Update for the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Trunked System
The Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has expanded the capacity of their trunked system to 9 frequencies. The database currently shows it at 6 as shown:
860.5125, 859.5125, (the control channel rotates between these 2 about every 24 hours), 858.5125, 857.5125, 856.5125, and 855.8375.
The 3 new frequencies are:
860.1625, 858.8125, and 854.9375.
This is still a Type I system and I provided the fleet map on the database. Access to this system is via California, Mono County, Business (bottom of page), and labeled "Recreation", then click on the Trunked System when the page comes up.
The system seems to use the new frequencies first beginning with the highest first (860.1625) then in descending order through all the non xxx.5125 frequencies. Then it picks the highest xxx.5125 frequency, and continues in descending order so 856.5125 gets used the least.
Mammoth Mountain owns June Mountain and last fall they were granted a license for all five xxx.5125 frequencies listed above. This system is located north of the north slope of June Mountain proper on the north shore of Gull Lake. It does not appear the sites are linked in any way or simulcasting. They probably did this so they did not have to maintain the UHF system they have used there since they purchased June Mountain 22 years ago. I would imagine the radios from each ski area are interchangeable. I have not been able to make it up to the June Lake area to listen to this system so I have no details on talkgroup use or data channels. If the radios are interchangeable between the two areas, the talkgroup use would be identical with many unused as June Mountain only has one sport school, no buses, no gondola, and no lodging run by the ski area. If the radios are not interchangeable then they would have their own talkgroups and the radios would have to be programmed separately. As soon as I can I will be making the 18 mile drive up there to figure this new system out.
Mammoth Mountain also operates the lodging at the Village at Mammoth (a big corporate development), the cross country ski area in the Mammoth Lakes Basin along with Tamarack Lodge (they own this facility, which is located on National Forest land and operated under a Special Use Permit), and the lodging at Juniper Springs Resort (another big corporate development). They have a mixture of UHF and VHF radios for these non-mountain operations properties. They also have many UHF and VHF frequencies for the junior race program and the dozens of teams of local kids who participate in it. I haven't had the time to drive around town and park near each facility to verify use of all the frequencies but will try to get to that sometime during the winter. If anyone visits Mammoth during the winter and has time to listen in on the UHF/VHF frequencies listed in the database please contact me via a PM and I will use your observations along with mine and submit the information to the database.