5 foot of snow at Mammoth, I was there!

As I drove up the 395 ribbon of highway, my thoughts were mostly about the bad weather that seemed a part of my lot. I had left late in the morning from San Diego on a Sunday to avoid the traffic, but it looked like the Sun God was going to leave me before arriving at the San Diego Ski Club Chalet at Mammoth. The traffic stop was just before the Mammoth turnoff.

I had borrowed my wife's Honda CRV after our last weekend success in the desert. If this 2002 baby can do the dunes, why not the snow? I had overpacked as usual, with cross country, downhill , food and clothes. Lets not count the bags. Why am I such a worst case person, who knows. Anyway, I assume that the traffic stop does not apply to me. Too many cars and cops are screwing around. I confidently manouver around the stopped vehicles and people with my sure footed CRV. I go slow, because any idot knows that brakes don't work on ice. As I get close to the ski hut, am worried about all the snow that hasn't been plowed near the "chalet".

Find a place to park and even though the snow is a couple of feet deep, the car works great. I get my Mexican blanket, sleeping bag and find that there is only one other person on the men's side. What good luck! Unfortunately, by morning the hut is fairly full. Everyone has heard about the five foot dump at Mammoth!

I get up late and try to ignore the engine light on my wonderful CRV. Go to a parking lot in the sun and with 20 degrees to my credit, start to look at the cooling system. Within a few seconds, have dropped the cover to the cooling system resovoir. One hour later, with hands starting to feel pain, give up on finding said cover. Call my friend Bob, who knows the wonders of the auto. He says the resovoir is not a part of the pressure system, so avoid spillage with a sandwich bag. Lets go skiing!

Half way up the hill, the temperature gauge is pinning. Please Dear God, let me make it to a turnoff. I make it to a place where I can turn left to get to a place stategically placed for a down hill move on the downhill side. Turn off the engine and listen to the silence. It is also very, very cold. Wish that I had thought to bring along some warmer clothes. Look at the cell battery bars and also wish that I had charged it up this morning. Call info for tow and have two choices. The first choice tells me that he can't make it for two hours. How many tow drivers in San Diego would have been this honest. Is he getting a bonus for doing his job in a responsible way? The second option says he'll be there in 20 minutes, and he is. A six foot 4 inch Native American with no attitude. He is the most cool and competent person that I have met in a long time. Ralph gives me the Goodyear reference and I believe him. We go there, and after all is said and done, he takes me and my gear to the road the Chalet is on. Something about this guy inspires confidence and hope. He says his job is dangerous and I believe him. 395 can be a strange place in the snow, late at night. I would trust my life to this man and I bet he doesn't get a bonus for doing his job.

Chuck, the head man at Goodyear across from the Chalet, says that it is probably a stuck thermostat and it turn out that it is. By then I am an expert at the Mammoth bus system and am pretty tired of communal living at the Chalet. It is mostly me, I gave up on the Viet Nam war after a very difficult National Guard physical. I can live in a small tent in the snow, if I am alone. Well, anyway on a difficult early evening, Chuck agreed to have himself and his mechanic stay late to get me on my way at 6:00 PM. He lives in Bishop, so that means that he got home late for me. How can I thank people like this? Chuck had talked to me about all his retirement plans being changed due to the economic meltdown. He didn't get a bonus either.