Local Sports

Village Championships begin Jan. 10

January 6, 2012

Neither dust nor sun nor heat of night shall keep the Village Championships from their appointed rounds.

“The VCs” begin on Tuesday with the Race Department putting up gates for the first round of racing.
The second round will take place Jan. 24, followed by races on Jan. 31, Feb. 7, Feb. 14, Feb. 28, March 20; and April 3.
The VC team and individual finals will be April 10.

It’s a wide-open competition, as it has been for 36 previous seasons. The racers are local and regional business owners, master’s racers, junior team coaches, ski instructors, current and past competing racers.

Between heaven and earth; skating Tioga Lake

December 2, 2011

Every few years between the end of fall and the beginning of winter, something extraordinary happens up here.

Ice.

No, not the kind you slip on when you get out of the car or scrape off your deck in the morning, not that kind of quotidian ice.

Something else.

Ice that you can fly over on thin silver blades like a winged bird, keeping time with the fishes beneath you and the wind above you. Ice that you can sing on, beat your drum on, slide like a child on, run laps on.

That kind of ice.

Obama signs ski area legislation

November 11, 2011

Ski areas in California received good news this past week from the U.S. Forest Service, with the promise of up to 600 new jobs.

The Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Nov. 7, is estimated to create and annually sustain up to 600 extra jobs nationwide.

“This is very good news for us,” said Mammoth Mountain Ski Area spokesperson Joani Lynch.
She was not alone in her enthusiasm.

“This is great news for promoting job growth and economic stimulus in California,” said Regional Forester Randy Moore.

Opening Day at ski area looked good, felt right

November 11, 2011

It’s just not in the culture of Mammoth Mountain to miss an Opening Day — natural snow or manufactured, blue skies or gray, rain, snow or fire and brimstone.

This season was no different.

The ski area opened yesterday with five lifts ready to go, including the Lower Gondola.

It also opened with 13 terrain features, said Joani Lynch, ski area spokeswoman.

Working on a base ranging from 18 to 24 inches, the ski area opened Chair 1 (Broadway Express); Chair 6 (Thunder Bound Express); Chair 11 (Discovery Express) and Chair 3 (Facelift).
The first chair left Broadway at 8:30 a.m.