Bloody mountain 12,544′
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
Elevation Change: 5035′
Recommended Map: Mammoth High Country – Tom Harrison
Skiing Bloody Mountain has been a thing for a long time I’m sure, with it’s surreal North Couloir staring at you as you drive into Mammoth Lakes from Hwy 395. I can only imagine the old ski gear people hauled up there in past decades. And I don’t mean you and me in tele gear in 1994. I mean in the 60’s, there were likely crazy dudes and dudettes going for it, just because it’s there. Bloody Mountain’s North Couloir is not as steep as it looks from the highway, and can be an easy half day ski tour in late spring when the Laurel Creek 4×4 jeep road melts out. You probably aren’t going to wait that long however, so go anytime. Eric Ongerth told me he skinned from town one day and it was a really long day. Some people go up a little way on snowmobiles I would think. I like to just go and see how far up the road we can drive and park anywhere. You’ll look at the terrain from town and guess the snow elevation, or go ask the locals what they think. The 4×4 road gets narrow and you won’t like turning around further up. Bring a smaller vehicle with good ground clearance.
Looking for awesome ski and splitboard tours in the Sierras? We’ve got write ups on many common and uncommon tours curated by the owner of the BackCountry, Mike Schwartz.
