Mammoth Mountain Cancels Pond Skim But Keeps Pushing Its Second Season

Mammoth Mountain has pulled the pin on its annual Pond Skim, but the resort says it's far from done - with 100-plus trails still open and a spring calendar to fill the gap.

The California resort confirmed the cancellation of its Pond Skim event at Canyon Lodge, calling it a "difficult decision" without going into specifics on what made the event unworkable this season. For anyone unfamiliar, Pond Skim is the end-of-season tradition where skiers and riders - usually in ridiculous costumes - attempt to hydroplane across a meltwater pond at the base. It's equal parts entertainment and chaos, and it's become a signature moment in Mammoth Mountains spring calendar.

Its absence is noticeable. Pond Skim has long served as an unofficial farewell to winter at Mammoth, so losing it leaves a hole in the resort's "Second Season" marketing push - the campaign that frames spring skiing as its own distinct experience rather than just the tail end of winter.

What's still happening at Mammoth this spring

Despite the cancellation, there's still plenty on the schedule. Canyon Lodge is winding down its season, with a wrap party for Canyon Lodge Après running April 10 and 11 before the lodge finishes operations entirely on April 19. After that, everything shifts up to Main Lodge.

Honky Tonk on The Hill continues with live music on Friday and Saturday nights through April 25. That same day also features Party in the Park and the B4BC Love Your Peaks event - a fundraising and awareness initiative run by Boarding for Breast Cancer that uses the mountain as its platform.

The skiing is still legitimate

The bigger picture for anyone considering a late-season trip: Mammoth still has more than 100 trails open, spring pricing is in effect, and the resort is committed to staying open through at least Memorial Day. That's a genuine offering, not just a token handful of runs to justify keeping the lights on.

For Australian skiers timing a Northern Hemisphere trip, late April and May at Mammoth can actually deliver solid conditions - particularly up high where the snowpack holds well into spring. It's also significantly cheaper than peak season, which makes it worth considering if you're flexible on dates. To put the trail count in perspective, 100-plus open runs is roughly three times what you'd get on a good day at Falls Creek - and Mammoth's vertical is in a different league entirely.

Pond Skim's absence is a shame, but it's not the season

Cancelling Pond Skim is a disappointment for the regulars, but it doesn't change the fundamentals. Mammoth's spring skiing stands on its own, and the resort clearly knows it - hence the Second Season branding and the events calendar designed to keep people coming through the door. Whether the conditions cooperate through to Memorial Day is another question, but for now, Mammoth is backing itself.