Mammoth Vs. NorthStar

[soul rider]

ok...got back from vacation 8-18 thru 8-26. hit up NorthStar and Mammoth.
the question is which resort do you favor?

NorthStar was dusty and loose (which trail isn't?), but the trails were well marked, Live Wire had a sprinkler system to keep the dust down and traction up. NorthStar also has well constructed wood stunts, A and B lines and variations of trails. a cool "practice" area with a ton of room to ride. it seemed that a lot of thought went into trail construction even boulder placement on Karpiel. there was only one tiny section that i couldn't find a line to go down on Karpiel.
over all i would give NorthStar 4 out of 5 stars.

I had big expectations for Mammoth after riding NorthStar.
First trail i hit was Kamakazie...it was a let down.
now we hit up skid mark, now we are talking, rocky looose switch backs some exposure a great view.
going lower say onto DC-10 that pumice justs suck your tires down deep. the stunts that i could find were really
soggy, the trails weren't marked that well.
the overall feeling of the trail(s) reminded me of Big Bear the last year they let DH bikes on the resort.
rough, loose and just no flow.
3 out of 5 stars


the thing that saved Mammoth for me was in two runs from the top you might log 15-20 miles of riding.

[nitrider]

We just got back from Mammoth Sunday. Rode for 2 days. The 1st night we arrived we actually caught the last run of the day. We hit up Flow because that was the only cool trail we rode from last year. Most of our rides we started from chair 21 halfway up. Day 1 the only fun trail up top was from Kamakazie to Shock treatment. You could hit the jump leading into Shock treatment at about 40 mph was cool. The rest of the trail was good to. The next trail we rode again was Flow. It is a fun run to the bottom. None of us every got up the nerve to hit the Flow drop. We hit up Bullet once. It was another good trail to ride. Liked the little triple log drops and then the rock drop at the bottom. Day 2 the following day we rode Shock treatment once again. Decided on just going to the half way point. They opened up chair to so we hit the top of Velocity to Techno rock back to Velocity. I'd say that was the best trail there was like a good downhill run. I think we actually got in 5 run in a hour. To bad for one of our guys on the last run of the day endowed of the rock drop on Techno rock and separated his shoulder. I'd say from drive from the San Diego area it's a really fun place to ride. Compared to our experience last year the trails were marked very well. After a good day of riding we were used to the pumice. You need to run a big tire in front like 2.5 or so. The only trail we didn't do a run on was DC-10. Is a great time except for the expensive food at the lodge. Recommend bring your own beer and food. Can't wait until 08 for the next trip.

[denmother]

I like Northstar better, but end up riding Mammoth more often since the drive is only 5 hours instead of 8.5 (to N*). You really can't compare the 2, different terrain, different soil types, different management mentality. Each is what it is, oh darn, guess I'll have to enjoy both!

[denmother]

Originally Posted by mechmann

never been to N*...

mammoth is okay, not great.

i wish i was wealthy, i would hook up a whislter/shore type park in socal.

Unfortunately, Socal does not have the weather, terrain or laws that would support a bike park like Whistler. We all need to move farther north. :-)