Mammoth Mountain Ski & Snowboard School

We enrolled both our 9-​year old, and our 5-​year old in lessons. After 3 afternoon classes, my 9 year old can now ski with us! The 5 year old will most likely be able to take chair lifts next year! Both the kids had fun in lessons, and they liked their teachers! They made sure to take breaks with the kids which is important. Also, my son was always with an adult on a chair lift — as an anxious parent I was happy about the safety measures in place. Also, Mammoth Mt is a great place to learn how to ski. The only negative is the price — those lessons are surely expensive, but it was worth it for us!

We booked the 2 day class for snowboarding lessons with rental. Our instructors both days were nothing short of amazing. We had James from Vermont the first day and Jim from Maine the 2^nd day and both were extremely knowledgeable but were able to explain to myself and my 13 year old son in term we could both understand and use in our mechanics. We both took the adult lesson so he could be with me. He had never been on a snowboard before and my experience was limited to one day 15 years ago. By the second day we were both going down the bunny hill without falling. Not only did they make this a wonderful learning experience, they made an experience I would normally consider miserable (I hate the cold and snow but did it for my son) so much fun that I can’t wait for our next trip to Mammoth! Even due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to go to the actual Ski and Snowboard Learning Center inside the Mammoth Kids Center and speak with the desk people there about what was looking like what seemed like a hopeless situation (I was almost in tears), they were able to take care of it right away with «no worries» when others seem to making it difficult. Everyone at the Mammoth Ski and Snowboarding School has went above and beyond to make our trip amazing and if it wasn’t for this specific department of Mammoth, I wouldn’t have put it a step above any other ski resort I have stayed at in the past including Yosemite and places in Colorado. And btw, I normally don’t write reviews on Unilocal,but I felt like they deserve to get the recognition for the amazing job that they do :)

I have always wanted to learn how to snowboard especially now that most of my friends snowboard. With no experience in other board or winter sports, I was nervous but very excited to learn. I booked a full day lesson in advance to save some money. Since I’m a perfectionist that can get frustrated and also had nightmares about crashing into the trees, I decided to do two additional half day lessons when I was in Mammoth.
Nick, my instructor at the Eagle Lodge, was very nice and patient. He can quickly identify the reason why I fell and made suggestions to improve for the next time. He made everything easy to understand and follow. We started at the bunny slopes practicing the basics and drills. The full day lesson included a lunch break from 12 – 1 pm. Once I was more comfortable, which wasn’t until the second day, we rode the chair lift and practiced on the green trails.
Although I’m not ready for double black diamonds, I had fun learning and can confidently enjoy the blue runs on my own. I am looking forward to my next snowboarding trip. I highly recommended taking these lessons.

My daughter and I visited Mammoth with family for the first time this week. We took first time beginner snowboarding lessons with Jacob and he was amazing. He was extremely nice and patient. I am looking forward to making more great memories in the years to come here in Mammoth!

On and off the last 8 years, I have been coming to Mammoth Mountain and still love coming here. Throughout the years when I first started snowboarding, I took group lessons from beginner to intermediate but the last year or so I got stuck riding on my heel all the time. So, this year I wanted to change it up. There are not many reviews for private instructors and 800. Mammoth cannot recommend (understandable).
In honesty, I am glad I wasn’t recommended anyone because by chance I met Josh Barkman as my private instructor. He is an amazing! He has a great personality, very humble, and patience. I am very hard on myself and I was getting frustrated fast but Josh was understanding and allowed me to learned at my on pace. He developed goals based on my needs. He gave a lot of positive feedback to help reinforce the things I was doing right.
Josh went above and beyond by ensuring I felt comfortable and safe. He saw that my binding was loose and tighten for me so I can have a better ride. Overall, I feel more confident turning on my toes now and having a blast now going faster down the slopes. I recommend Josh if your interested in a private instructor. Cheers.

This is a great place to learn to ski. I put my 7 and 9 years old boys in their all day school at the main lodge. This was their first time skiing.
At the end of the day, they both could got on the lift, got off the lift, and ski down with me on an easy (green) run in that remaining hour that we had together before closing time. They both know to do pizza, got up if they fall, and put on the ski back. My older boy could do some turns.
On the second day, my older boy went for another half a day one-​on-​one private lesson with his instructor from the group lesson. He was able to do some of blue runs on the second day.
The school appear to be very well run with good staff and instructors.
Highly recommended the school.
Btw, there was a negative review about poor safety from a few years back. I can report that the school now has a good safety practice.
I’m a beginner myself and used the same lift with their beginner student. Some group had 4 – 5 kids, so they won’t fit all on one chair with an instructor. What they did was asking other adult who were going up the same lift to take 1 or 2 kids on the same chair. An instructor with the remaining members of the group would be right behind.
No kids riding in a chair without an adult.

I got snowboard lessons for my 4 and 6 year old kids this week. Neither had been snowboarding before. My eldest child was riding down the bunny hill by day 3. All of the instructors my kids had over the course of their 3 days were amazing. This was our first time using the snowboard school and coming to the mountain with kids. A trip to Mammoth Mountain never disappoints. I love this place and their school for the kiddos.

I put my 4 year old daughter in ski school based out of Eagle Lodge. When we were checking in we met with Lori the ski school director and she is an absolute gem. She introduced herself to both of my kids and let my 4 year old know she would be checking in with her the following day. The following morning for school she not only remembered my daughter’s name, she also remembered my baby’s name. My daughter took four classes and had Hayley and Max as her teachers. They were both amazing teachers. I stood by and watched many of her classes and saw exactly how great all of these instructors really are.
Both my husband and I snowboard and know nothing about skiing. Our daughter decided she would rather ski, so we 100% relied on ski school to teach her. After 4 days they let us know she was ready for lifts and we took her over to discovery. She is skiing awesome!!! There is nothing like watching your child ski down a slope for the first time. Ski school was worth every penny.

We put our 9 and 11 year old in a 6 hour group lesson. Both kids play sports and are relatively athletic. They learned absolutely nothing! I’m sure if the class was smaller and we had a different instructor then things may have been different based on the other reviews but I would say it’s hit and miss at best.

My son just completed three days of snowboard school. We were so lucky to come on an off peak week so his group lessons ended up being one on one. His instructor, Laura, was amazing. We did ski school last year in Tahoe and I was very unimpressed. However, after seeing how the school was at Mammoth, I enrolled my younger son in ski school. Both ski and snow board school were great! I couldn’t be happier. Thanks so much to Laura for taking such great care of my 5 year old and teaching him how to snowboard.

(Note: from Tip written on 11÷21÷12)
The lady is getting snowboard lessons while I rip it up on Scotty’s and St. Anton. Scotty’s was tracked up pow from cornice down… sweet.
While La Señorita didn’t become an accomplished snowboarder in one session, she did get a feel for what it is like to shred a bit (as well as a thoroughly wet and cold butt)
The School did a nice job with teaching, had pleasant staff and were patient.

I took an adult group lesson with Bob Hurlburt this last weekend and had a great experience!
I had never skied (or snowboarded) in my life, and Bob was great at getting us all started. He was efficient and encouraging but firm. His experience and comfort definitely helped push us along, and I’m SO SO glad I took a lesson before trying to climb on the mountain myself!

I took an Advanced Workshop (2 ½ hours, max 3 people) for the very reasonable price of $ 135. I was fortunate to have Brian Venneman for the instructor. Patient, funny, honest, and a really good communicator and teacher. I FINALLY learned how to make quick tight turns, and quit swinging my body around and rolling my shoulder uphill – YAHOO! I can now ski steeper stuff with good form and confidence. What are you waiting for, all you people with bad habits and lousy technique? Call the ski school at 800-​MAMMOTH – and ask for Brian!