History Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

1 history

1.1 incidents
1.2 sale intrawest
1.3 sale starwood capital
1.4 changes , re-development
1.5 rfid lift pass

history

mammoth founded dave mccoy, hydrographer los angeles department of water , power. member of eastern sierra ski club in 1930s, mccoy noticed mammoth mountain consistently held more snow other mountains. ski club had portable rope tow. mccoy bought rope tow club in 1941 , kept @ mammoth. in 1953, united states forest service awarded permit mccoy operate ski area, , first ski lift built in 1955.

incidents

as ski area grew, mccoy faced adverse circumstances: 1973 oil crisis, avalanche in 1979 destroyed ski lift, , prolonged drought led layoffs in 1991.

similar other ski resorts, mammoth had number of associated fatalities in history:

in 1973, resort bought sierra pacific airlines 3-d film cinematographer chris condon. on march 13, 1974, film crew wolper productions filming national geographic history of australopithecus @ resort killed when convair 440 aircraft (n4819c) flew 7,000-foot (2,130 m) ridge shortly after evening take-off eastern sierra regional airport in bishop, killing 35 on board including 31 wolper crew members—although not wolper himself. filmed segment recovered in wreckage , broadcast in television show primal man. national transportation safety board unable determine cause of accident, , resort sold airline. sierra pacific operated scheduled passenger flights turboprop aircraft between mammoth lakes , burbank, fresno, los angeles , las vegas.
on april 6, 2006, 3 ski patrollers @ ski area perished due combination of co2 , hydrogen sulfide (h2s) poisoning. both gases present on known dangerous fumarole on mountain , more concentrated on day because fumarole had been covered snow days. 4 patrollers, including john scott mcandrews , james juarez, raising fence around fumarole, had become buried due heavy snowfall. fumarole had melted cavern below snowbridge collapsed under james , scott. pair of men fell 21 feet (6.4 m) , perished within matter of minutes. ski patroller, walt rosenthal, perished , 7 others injured trying rescue james , scott. oxygen masks used mammoth mountain ski patrol did not seal outer gases coming in.

sale intrawest

the village @ mammoth seen village gondola station (april, 2010)

in january 1996, intrawest corporation , mammoth mountain ski area announced intrawest corporation had purchased 33% of mammoth , june mountain ski operations, of developable real estate owned mammoth mountain ski area. in 1998, intrawest increased partnership interest 58%. development of 3 new village areas: village @ mammoth, sierra star, , juniper springs, has brought new developments resort.

the village @ mammoth, european-style , pedestrian-only complex, built in style similar other intrawest properties, such whistler in british columbia or keystone in colorado. village opened in 2003 various stores, restaurants, galleries , 166 luxury condominiums. 15-passenger village gondola, departs village, transports skiers , snowboarders directly canyon lodge base.

sale starwood capital

on february 23, 2005, dave mccoy announced pending sale stake in mammoth mountain, after 68 years of running ski area. on october 5, 2005, mammoth announced majority stake sold starwood capital group, private equity fund specializing in real estate, run barry sternlicht. sale price $365 million.

because of poor economy in california, beginning in 2007, many of stores , restaurants in village closed. however, in fall of 2010, of local business owners, village has seen resurgence of new restaurants , stores.

changes , re-development

the gondola summit



hole in wall backcountry ski attraction

before , during changes of ownership, ski area underwent major changes. resort went 16 chairs in 1980s 23 today. new gondola built ends @ visitor center @ 11,053 feet (3,369 m). visitor center has telescopes , historical displays.

almost old, slow, double chair lifts replaced high-speed quad, , six-seater lifts, traveling @ around 1000 feet per minute. these modernizations, resort longtime customer doppelmayr group. several old lifts removed. mid-chalet, once had picnic tables on roof, remodeled in 2000s, renamed mccoy station, , features gourmet foods , cafeteria. large vintage photos of mccoy , family can found hanging ceiling there. mill cafe, small rustic bar , snack area added in 2000s.

in 2011, chair 5 chosen upgraded 2011-2012 season. chair 5 upgraded yan-fixed 3 person chair doppelmayr high speed quad. ride time reported half long, , capacity increased 1800 hour estimated 2400 people hour. in line tradition, chair given new name: high 5 express.

mammoth mountain owner of june mountain ski area in small mono county town of june lake, california. on june 21, 2012, ceo of mammoth mountain announced closing june mountain 2012-2013 season, after more 50 years of operations. june mountain reopened 2013-2014 ski season.

rfid lift pass

the rfid lift pass implemented 2011–2012 season. designed combat 2 issues: long lines @ lifts , long lines @ ticket window. total of 72 rfid gates installed on 18 different lifts.