The skier, who has not been identified, was attempting a run called Dropout 2 - among the steepest marked trails in California - which descends from the summit ridge of the 11,000-foot mountain. The run falls about 1,200 vertical feet below a slow, three-person lift that ferries expert skiers to some of Mammoth's most adventurous terrain.
I started off the day by doing the steep, long sidestep through the Ballroom over to the Bad News Cliffs, where I'd broken my face in 2011. The sidestep was kinda brutal and well worth it for the little thrill of skiing a couple of steep turns into rocks and doing a little straightline out. From there a lapped the Collins side and Sugarloaf side of the Collins chair.