Mammoth is BURIED with 7 Feet of New Snow and It’s Impossible to Get There

A stranded big rig buried in snow along Highway 395. Photo taken Wednesday morning by CalTrans/Andy Richard

The Eastern Sierra area around Mammoth Lakes, California is the lucky winner of Snowmageddon 2021. Currently sitting with 87 inches of new snow in the past six days, the mountain is experiencing what will most likely be one of its biggest storms of the year.

And even with Mammoth Mountain rocking some of the best powder on the entire West Coast, you shouldn’t try to go there. The only road into town received so much snow it’s closed until Friday.

Highway 395 has been closed from the Nevada border all the way to Highway 203, nearly 100 miles, because of heavy snow accumulation. As the snow began to pummel the mountains on Tuesday night, travelers on the road were forced to abandon their cars and seek refuge with CalTrans workers. There are currently multiple cars and big rigs buried in snow along the side of the highway as CalTrans works to clear and reopen the road.

The town of Mammoth Lakes now sits on an island with little ways to get in or leave the famed mountain town. Photos of buried cars and walls of snow dominated social media for the town experiencing one of its epic winter storms.

Mammoth Mountain, the most popular ski resort in the region, opened a few of its lifts today for the limited amount of people able to get to the slopes. The mountain will surely experience whiteout conditions but that likely won’t stop the hardcore skiers from getting their pow runs in.

Once Highway 395 is open to travelers, this weekend should see one of the great bluebird powder days of the decade at Mammoth. But for now, it’s only for the locals to enjoy.

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California

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