing with its current owners, Carol and David Watson, nine years ago. The Watsons launched a $1.5-million restoration and modernization effort shortly after they bought the place, and today they can laugh about the first winter when it didn’t snow until Jan. 5 and the time the pipes froze and they had to bring guests supermarket bottled water to brush their teeth. When calling for lodging reservations, be sure to ask about special packages--information that’s not always volunteered. We were able to switch to lower rates on arrival and ended up staying longer than we had intended. It turns out that nothing makes a person feel quite as youthful as skiing six hours amid pine-dotted mountains and chiseling telemark turns upon an untouched white slope.

Budget for Two

Gas: $54.72

Studio cabin, one night: $114.45

One-bedroom, two nights: $305.20

Trail passes: $64.00

Dinner, Lakefront; $74.00

Groceries: $43.32

Massages (for two): $90.00

Total: $745.69

Tamarack Lodge Resort, P.O. Box 69, Twin Lakes Road, Mammoth Lakes, Calif. 93546; tel. (619) 934-2442, fax (619) 934-2281.