Winter Celebrations

Imagine piling a dozen of your friends into a multi-car caravan and driving up to a cabin on a snowy mountain for a weekend. Pure chaos, you'd presume? Yes...and fun too! That is what I was up to last weekend, except I was actually with 13 friends who crammed into a 3-SUV caravan up to a townhome in Mammoth Lakes for an extended weekend.

This is an annual snow trip for us, designed to celebrate the approach of Spring and the end of Winter, at a venue still packed with snow and mountains we can speed down at unknown speeds on our respective boards or skis. Last year, 8 of us flew up to Reno for a weekend in Lake Tahoe, which is absolutely magnificent any season but particularly picturesque in the Winter. Our itinerary included three resort stops: Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Northstar. The conditions were not really favorable in terms of snow, but the days were pleasant and sunny, and we managed to get some good runs in. I personally liked the ambiance of Northstar, with the set up of the village and its super-cool terrain park. Lake Tahoe overall was beautiful and obviously a fun place to be year round, and a good time was had by all my travel buddies.

So back to Mammoth: There is nothing to prepare one for the enormity of this mountain. This was my first time there, and I believe my first words at the sight of this monster were "Holy Crap!" This place made the parks in Tahoe seem like hills. The timing of our trip could not have been any more perfect, too: Mammoth still had a significant snow base, we arrived shortly after a snowstorm, and there were more snow showers forecasted during our stay. The conditions seemed ideal, just what we had hoped for. We ended up experiencing a very warm day, a stormy day, a very ugly snow day, and ultimately one fantastic day of epic conditions.

This weekend served more than just a ski/snowboard purpose. We were also celebrating two of our friends' birthdays, one on Saturday and the other on Monday. With that in mind, you can certainly imagine what the weekend entailed. Here's a breakdown of how each day went: Wake up early, have breakfast, start drinking, gear up, take shuttle to mountain (which was only a few miles from our lodge). By the time we arrived at the mountain, it was usually late morning and the majority of us had a pretty good buzz going by then. "Spirited" beverages are the way to go in cold locations; they keep you warm and happy. After some runs down various trails, we would break and reconvene for lunch and cocktails, then return to the slopes for more action. Quick sidenote: There are a couple of great things to point out about our trip to this alp - first, the 11 of us who snowboard and ski stayed together for the majority of the time we were at the mountain. Usually, half the group would take off to tackle the more treacherous trails (which they eventually did), but we all ended up spending some quality time with one another. Another thing about Mammoth is that it is so humongous and the runs are so long, that it provides the variety many of us crave to get our snow fix.

Following a morning and afternoon of the slopes, with drinks in hand we would shuttle back to the townhouse, change into our swimsuits, and head to the hot tub. A relaxing soak is the best way to follow several hours of boarding, with beverages, of course. The 14 of us would hang in the jacuzzi until our beer-supply-in-tow ran out. There was always a well-stocked supply of drinks waiting for us in the townhouse. This meant that the drinking would continue through dinner, through after-dinner games, dancing, and various entertaining activities we would discover, until eventually we all passed out from exhaustion and/or drunkenness. For 4 days, we would wake up the next morning and start the cycle all over again, each day brought its own set of memorable moments, but all followed the basic routine.
One night in particular shall get an honorable mention here, at the request of my pal, Nita. After our first day of boarding, we returned to the townhouse to transition into our swim clothes. By this time in the late afternoon, I was very inebriated but still functioning normally. From what I can recall, I mentioned the possibility of soreness and pain as a result of our first day's activities, so a friend offered up a prescription painkiller as a preventative measure. I gladly accepted one, as did others, and downed it immediately with a beer. We then proceeded to the hot tub where we relaxed for a bit and continued on with pre-dinner cocktails. When we returned to the townhouse, I felt a bit funny, but blamed the alcohol. I showered and got into my pajamas, and figured I could just chill out before dinner. I ended up passing out on my bed. The last thing I remember is one of my friends picking me up from the bed and escorting me to the living room couch. Another friend asked me a question, and I mumbled back a reply incoherently (neither my companions nor I have any idea what I had said) and apparently ended up passing out again right there. Yes, it was another 408Down moment.

I was then escorted back to my room, where I slumbered for a good 13 or so hours. It was still the 6 o'clock hour early that evening when this all happened, so not only did I miss dinner, but I missed a whole night of shenanigans too. I awoke the next morning hungry and feeling like crap. I had only breakfast the day before, dozens of drinks, and a painkiller. I heated up a slice of leftover pizza as an appetizer before breakfast, and avoided my customary breakfast beers that morning. I continued to feel weird throughout the morning, but after a few runs on the snowboard, I was back in the game. I made sure to reward myself with my first of many bloody marys at lunchtime, and continued the cycle of fun again, minus the analgesic, of course. I learned my lesson...maybe. Ok, not. Hey, fun times make for good stories; drunk times make for great stories! Stay tuned!

*Photos courtesy of Todd Huish (You rock, man!)