Mammoth Is Open, But How Is The Snow? I Drove There To Find Out
I was shoving a delicious bite of a breakfast burrito down my throat when I heard a fellow skier ask a Mammoth Mountain employee what time the lifts open.
“Lifts open at 8:30,” the friendly employee replied.
I looked down at my phone to check the time. It was 8:28 a.m. I had been taking my time with the massive burrito, thinking that the lifts spun at 9, but when I saw that there was hardly a line for Mammoth’s Chair 2, I scarfed the remaining potatoes, eggs, and bacon down like a ravenous animal.
Hurrying out onto the hard-packed, groomed snow, I knew that the conditions were going to be firm, but I didn’t care. This was my first day of the season, and I had driven nearly four hours to be there. I was going to make the most of it.
Keep reading for my November 30, 2025, conditions report from Mammoth Mountain, California.
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M
Groomed Glory
Riding up Chair 2, otherwise known as The Stump Alley Express, I was blasted by those classic, strong winds of the Sierra. “I’m back at Mammoth,” I thought to myself with a chuckle.
I hopped off Chair 2 and immediately skied down the short connector trail to the bottom of Chair 3, also known as Face Lift Express. I figured Saddle Bowl would be a suitable trail to make my first lift-served turns of the season. In addition, I was skiing on a new pair of Countach 98s from Moment Skis, and wanted to see how well they could hold an edge on firm, early-season snow.
I’ve skied Saddle Bowl in better conditions, but I was blown away by what Mammoth’s grooming and operations teams have accomplished. The surface was slick in some parts, but there was corduroy and very edge-able snow in others. I couldn’t open up my speed entirely, but I made enough satisfying turns to give my legs that familiar early-season soreness. I was hungry for more.
There were some patchy spots on south-facing and lower-elevation aspects, but I was shocked by how good everything looked and skied. For context, Lake Tahoe ski resorts, just a few hours North, are sitting almost entirely void of snow, which is precisely why I woke up at 4 a.m. to drive to Mammoth in the first place.
Meanwhile, Mammoth had 40+ groomed trails and 10 lifts open. I really couldn’t ask for much more.
As the low sun angle slowly crept out, Mammoth’s groomed terrain really began to shine. I found the best turns, and arguably the best snow of the day overall, on World Cup, the wide race course that connects Saddle Bowl to the base of Chair 23.
Tap or click below to watch. Keep reading for more about the conditions at Mammoth.
Video: November 30, 2025 Groomer Skiing at Mammoth Mountain
Matt Lorelli
Adventure Skiing On Chair 23
Mammoth’s Chair 23 is one of the best lifts for off-piste skiing and riding in the world. If you didn’t know that before, now you do.
While much of Chair 23’s terrain was open on November 30th, skiers found out quickly that it wasn’t for the faint of heart. The snow was firm, and the rocks were plentiful. I made the mistake of following three skiers down one of the Dropout Chutes on the skier’s right of Chair 23, and paid the price. I found two or three wind-buffed pockets in the tight terrain that made me smile (more on that later), but I ultimately found rocks, hard snow, and teeth-clenching turns. Whoops.
As I got to the bottom of the chute, I couldn’t help but notice the whoops and hollers of a few skiers who had descended just to my right. I followed their tracks and saw that they had traversed below Dropout Chutes from Cornice Bowl. Big rooster tails of snow were spraying with every turn that they made. Then, it hit me—wind buff. The winds were absolutely whipping all day long, and these savvy skiers had found the perfect pocket of wind-deposited snow. I hurried my ass back onto Chair 23 and watched as dozens of skiers, who had presumably come to the same realization I had, ripped their way down the smooth, wind-buff delight.
Skiing their same tracks from Cornice Bowl, I peered down at the terrain in front of me. Could it really be as good as it seemed from afar? I could tell there was wind-deposited snow, but how deep was it? How would these new skis hold up in the variable terrain and snow? I turned to a skier next to me and said, “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
Instant bliss. Each turn offered that perfect balance between edge hold and float. I gained speed with each turn, trusting that I wouldn’t smash into a rock or get thrown off by an underlying hard pack layer. The snow was truly that classic Mammoth Mountain wind buff that skiers have been salivating over for decades. It was everything I had hoped for.
I took three more wind-buffed laps on Chair 23 before my legs started to beg me for a break. I stopped to remind myself, “This is your first day of the season. No need to go all-out. You were only supposed to ski groomers today anyway. Those laps were a bonus.”
I have to give myself these little pep talks throughout the ski season when my brain stops listening to my body. Anybody else?
I attempted to record one of my wind-buff laps on Chair 23, but I completely goofed on the camera angle. I pointed the camera lens too far down in my excitement (it was my first day of the season, gimme a break).
I’ve posted the video below so you can see the buff, but again, I apologize for the frustrating angle!
Video: Chair 23 Wind Buff, November 30, 2025
Skiing Is Alive and Well
I’m an anxious, sometimes paranoid guy. When nearly every ski resort west of the Mississippi River delayed its opening day, it freaked me out.
It turned out that driving 3.5 hours each way for four hours of uninterrupted, liftline-free skiing at Mammoth on November 30, 2025, was all I needed to calm my nerves. I literally felt a weight fall off my shoulders as I made my first turns of the season.
Here was my mantra for the day (I don’t usually do mantras, but whatever): “Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Skiing is back. Everything is going to be okay.“
I’ll need to wait a few more weeks before winter shows up in Tahoe, and while that will definitely hurt, the pain is eased thanks to Mammoth. I’m already thinking about making a trip back if Mother Nature keeps stiffing us up here.
To answer the question in the title—Yes, Mammoth is open, and the snow is good enough. What more do you need to know?
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