Pete Thomas Outdoors

Mammoth Mountain closing in on record snowfall season

**Friday afternoon update: Mammoth has surpassed its record; as of 2 p.m. the resort had recieved a season-total of 589 inches, with more falling and on the way.

With snow falling again Wednesday at Mammoth Mountain, and more expected over the next few days, the question is no longer whether the Eastern Sierra resort will realize a record snowfall level for a single season, but when that will occur.

As of Wednesday morning Mammoth had received 540 inches of the white stuff for the 2010-11 season, with 112 inches having fallen so far in March. Up to a foot was expected by day's end. That'd bring the total to 552 inches.

Since Mammoth began keeping records in 1969-70, the top season was 2005-06, when 578 inches (or 48 feet) fell on the resort's slopes. Mammoth didn't reach that number until May, after receiving 118 inches in April.

A new record could be set before the end of March, possibly before or during this weekend. Snow is in the forecast through Saturday, and again Tuesday. If the record isn't set by then, another storm is expected Friday, April 1.

No fooling.

-- Pete Thomas

Mammoth photo courtesy of Peter Morning

Twitter: @Pete_Thomas

Roads into Yosemite closed because of snow, debris

** Tuesday update: Roads remained closed as of 10 a.m. Tuesday

Heavy snow, mudslides and downed trees and power lines have forced the temporary closure of all roads leading into Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada.

A park media release stated that nearly four feet of snow fell during a 24-hour period in the Yosemite Valley, Wawona and Crane Flat areas. Highways 41 (Wawona Road), 120 (Big Oak Road), and 140 (El Portal Rd.). were closed Monday morning.

Highway 14o outside of the park between El Portal and Mid Pines was closed by Caltrans because of storm-caused debris and downed power lines. Badger Pass Road and Hetch Hetchy Road also are closed.

Assessments are being made regularly and prospective visitors are urged to call (209) 372-0200 for recorded updates regarding roads within the park; and to dial (800) 427-7623 for information about roads outside the park.

A winter storm warning was still in effect Monday morning.

-- Image courtesy of Yosemite

Mammoth Mountain releases opening-day video footage

For those who were unable to make it to Mammoth Mountain for its opener Thursday, below is a video released today by the staff:



Conditions were the best for an opening day in years at the Eastern Sierra resort, thanks to early snow and cold temperatures favorable to spread machine-blown snow.

In fact, this could be an incredible Thanksgiving holiday weekend in a lot of places. The Lake Tahoe area and Colorado's Rocky Mountains also have received abundant early powder.

Even Southern California resorts are shaping up. Mountain High in Wrightwood opened Thursday and Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake will open Saturday. Barring a long and unseasonal heat wave, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be white just about everywhere with a chair lift.

-- Pete Thomas

Twitter: @Pete_Thomas

It's beginning to look a lot like winter at Mammoth Mountain

Update from the newly-whitened Mammoth Mountain: On Tuesday about four inches fell at the main lodge, which is at 8,900 feet. Much more presumably fell at the higher runs.

Some of that melted quickly but another 2-4 inches fell Tuesday night, thickening the blanket on the woolly mammoth behind the main lodge. More snow showers are expected tonight, above 7,500 feet, and another slightly warmer system will move in Thursday.

Though the snow might not last, snowboarders have been making the most of what's on the ground, as you can see by the video posted below.

-- Pete Thomas

  

 

Dominica's 'Whale Whisperer' shares remarkable story

Andrew Armour, who runs Kubuli Watersports on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has been called the "Whale Whisperer" because of his ability to communicate with sperm whales, particularly a young male named "Scar."

"Once I'm in the water I try to reach them acoustically by making this noise in the water, and it's the same noise all the time so they know it's me," he says. "So I'm talking to them all the time in the water, and they start coming."

To be sure, had Herman Melville been to Dominica and swum with its whales, he might have had trouble finding the inspiration to write the classic novel, "Moby Dick."

Perhaps 200 of the fabled cetaceans utilize the surrealistically blue realm beyond the island. None has expressed ferocity toward humans or bitten the leg from a tyrannical (and fictional) captain.

On the contrary, as people such as Armour have learned, these great leviathans, once hunted mercilessly around the world, are docile and at times even seem friendly toward people.

"The whales come to us, make friends with us, and interact with us," says Peter G. Allinson, a Baltimore doctor who has made several trips to Dominica, which is between the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

"The best encounter is when the whales are socializing among themselves and they'll come over and play with us," Allinson adds. "A couple of them will rub up against you and try to get you to rub them, and some of them roll over on their backs and let you rub their bellies. It's quite interesting."

Allinson's images have appeared in National Geographic magazine and won photo contests. He does not distribute his photos but, as a supporter of the Save the Whales organization, the doctor allowed their use for this story hoping it'll raise awareness that all whales "are very intelligent and very friendly animals, and they should not be hunted."

Images captured recently by professional photographers also have surfaced, on various websites, and suddenly the whales of Dominica are no longer a secret.

"The secret is now coming out," Armour says. "And it's coming out in a sense that this is the best place to see sperm whales, this close to North America."

This is disconcerting to scientists, however. They say a budding and largely unregulated "swim-with" program might be harmful to the whales. "These interactions alter the normal daily behavior pattern of not only the animal which is interacted with but also all of its family members as a result," says Shane Gero, a researcher from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Armour, who closely works with researchers but also runs a whale-watching business, acknowledges that regulations are needed but adds: "My strategy with them has always been to let them want to be with me. The thing is to not let youngsters get too far away from the family group. In this way we have noticed a minimal change in the behavior of the group as a unit."

Eastern Sierra trout opener always a big story for anglers

Saturday marks the beginning of the Eastern Sierra general trout-fishing season, and thousands of anglers from Southern California will be on hand to enjoy the region's most festive day.

Unfortunately, this also marks the first opener for me as the former outdoors reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and I have other plans and will not be attending.

But fond memories are piled inside my brain after covering perhaps 20 of these remarkable rites of spring.

I recall ice-fishing with numb feet one year at Lake Sabrina (and loving it!), and out-fishing all others another year on a blustery parcel of Crowley Lake shoreline (very unusual for me to out-fish anyone).

The most lasting impressions were made by happy children as they reeled in wriggling trout, or toted stringers up the docks, or used long, sharp knives to help their fathers' clean and gut their slimy catches.

This tradition has outlasted recessions and high gas prices. It remains popular despite what you see--or no longer see--in fast-shrinking modern-era newspapers.

Back in another era, the newspaper I worked for would send a photographer with me and play up the opener for what it represents: the ushering in of a new fishing season by families and friends, and introducing children to the majestic Sierra wilderness.

Some of the children I interviewed back then--I always tried to get a kid's perspective--will bring their kids to this year's opener, which spans the scenic 100-mile stretch from Bishop to Bridgeport.

This could be a colder throwback type of opener, as wintry weather is still lingering. There will be lots of snow in some areas, so there will be snowmen built and snowballs thrown among the early arrivals killing time before the first legal day of fishing.

On Saturday, someone, probably at one of the Twin Lakes in Bridgeport or at Bridgeport Reservoir or at Convict Lake, will land a double-digit whopper and earn bragging rights for having caught the day's biggest fish.

But that's not the most important aspect of opening day. It's just being there. I know several families and groups of friends who have been carrying on this tradition for more than 25 years, and a few who have done so for 40 years.

One of my former colleagues, photographer Thomas Kelsey, emailed today to alert me that his group is gearing up for its 27th annual adventure.

My tradition was to file my advance story then drive up two days early, on a Thursday, and spend those days--before my workday began on Saturday--fishing the few waters that are open year-round, with friends such as Carrie Wilson, Shawn Arnold, Joe Trgo, Marlon Meade and Dave Strege, my former counterpart at the Orange County Register.

Most of us would stay in Bishop on Friday and enjoy the press party staged so graciously the night before each opener by the Bishop Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. We'd rub elbows and sip beer and wine with local residents, fisheries biologists, outfitters and community leaders.

My opening days were spent doing a little fishing, if possible, then driving from fishing hole to fishing hole, looking for big fish and the stories behind them.

Unfortunately, though, times are changing and outdoors reporters at newspapers are an endangered species. Strege got laid off via telephone the day after covering the 2008 opener. My walking papers were delivered last Dec. 18.

The good news, however, is that when I do attend my next opener--and I will attend future openers--I won't have to take notes and can do more fishing. Just maybe I can even earn bragging rights, although as my friends will attest, that prospect is highly unlikely.

-- Pete Thomas

Photos from last year's opening weekend by Pete Thomas

Annual Fly Fishing Show arrives this weekend in Pasadena

The Fred Hall Show, which catered largely to conventional anglers, had its big run last week in Long Beach. Now fly fishermen are looking forward to the Fly Fishing Show this weekend at the Pasadena Center.

It's an ideal manner by which to kick-off the spring season or, as the event website says, to cure your cabin fever. The gathering will include representatives from prime destinations around the world, as well as renowned casters, fly-tiers, tackle manufacturers, authors and artists.

Those considering booking a trip will have plenty to choose from, as reps from as far south as Argentina and as far north as Alaska, including many points between and beyond, will be on hand. Tarpon, peacock bass, steelhead, barramundi, roosterfish... take your pick.

About 80 commercial exhibitors will fill the Pasadena Center's exhibition hall. There will be two casting ponds for demonstrations and instructors include Mac Brown, Jason Borger and Ed Engle.

Door prizes include tackle giveaways and trips for two to Pesca Maya on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula; Four Rivers Fishing Company in Montana; Picacho Lodge in Chilean Patagonia, and Restigouche River Lodge in New Brunswick, Canada.

Fred Hall Show is first great fishing expedition of the season

If you live in Southern California and are a fisherman, your most anticipated excursion of the spring season does not result in a single catch, or even a cast, and it involves no getting back to nature whatsoever.

It's a visit to the Long Beach Convention Center for the annual Fred Hall Show, which runs Wednesday through Sunday and, as usual, has lured thousands from within the industry.

For many, this great gathering of destination reps and tackle and boat manufacturers affords a chance to rub elbows with past acquaintances, and to bump into old friends who likewise have become show regulars. I can't wait to stop by the booths of some of the friends I made over the years: Shawn Arnold of Fish Taco Chronicles; Phil Friedman of 976-TUNA; John Ireland of Rancho Leonero Resort; Jared Smith of Parchers Resort in the Eastern Sierra; Seth Bone of Kingfisher Charters in Sitka, Alaska, and many more.

There is no beating the crowds at the Fred Hall Show, which last season, despite the global recession, experienced an increase in attendance as more than 200,000 had passed through convention hall doors throughout the five days.

But as is the case with the Eastern Sierra during the general trout-fishing opener, which this year falls on April 24, you'd be disappointed if there wasn't a large crowd. Hope to see you at both events.

(Note: A smaller version of the Fred Hall show is scheduled March 24-28 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.)

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of Fred Hall Show courtesy of Fred Hall Show

What better time than now for Chris Farley's take on El Nino?

As a follow-up to an earlier report on California's storms and specifically on the ridiculous amount of powder layering the slopes at Mammoth Mountain, I'm happy to share a hilarious video the Eastern Sierra resort has posted, recycling the late comedian Chris Farley's take on the responsible party: El Nino.

As for the week-long storm total, Mammoth reported about 55 inches of new snow as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, with much more expected before the weekend.

Though El Nino promises to deliver much more snow this winter, the weekend forecast calls for little or no precipitation, so expect the top of the mountain to open for the first time since the storms arrived on Sunday--and expect the view and the conditions to blow your mind.

-- Pete Thomas

California storms create epic conditions for skiers, snowboarders

So much for the drought, and so much for man-made snow.

The series of storms sweeping through California will put the all-important Sierra Nevada snow-pack well above normal and--more important for skiers, snowboarders and resort operators--deposit enough natural snow to keep the landscape white throughout the season.

The accompanying photos were emailed today from Mammoth Mountain in the Eastern Sierra. Mammoth has a base of 7-12 feet and received two feet of snow during the last 24 hours.

Resorts in the Lake Tahoe area and Southern California also are getting inundated, which is good except there are bound to be tragic stories of search-and-rescue missions and fatal avalanches over the next week or so. That never fails so keep that in mind if you're tempted to stray beyond resort boundaries for some back-country powder. Have fun, but don't become a statistic.

-- Pete Thomas

Photos courtesy of Mammoth Mountain