MAMMOTH LAKES, California — In Mammoth Lakes, California, snow is a normal occurrence, but this year they have blown past record high for snow fall. Snow is piled up, covering second story windows and turning homes into igloos — floor-to-ceiling windows into walls of an icy cave.
Clark Tapia, the owner of Old Faithful Property Management works to clear snow off homes. He has a group of 30 men working round the clock: “We’re going to be shoveling for months,” he said.
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Mammoth Lakes has received 337 inches of snow this season, surpassing historical highs for this time of year. Depending on where you are in the mountain, you can find six to nine feet of snow. However, in order to clear the roads, sidewalks, and driveways snow piles will tower over second story buildings and completely engulf vehicles and road signs.
This week, to get to Mammoth, it requires having to fly to Bishop airport, and then it is a 30 minute drive straight up the mountain. There are no Ubers or Lyfts here. The only way to get up the mountain is through a taxi service, who only employs pickup trucks, of course.
Our driver, Oscar, is equipped for the most severe winter weather with commercial grade tires, a shovel, and chains sitting in the back, ready if needed. As we made our way up the mountain, locals told us they have never seen this amount of snow starting at lower elevations, just a preview to what we would find at the top.
Mammoth Lakes is only a short 35-minute plane ride from San Francisco. The resort attracts snow bunnies and others looking to partake in extreme winter sports. The small village of 7,500 swells to 40,000 on any given weekend. Many driving from other coastal towns and cities in California are not used to the roads icy, snowy, slippery conditions. About halfway to the village, people are seen on the side of the road offering to chain your tires for $50 a car. They have to take a class with the department of transportation and get special licenses to be able to chain the cars. Dozens were seen utilizing their services.
With temperatures below freezing, when the snow falls it doesn’t melt. As it continues to fall, the village is running out of places for the snow to go. You see mounds towering over street signs and entire buses trapped in the street. Cars at a local mechanic are completely lost under blankets of snow. People are seen blindly trying to carefully scoop away and uncover entire vehicles hidden underneath.
When we finally arrive, we are warned of a phenomenon where the ice and snow begin to curl, overhanging the roof, dangerous dangling above anyone attempting to enter the garage or walk through the front door. We spoke to a local emergency room nurse, Samantha Watson, who said people have died while shoveling driveways, or children playing too close to buildings when these precariously-perched pieces violently come sliding down.
“When we get storms like this, where we get several feet at once, it will build up on the roof and as time progresses it will begin to shed. What people don’t realize is that shedding is hundreds, maybe a thousand pounds that comes down. It is extremely dangerous.” Watson says, “As an emergency room nurse we do try to let everyone know, please stand away from the overhangs and give everything a wide birth.”
The weight of nine feet of packed snow and ice crushes the person standing below. “It is absolutely incredible what a pile of snow can do to you,” said Watson.
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Many need to be professionally removed, hopefully before an accident happens.
