Bad Weather Welcome at Mammoth Lakes

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - If you think New Yorkers have it bad, welcome to Mammoth Lakes, California. 17 feet of snow has fallen in just the past 12 days, reports CBS News correspondent Terry McCarthy.

But no one there is complaining. Mammoth is home to one of California's most popular ski resorts.

"Oh it's been amazing, it's the absolutely best you could ever imagine," said Brad Fisher.

The snow has beaten all records -- more than three times the December average.

"I've been here 32 years, I've never seen this much snow ever in December," said Rusty Gregory, CEO of Mammoth Mountain. "We stopped counting when I got snowed into my house on Monday."

With so much snow dumping so fast, ski patrol has been on high alert, heading out at dawn to blast the snow with explosives.

"Our goal is to create smaller avalanches so a big one doesn't come and hit a lift or hit a building," said Jayson Smith, who has been patrolling the mountain for 18 years.

Mammoth right now has the most snow of any ski resort in the entire world, which makes local ski merchants hopeful that their businesses might recover after two pretty bad years for the ski industry.

Mammoth had 1.5 million skier visits the year before the recession hit in 2007 -- last year that number was down by 300,000.

Business at Kristi Rowley's boutique fell 35 percent.

"I used to probably have six to eight employees for a small retail store like mine, and now I have three or four," said Tonik owner Kristi Rowley. "There were a lot of businesses that closed, a lot of real estate agents that left town."

But now Mammoth is smiling again. Tony Colasardo runs one of the biggest ski shops in town.

"This year it's just been phenomenal, good snow, everyone's relaxed, their 401Ks have come back, you know, they're ready to recreate," said Footloose Sports owner Tony Colasardo.

And the more snow, the better.

"It's awesome, it's powder, it's sweet," said Jamie Pirkl.

In Mammoth, at least, bad weather is welcome - particularly when it is cold, white - and very deep.