Ski-sensation at Mammoth
This year we decided to head for Mammoth again for skiing. While last year’s ski season was like a bad aftertaste after staying at Mammoth Mountain Inn, the slopes and snow at Mammoth is just unbeatable.
With Janine in daycare and Eon in ski school, we decided last year that it would be better for us to stay right at the foot of the slopes. We choose Mammoth Mountain Inn. The pictures were deceivingly clean and description was inviting. Little did we know. After 9 hours of driving (due 4 hours of to LA traffic), we finally arrived. The Lobby looked nice but once we head to our “suite” we were greeted with a smelly and stained carpet on the hallways. The elevated was in a similar state of neglect. The 2 bedroom “suite” with kitchen was an equal let-down. The sheets and curtains were worn and old-fashioned. The beds were squeaky… and my litany of not-so-great things about this place goes on and on. The only highlight was that it was on the slopes. But what is that worth if you go home exhausted from a day of skiing to a dump?
We decided to explore the village and found that Westin was at Mammoth. We looked around and decided that we have been…screwed!!
This year, we learned. We stayed at Westin and the brief gondola ride to the slopes was a breeze. Westin and their Heavnenly Beds was such a great upgrade from tawdry Mammoth Inn. This time around, I actually felt like it was vacation.
We ate, skied and went to the jacuzzi to soak our tired muscles. Everyday was a routine… in a nice way. It was Janine’s first year of ski lesson. It was a horror morning on the first day but somehow things worked out. Eon is out-skiing me but on our last day chickened out on a blue slope, fell and we had to make a trip down to the main lodge with the ski patrol. Eon was fine and back skiing soon after the ski patrol dropped us off at the bottom on the slopes.
I was up for more challenges and decided to cajole my littlest one to ride Chairlift 7 with me and Eon. She was fine on the lift but started freaking out as soon as we got off. She started crying and declaring that she was NOT going done the hill and “skiing was ugly.” After some threats of abandonment, we finally skied downhill. Call me a despot but that was actually quite fun.
