TIPS FOR THE CONDO  
 


MOUNTAINBACK SERVICES

  • Like most condos at Mammoth, Mountainback is run sort of like a hotel - except that you take out your own trash and wash your own dishes. Bed linens and bath towels and shampoo & soap are provided. For the kitchen, dishwasher detergent, trash bags, and kitchen towels are provided. Maid service comes in once a week to change laundry unless you request it more frequent. When guests leave, and before new guests arrive, they come in and do a lot more: change beds and towels, clean the kitchen and bathrooms, vacuum the rugs, put away dishes, etc.
  • Parking is in the garage under the building. This picture is looking directly at our parking spot, 72, before the second column on the left as you enter. You can park in 72 or in any un-numbered spot (north wall), which might be more convenient for loading and unloading.

  • You should get a parking pass from the main office and keep it visible through your windshield.
  • Trash goes in the dumpster at the entrance of the garage.
  • ON YOUR LAST DAY, when you are ready to leave, they request that you take out the trash and wash pots & pans, and run the dishwasher - and leave the dishes in the dishwasher, you don't need to put them away.


THE KITCHEN

  • The kitchen is quite well equipped - it was when we bought it and we try to keep it that way. There is a microwave, large oven and stove. Everything is electric, but that's all there is in this town. Everything you need is there (no wok but lots of big skillets).
  • Directions for the oven, microwave, heaters, and most other gadgets are in the far kitchen drawer by the windows.
  • Mountainback provides dishwashing detergent, kitchen towels, and trash bags.
  • The big supermarket in town is Von's at Old Mammoth and Meridian. It’s a great store but try to avoid late afternoons, evenings and holidays - it can be a zoo. There is also a very nice alternative foods market, Sierra Sundance Whole Foods, in the shopping center where the Do-It Center, CVS, and Footloose Sports are at Main Street and Old Mammoth Road, as well as a few other small stores with groceries.
  • There's a clothes washer and dryer in the entry closet and a second closet there with brooms vacuum etc.

INTERNET

  • Wireless internet is cable, quite good, and no charge. Instructions and passwords are posted in a plastic holder in the living room.
  • Wireless connection is named: Avalon608 - Password: Mountainback72

TV & MUSIC

         
  • Photos, here, are not up-to-date. We now have a 40" HD TV and a Sony Blu-Ray DVD player in the cabinet underneath.
  • The new Yamaha stereo plays iPods that have the older, wider connector as well as CDs and radio. There is an adapter for newer ipods. It also has a standard mini stereo phono plug (i.e., headphone), USB, and the usual other inputs for other devices.

HEATING & HUMIDITY

  • As of 2014, The fireplace has been replaced by a wonderful, efficient, much greener, PELLETT STOVE. It is very easy to operate and can easily provide all the heat needed in severe wintertime and we still have the original electric wall heating, too. We will add info about the pellet stove soon(1/5/16), so the instructions and tips below are for the electric heat only.

Electric HEATING...

  • The heat should be on very low when you arrive and it should be left on low - 50 degrees - when you leave at the end of your stay. This is to prevent pipes from freezing. pleasessssss leave the thermostat set to 50 degrees when you leave Otherwise, the 'comfort zone' works great.
  • The thermostat is on the kitchen wall for the heaters in the entry and dining room. There are separate thermostats in each of the bedrooms.
  • There is another heater unit in the living room at the glass doors to the firewood balcony which is independent of the thermostat - it has a knob on the unit which controls it. Please leave it turned down when you leave.
  • Mammoth has VERY dry air at 8500' and many people have real difficulty with their noses getting dry and cracked inside. There should be a humidifier either out in the kitchen or in the entry closet. Feel free to bring your own too if you want.

CARPETS

  • There is a great carpet cleaner in the laundry closet, above the washing machine. Its called Fonex and it does an amazing job on this carpet.
  • Vacuum cleaners are in the small entry closet.

WINDOWS

  • The windows are great - but fragile. They are double paned to keep the heat in and the cold out in winter.
  • However, try not to open the windows too much, if you can avoid it. You can of course, and you will want to at some point... just bare in mind that they are getting old and fussy, the cranks are beginning to need more and more maintenance - they can malfunction. We have replaced several already and we bet that all of the units will need new windows sometime soon. We hear other condos of the same era (80's) are having similar assessments.

    The most likely reason to need to open them is when cooking; the stove ventilation is useless, sadly typical of the era. Our experience has been that nothing works better than opening the windows. But do it very gently - don't force anything. Usually it works best to gently press outward on the wooden window frame at the same time you gently begin to crank the knob. This will pop the window out a bit and then we find that the crank works fine. They probably malfunction when people try to force the window open with the crank alone. The sliding glass doors give good ventilation, too.
  • There is a great German technique for ventilating warm, stuffy, houses in the dead of winter: open all doors and windows at once and then go around and close them again. This airs everything out before walls and furniture have a chance to get cold. It works, but remember to be gentle with the windows. Stuck windows in winter are not fun.
    If you have trouble with a window call the management in the office. They are very good at fixing them. If it is after 5PM you may still be able to get them - if not, use a spare blanket to block the cold!

YAK TRAX

  • YakTrax are like chains for your shoes. If you are not familiar with ice & snow - or even if you are - they can save your life - or your rest of the day. The ski stores all sell them, they're about $20. www.yaktrax.com
  • YakTrax are great on ice and snow but should be removed from the shoes on bare concrete, stone, and carpet or wood. They can catch on carpet and pull. They can catch on metal grate floors and stairs and cause a fall. Otherwise they are fantastic.
  • Please remove them inside the condo!

more to come...