MOTT CANYON
On a good powder day you will hear random screaming and hollering from the skiers and snowboarders in Mott Canyon. This noise is not the look-at-me screams you find when very average tourists draw attention to themselves, but the genuine screams of excitement as each skier and boarder gets face shots of powder as he/she descends Mott Canyon.

Mott Canyon is an experts only area on the Nevada side of Heavenly Mountain Resort. This area is accessed through marked
gates only. Each gate provides a different skiing and snowboarding experience (steep, narrow chutes to open faces) and all gates take you to the Mott Canyon Chair.

The Ski Patrol usually opens these gates around 10 am each morning and closes them at 3pm each day. After fresh snow days the opening time will fluctuate because they have to blast and complete the avalanche control process.

The goal is to be standing above Mott Canyon when the Ski Patrol opens the gates. Problem is you do not know exactly when they are going to open the gates and each minute you stand there waiting you lose out on powder in another area of the mountain. So, you take a quick lap down another run and hope you make it back in time to watch the Ski Patrol pull the ropes and open the gates.

Yesterday, I timed it perfectly and was the second person through gate number 4. I skied right under the Mott Chair and it was amazing. We had 10-12 inches of fresh powder and no tracks... until mine. Once you are in Mott on a day like this the goal is to get down and back up as quickly as possible because everybody is hearing Mott is open and they are coming. I was able to get 3 laps in Mott before the crowds took over and destroyed the untouched fresh powder.

Another storm with new snow arriving tonight and Sunday.