Words & photos: Alba Pardo
One of the best things about snowboarding is that it’s like a big family. Arriving to a strange house in a new place called Mammoth we found old friends from overseas sitting in the living room. Everybody is constantly traveling, so you stop saying good-bye as your friendship travels with you.
High winds made slaying mammoth’s perfect jumps a little sketchy, but that didn't stop our crew of homies from tearing the park a new one: Seth Hill from Oregon, Zach Aller and Jeremy Cloutier from Montréal, Isabel Derungs from Switzerland, IZZY from Austria, and Taiwan's only hope for the Olympics, Perry Moon; and this was just the beginning.
What makes snowboard trips awesome is the never-ending possibilities for sight-seeing, adventures, and meeting new faces. United by one common passion, we realize during these moments that Life is Good. The wind kept the sky clear during our entire stay at Mammoth and we were treated to some of the most spectacular sunsets we had ever seen. We made it a tradition to seize these moments from the magic desert hot springs; cold beers, fire and S’mores included. With more than 20 people in a fairly small tub, it was a time to remember.
Mammoth has an insane concrete skate park — literally the dream of any solid bowl rider. Some guys from the Volcom team were around, some skating others hanging out. Luke Mitrani, after sending a couple handplants, ripped around on his moped while locals Frank Knab and 12 year-old Brock Crouch slayed the concrete under another Cali sunset. Tom Lippen taught us some new lines in the bowl showing us the skatepark’s endless possibilities.
High winds once again forced us to cut short our last day on the mountain, so we decided to scope the area for a street spot. We found a mellow wall stall and built a little quarterpipe against it with the remaining snow. Where it said “Danger High Voltage” we tied up the Banshee Bungee and made the most out of the 15 minutes we had before security kicked us out.
“It’s not the destination but the adventure along the way that matters,” noted Seth at the beginning of our trip. This statement couldn’t be truer after our stay in Mammoth.
