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Elevation Mammoth 2012 - Mammoth Gay Ski Week 2012

By , About.com Guide

The legendary West Hollywood-based GLBT event promoter Tom Whitman Presents organizers one of the most glamorous gay ski parties in the country, Elevation Mammoth Gay Ski Week, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year and takes place in mid-March - this year's dates are March 14 to March 18, 2012. The event has been so successful that they're launched a new sister event in mid-February, Elevation Utah - Park City Gay Ski Week.

Book rooms and compare rates on hotels in Mammoth during Gay Ski Week.

Elevation Mammoth is especially popular with skiers from Southern California - the resort, Mammoth Lakes, is about three hours south of Lake Tahoe (and thus six to seven hours from San Francisco, depending on the weather. Partly for this reason, it's better-attended by L.A. skiers than Lake Tahoe Gay Ski Week, held in early March, which draws a bit more from the Bay Area. From Los Angeles, the drive is about 5.5 to 6 hours (assuming you don't hit super-snowy roads and lots of weekend traffic). Of course, you can also just fly into the region's small and handy Mammoth/Yosemite Airport, which has regularly scheduled service from San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Portland.

Details about Elevation Mammoth 2012 will be posted once they're announced. Meantime, here's a look at last year's event:

The four-day weekend consists of a series of parties (check the official Elevation Mammoth event calendar for details, beginning with a Welcome Event at Hyde Lounge on Wednesday. Then on Thursday through Saturday (plus a Sunday Apres-Ski party), the festivities continue with more fun starting after skiing in the late afternoon, and then continuing with late-night parties each evening. Top DJs Pornstar, Michael Paul, and Josh Peace are on hand hosting various parties. You can buy tickets for Elevation Mammoth online, with several different packages available.

Of course, there's also skiing each day at the exceptional Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, one of the West's snowiest locales (the average annual snowfall is more than 400 inches, and the mountain comprises some 3,500 acres of skiable terrain).

Elevation Utah is offering lodging deals at a number of local host hotels - here's the Elevation Mammoth Lodging Guide, complete with links and booking information on each hotel. These include Village at Mammoth, Westin Monache, Sierra Lodge, and Mammoth Mountain Inn. Also take a look at the excellent travel website produced by the Mammoth Lakes tourism office.

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