Snow Sports and/or Surfing

Live shot from Mt. High base 10:30 pm 4-8-20.

Over 2' of fresh snow on those picnic tables.

 

Mammoth just tweeted a “stay home” note to all the would-be visitors including second homeowners. I can’t imagine that is enforceable, nor can I imagine it’s being observed (actually I know it’s not...)

 

Does seem hard to enforce. Nightly rentals have been curtailed through the end of may now. Anyone caught renting on Airbnb, VRBO, etc., face a fine of $1000 per night

 

Wife and I were discussing Mammoth the other night. Apparently many people seeking to refuge there, but they are limited in medical services, and only have two ventilators. So the town is desperately trying to curtail outside/extra bodies from easily overwhelming their services

 

I read somewhere this morning that Mono county has one of, if not the highest rates of infection per capita of anywhere in the state.

 

Only 1 road in I heard they are road blocked only letting in primary residents.

 

Well, if yer gonna name yer county after a disease....

I'll see myself out now.

 

2 roads in— the Mammoth Scenic Loop, aka the super volcano expressway...built just in case the volcano blocks escape to the south.

 

This morning at Mt. High:

 

Smow, snow everywhere
And no one can go play.

 

I'm guessing maybe a few employees may have done some sampling while out there driving the snowcats.

 

Ikon sent out their improved offer, an extra $50 in renewal discount, and an extra month to decide. I can stew on it until Memorial Day.

if I was confident there will be a 20-21 season I’d snap it up, $599 is a good deal if the lifts actually spin.

Alterra has to be hurting, no operating revenue and no cash from next year’s passes?

I was expecting Vail to make Mt High’s owners very wealthy this summer, but there’s no way they have the cash now.

 

Right but is that plowed in the winter/spring? It’s easy to roadblock that too

 

It’s plowed year round as it was funded to be an emergency exit. It’s really not that scenic. Not that it’s ugly but it’s mostly in the trees. And yeah it’s 2 lanes and narrow so it could be blocked if desired.

 

I’ve done a cool hike from off that road -inyo craters- but yeah not a lot to see along the drive.

 

News tonight said Mt Baldy Ski Resort is open. Weird not only because of restrictions, but I didn’t think they would still have any decent snow left. It would be sooo fun to be able to get in another day up there though

 

We cruise the scenic loop every trip on the way to our super not so secret sledding spot.

 

There are lots of cool jeep trails off that road to explore in summer too. Very volcanic, a lot of Obsidian for the rock hounds

 

Yep, done that too. Got choked in on one trail that narrowed down for only a side by side/ATV type vehicle on it. Had to do an Austin Powers to turn around because it was a very steep section. My bad for not looking at maps closer though.



Love it up there in the summer.



Now back to snow sports or surfing.

 

Alterra finally got smart and improved the Ikon Pass refund policy in case next season gets killed due to Covid. Went ahead and dropped the $.

They had already extended the renewal discount deadline two months before realizing nobody was biting. Now my only worry is that Alterra won’t be in business to make good on the refund, should there not be a ski season next year.

 

I'm waiting until the last minute, but at this point I don't know exactly what I'm waiting for. The thought of there not being a season next year is weighing on me, though not really because of the pass. We have a place up there that we purchased 3 years ago. It was a bit of a dream come true, though we repurposed nest egg money to make it happen and really have to treat it as an investment to make for it to make sense, so it's in the rental pool. No season would obviously kill the rental income, and likely tank the housing market up there. I've been toying with the idea of selling over the Summer, as I'm sure many have. Can't get a bead on whether that's fear talking, or smart financial sense. Weird time to have a rental property in a ski town.

 

I’m on the other side of that trade, sorta wondering if the market will let me in some day. It would be realistic for us after March 2024, which is hopefully when my daughter’s last tuition payment is due.

 

I thought it had passed us by for good, but the consecutive bad snow years as the rest of the market rebounded kept values suppressed just enough that we got what I thought would be a small window to get in. Now or never type deal. It took a while, but our realtor caught wind of a unit coming up before it actually hit the MLS. Older couple that spent Summers there but were moving into assisted living and wanted to sell quickly. It had been well taken care of, but hadn't been updated much, and what we paid for the unit plus some updates we did came to about 10% less than what we would have paid for an updated turn key unit. A rare below market value score. Put the offer in on the 10 year anniversary of an important event in my life, and closed on Dave McCoy's birthday (101st if memory serves). Seemed serendipitous. It's great to have a place up there, but it's a different world when it comes to contractors, services, management, etc. They all seem to be just about one notch above worthless. And having renters in your dream come true (if that's the route you'll be going) feels pretty weird sometimes.

 

It takes a special kind of person to work in a ski town, and what’s special is the willingness to not actually work...

My wife is a civil engineer, she just designed a place up there for a client. The construction season is short, the builders have to hustle to get buildings stood up and sealed quickly. I can totally see the subs blowing off your job when a builder puts a hot job in front of them.

The place we stay at was largely renovated by the owners (contractors in OC) and their friends (more OC contractors), over the course of 10-15 years. Looks great now but it took a while to get there DIY.

 

Took my daughter to surf today. I tried to paddle out, but the arm/shoulder wasn't real interested in cooperating. So I sat on the beach and watched something I thought I would not see so soon this season. My daughter caught her first wave without help. Yup. She paddled out on her own, chose her own wave, turned around and caught it. Dad just hanging on the beach watching. She did surf lessons two years ago and a surf camp last summer, but in all cases, she was pushed into the waves by the instructor. She caught about 6 today under her own power. This was her first time out this season. Proud dad! Waves were 2-3'. Doheny. Crowded.

She only stood up at the ends of each of the rides, partly because I think she was so surprised she caught the wave that she was caught off guard. She's growing up.

Here she is studying the surf...

 

And before you know it...how's that T-shirt go???

I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the garage.....

 

Go Ruby!!!! Looks like you’re molding her into a strong, independent young lady Herz..good for you and get it Rad Ruby!

 

Ordered a new snowboard today. That felt good. First traditional camber snowboard under the Never Summer brand name in over a decade. Stoked for that as well. Hopefully we get a real season.

We're in escrow on our condo in Mammoth as well. That also feels good, but also bittersweet. I promised my wife when we got it that we'd treat it like an investment, and given the current return on our initial investment factored against some market volatility, selling is a no-brainer from that angle. I'm going up by myself in a couple weeks to get some personal items out (and to fish). I do imagine that pulling the door shut for the final time will be a little rough.

 

That’ll probably feel like letting go of a dream...

We looked around at what’s for sale up there this week. Seems like lots of turnover in the condo market, but not many small cabins just now. Just as long as there’s something for me in 4 years...

I should poke around for a new groomer board. Until vaccine day, it’ll probably just be Summit laps for us. My daughter rode the step-on bindings last season and if they are available this fall I’m getting them for me.

given the bike supply chain nightmare, I’m considering trying to corner the snowshoe and XC ski market for winter.

 

Yeah, it definitely will to an extent. But in all honesty, though owning up there was/is a dream of mine, owning something that we really had to rent out in order to justify having, took a lot of the shine off of the whole experience. Strangers constantly coming in and out of your dream come true feels odd, and rental ownership didn't gel with our storm chasing usage pattern at all. Unless the market leaves us in the dust we'll likely purchase again in the next few years, but probably something smaller and cheaper. There's definitely a frenzy in the condo market right now. Lots of people selling, but seemingly just as many people looking for a place to escape quarantine madness, so prices are up. I just hope we close before they announce that lifts won't spin this year, and the whole thing comes crashing down.