Description
The ski area is built on the north side of Mammoth Mountain, located in the volcanic Long Valley Caldera. Overnight guests stay in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, and occasionally in neighboring towns such as Bishop, and June Lake. June Lake has a ski area, that is also owned by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, that was just announced to be closing in the summer of 2012. Mammoth has more than 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) of skiable terrain, serviced by 28 lifts, including 3 gondolas. The area has 3,100 ft (940 m) of vertical, rising to an elevation of 11,053 ft (3,369 m). The top of the mountain has challenging chutes and open mogul runs. There are eight Unbound terrain parks. Unbound Main, located adjacent to Main Lodge, is highly praised by extreme snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts, and is one of the major attractions of the ski resort. Many of the top professionals in the sport, including 2006- and 2010 Winter Olympics gold medalist Shaun White, come to practice and compete in the world famous 18 ft (5.5 m) Super Pipe and 22 ft (6.7 m) Super-Duper Pipe. There are only a handful of SuperDuper pipes in the world. There is also a Mini Pipe. Mammoth Mountain is one of only a handful of resorts in the world to offer a halfpipe of this size and is the only resort in North America to offer three different-sized halfpipes.
Mammoth Mountain also has one of the longest ski seasons in North America, which averages from November to June. Mammoth does occasionally open earlier, such as in 2005, when the resort opened in October, and did not close until the 4th of July. Mammoth Mountain's longest season, over ten months, was thanks to the 1994-1995 winter season when the resort opened on 8 October and did not close until 13 August. Mammoth receives an average of 354 in (900 cm) of snow per season, though during the 2010-2011 season the resort recorded a record accumulation of 661 in (1,680 cm).
As recently as the 1980s, senior citizens skied Mammoth for free. As of 2006, those aged at least 80 years may ski free. Following the tradition established by Dave McCoy, no Mammoth Mountain employees are permitted to have beards, or mustaches.
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