CARY ORDWAY
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If all goes according to plan, skiers and snowboarders will be winging their way to Mammoth Mountain in Boeing 757’s in the not-to-distant future, putting this ski resort on a par with famous resorts in Colorado, Utah and Western Canada that have long been considered flyaway ski destinations. It’s all part of an effort to boost midweek visitors to a mountain that most would agree is highly under-utilized most weekdays except for holidays. If you can picture 3,500 acres, 150 trails and only 5,000 visitors on any given weekday, it’s easy to see there is plenty of room to stretch your ski legs. “You feel like you have the place to yourself,” says Dana Vander Houwen, who moved to Mammoth last year to become Communications Manager for Mammoth Mountain. Which is exactly how many of the 7,500 full-time residents of Mammoth Lakes would love to keep it. While the mountain is so huge it is said to have the largest in-bounds ski terrain in California, the town is -- well, anything but mammoth. In fact, that was the most surprising thing about our first visit to Mammoth: it’s really a very small town.  And so the lines have been drawn between the ski resort – owned by original developer Dave McCoy and Intrawest Corporation, which also owns Whistler-Blackcomb and other famous ski areas – and environmentalists who believe those American Airlines 757’s will change the character of one of the most pristine wilderness areas in California. A lawsuit has held up final approval of an environmental impact statement that is needed to move forward with the $48 million airport expansion that would make the current airport 757-friendly. “Mammoth is a wonderful place,” Vander Houwen adds, “and people want to keep it to themselves. It’s hard to argue with that. But this (new development) is raising the quality of life for all of us.” The airport would be just part of a series of big investments already made over the past several years. Like other California ski resorts, Mammoth Mountain was hurt by the recession of the late ‘80’s and early ‘90s, and the area lost marketing ground to those major ski resorts in Colorado and Utah. In 1996, Mammoth was purchased by Intrawest, which soon embarked on a spending spree to improve mountain facilities and position the area as a serious destination ski resort. In just the last five years, Intrawest has spent more than $95 million on area improvements. Accordingly, local property owners have seen their real estate escalate in value. Among the most noticeable improvements was the new Village at Mammoth, a Whistler-style ski village and condo development that includes a new gondola to shuttle skiers directly from those condos to one of the mountain’s base lodges. While skiers and snowboarders previously had to drive a windy four-mile road to get to the skiing, visitors who stay at the Village can just walk a few steps to the gondola and be whisked to the mountain in only six minutes.  This “ski-in, ski-out” amenity is helping to put Mammoth on a par with other major destination ski areas that long have offered an automobile-free way of getting to the main ski area. And the Village itself, which will soon have a total of seven restaurants and 20 shops, has taken on a new role as the centerpiece for many community events including concerts, movie premieres, farmers markets and “rail” ski competitions. “Apres-ski at Mammoth has become a bigger scene,” explains Vander Houwen. “Previously it was ski hard all day and go back to the condo. Now people go out to be seen and have fun. It’s all in one place so if you want to go to another nightspot, you just walk to the next place.” While in Mammoth, we stayed in one of the Village condos offered by Mammoth Five Star Lodging. Our brand-new three-bedroom unit was spectacular – as well it should be for the $950,000 market value – and right in the heart of the Village activities. The unit seemed as spacious as a house and, right out the window, there was the new gondola to the mountain. Two floors down and just a couple of doors away was the new Hennessey’s pub, where we enjoyed dinner and a micro-brew. Later, we explored the many intriguing shops in the Village and then returned to a cozy evening in our condo reading in front of the fire. |
This is what they’re talking about when they say Mammoth is becoming a true destination ski resort. But the 233 new condos in the Village area are just part of an overall lodging community that has been built up to a total of 8,500 rental units in the Mammoth Lakes area, a figure that includes condos, hotel rooms, motel rooms, cabins, lodges and bed-and-breakfasts. The vast majority of visitors still come by car – between five and six hours from either Los Angeles or San Francisco – and most of those come on weekends. The main attraction, of course, is still the mountain. Mammoth Mountain is a towering presence as you climb in altitude on Highway 203, and the dramatic mountain panorama follows you all the way into Mammoth Lakes. With reasonably dry snow – Vander Houwen says it’s a lot drier than Western Washington’s Cascades where she learned to ski – Mammoth also offers a winning combination of 400 inches of snow each year along with 300 days of sunshine. “I grew up thinking there were no snow mountains in California,” Vander Houwen recalls. “I was pretty shocked when I came up here.” About 40 percent of the mountain is intermediate terrain, while the 25 percent of beginner terrain has recently been upgraded with improvements to Chair 17. The remainder of the terrain is about evenly divided between expert and advanced. The mountain offers a vertical drop of 3,100 feet with its highest level at 11,053 feet. The mountain has accommodated as many as 24,000 skiers in one day, although that was several years ago. A busy weekend day or holiday now will typically see about 15,000 visitors on the mountain. But even then, Vander Housen says, a wait in line of more than five minutes is rare because the visitors are dispersed over so many acres and so many trails.  With all that extra room on weekdays, it’s not difficult to understand why Mammoth Mountain would like to attract more skiers and snowboarders who will come to Mammoth for a week at a time. If the airport improvements are made, American Airlines has already assured Mammoth that plane-loads of skiers will be visiting from places like Dallas and other important cities in the American Airlines system. A ruling on the environmental impact statement is expected soon, after which there will be six months of public comment before the Federal Aviation Administration makes a final determination whether to allow the project to proceed. If all goes well, the airport could open for the 2006-07 ski season. In the meantime, Intrawest and Mammoth Mountain administrators are working with local townspeople to reach a solution that will protect the local environment as much as possible, but still allow the airport improvements to proceed. That local dialogue is especially important because about $14 million of the airport improvements will need to come from local coffers. If you do the math, that comes to about $1,866 per person – enough of an investment that locals certainly want to know just what bringing in all those 757’s will mean for their not-very-mammoth community. AT A GLANCE WHERE: Mammoth Mountain is on the eastern slopes of the Sierra, near Yosemite Park. Most visitors drive either north or south on Highway 395, then take Highway 203 for a few miles to Mammoth Lakes. The drive from Los Angeles is generally at lower elevations until you reach Highway 203, so winter weather normally is not a problem. WHAT: Mammoth Mountain claims to be the largest ski area in California and is the largest ski area easily accessible from Southern California. WHEN: Mammoth Lakes is a year-round resort area, known for spectacular views and the nearby mountain wilderness areas. Skiing and snowboarding are generally available form late November into May. WHY: Great snow depth, lots of sunshine, major improvements recently made to ski and après-ski facilities. HOW: For more information on Mammoth Mountain, call 1-800-MAMMOTH or visit www.mammothmountain.com. Adult lift ticket prices range between $46 and $63. To learn more about the Mammoth Lakes area, go to www.visitmammoth.com. For more information on the condos offered by Mammoth Five Star Lodgings, call 866-626-6684 or visit www.fivestarlodging.com. For more information on travel in California and a chance to win a free California getaway, please visit www.californiaweekend.com. |