# Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a ski resort in eastern California, located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range within the Inyo National Forest. The resort is located in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California. The resort covers 3,500 acres (1,420 ha) of skiable terrain, with a vertical drop of 3,100 feet (940 m) and a summit elevation of 11,059 feet (3,371 m). It receives an average of 400 inches (1,020 cm) of snowfall annually and typically offers a ski season from November until May, with some seasons extending into the summer months.
Mammoth Mountain, established by Dave McCoy in the 1940s, developed from a small ski area into a major resort after receiving a U.S. Forest Service permit in 1953 and constructing its first ski lift in 1955. Intrawest Corporation acquired a stake in the 1990s, leading to real estate development, including The Village at Mammoth. In 2005, McCoy sold his majority stake to Starwood Capital Group for $365 million. The resort has undergone infrastructure improvements, including high-speed lifts and a gondola to an interpretive center. In 2017, Mammoth Resorts announced its sale by Starwood to a partnership of Aspen Skiing Company and KSL Capital Partners, later named Alterra Mountain Company.
Mammoth Mountain is a lava-dome complex on the southwest rim of Long Valley Caldera, representing a magmatic system distinct from both the caldera and the Mono-Inyo Craters. Its last magmatic eruption occurred about 50,000 years ago, and it is surrounded by over 35 mafic vents with recent volcanic unrest linked to a 1989 dike intrusion. In April 2006, three members of the Mammoth Mountain ski patrol team died after falling into a volcanic fumarole near the summit during safety operations.

## Terrain and resort overview
### Terrain

Mammoth Mountain's terrain is primarily north-facing (65%), ensuring excellent snow retention. The east (22%) and west (10%) aspects offer varied exposure, while the minimal south-facing terrain (3%) sees the most variable conditions. The top of the mountain has challenging chutes and groomed as well as mogul runs.

#### Terrain parks

There are eight Unbound terrain parks. Unbound Main, adjacent to Main Lodge, is highly praised by extreme snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts, and is one of the major attractions of the ski resort.

### The Village, lodges and chalets

Mammoth Mountain offers a variety of lodges and chalets catering to different skiing and snowboarding experiences, including Main Lodge, the central hub with direct lift access and amenities; Canyon Lodge, a popular mid-mountain base with a gondola connection to The Village; and Eagle Lodge, a quieter, family-friendly area with easy terrain access.
Mid-Chalet, Outpost, and The Mill serve as key on-mountain spots for dining, relaxation, and access to trails. The Mid-Chalet, which once had picnic tables on its roof, was completely remodeled in the early 2000s, renamed McCoy Station, and now features gourmet foods and a cafeteria. Large vintage photos of McCoy and his family can be found hanging from the ceiling there. The Mill Cafe, a small rustic bar and snack area was built in the early 2000s.
The Village at Mammoth, a European-style and pedestrian-only complex, was built in a style similar to other Intrawest properties, such as Whistler in British Columbia or Keystone in Colorado. The Village opened in 2003 with various stores, restaurants, galleries and 166 luxury condominiums.

### Chairlifts and gondolas

Almost all the old, slow, double chair lifts were replaced with high-speed quad, and six-seater lifts, traveling at around 1000 feet per minute. For these modernizations, the resort is a longtime customer to the Doppelmayr group. Several old lifts were also removed.
Before and during the changes of ownership, the ski area underwent major changes. The resort went from 16 chairs in the 1980s to 23 today. A new gondola was built that ends at an interpretive center at 11,053 feet (3,369 m).
The 15-passenger Village Gondola, which departs from the Village, transports people directly to the Canyon Lodge base.
In 2011, Chair 5 was chosen to be upgraded for the 2011–2012 season. Chair 5 was upgraded from a Yan-fixed three person chair to a Doppelmayr high speed quad. The ride time is reported to be half as long, and the capacity was increased from 1800 an hour to an estimated 2400 people an hour. In line with tradition, the chair was also given a new name: High Five Express.

### Ski season length

Mammoth Mountain also has one of the longest ski seasons in North America, which averages from the start of November to Memorial Day. The resort occasionally enjoys a longer season, as in 2016/2017, when it opened on November 8 and did not close until August 6th. The 1994–95 season was Mammoth Mountain's longest, with the resort operating over ten months from October 8 until August 13. The 2016–2017 season was the third snowiest on record, with 618 inches (2010–2011 with 668.5 inches was the second snowiest, and the 2022–2023 season total holds the record with 715 inches at the main lodge, and nearly 900 inches at the summit). January 2017 was the snowiest month in Mammoth history, with 246 inches. Mammoth receives an average of 322 inches (820 cm) of snow per season.

### Zipline

As of 2018, a zip-line was under construction. If complete, it will be the steepest in North America. It goes from the top of the mountain near the upper gondola to the bottom near Main Lodge, with a stop near the top of Chair 1.

### Mascot

Mammoth Mountain has a popular mascot named "Woolly" who can be found skiing around the mountain, taking pictures with guests, and leading events like a Saturday parade for children. He also appears in promotional videos. Many guests consider it lucky when they have a Woolly sighting. According to Powder Magazine, Woolly is the 8th-best mascot (but they would have rated Woolly higher if Woolly didn't also snowboard). Despite the mascot name "Woolly", woolly mammoths never existed in the region.

## Notable skiing and snowboarding
### Events

Mammoth Mountain has hosted numerous ski and snowboarding events, including U.S. Grand Prix competitions, which serve as Olympic qualifiers for freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The mountain has also been a venue for FIS World Cup events, featuring disciplines such as halfpipe and slopestyle. Additionally, Mammoth Mountain serves as a training site for elite snowboarders due to its extensive terrain parks and consistent snowfall.

### Athletes

* Shaun White trained at Mammoth Mountain throughout his career and later purchased a stake in the resort.
* Danny Kass, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in halfpipe snowboarding, trained at Mammoth Mountain during his career.
* Jeff Anderson (snowboarder)

## History and ownership
### Founding by Dave McCoy

Mammoth was founded by Dave McCoy, a hydrographer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. As a member of the Eastern Sierra Ski Club in the 1930s, McCoy noticed that Mammoth Mountain consistently held more snow than other mountains. The Ski Club had a portable rope tow. McCoy bought the rope tow from the club in 1941 and usually kept it at Mammoth. In 1953, the United States Forest Service awarded a permit to McCoy to operate the ski area, and the first ski lift was built in 1955.
McCoy faced adversity in growing the ski area: drought in 1958–59, the 1973 oil crisis, and only 94" inches of snow during the 1976–1977 season, the worst in Mammoth's history.

### Sale to Intrawest

In January 1996, Intrawest Corporation and Mammoth Mountain Ski area announced that Intrawest Corporation had purchased 33% of Mammoth and June Mountain ski operations, as well as all of the developable real estate owned by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. In 1998, Intrawest increased their partnership interest to 58%. The development of three new village areas: The Village at Mammoth, Sierra Star, and Juniper Springs, brought new developments to the resort.

### Subsequent owners

On February 23, 2005, Dave McCoy announced the pending sale of his stake in Mammoth Mountain, after 68 years of running the ski area. On October 5, 2005, Mammoth announced that a majority stake will be sold to Starwood Capital Group, a private equity fund specializing in real estate, run by Barry Sternlicht. The sale price was $365 million. In 2017, Mammoth Resorts announced its sale by Starwood to a partnership of Aspen Skiing Company and KSL Capital Partners, later named Alterra Mountain Company.

## Location & accessibility
### Location

Mammoth Mountain is located in California's Eastern Sierra approximately 100 mi (160 km) south of the Nevada state line and 50 minutes from the Eastern Gate of Yosemite National Park.

### Accessibility
#### Highways

Although it is a five-hour drive from Los Angeles via U.S. 395, it is much closer for southern California winter sports enthusiasts than the Lake Tahoe area resorts, which are more accessible to the San Francisco Bay Area. Most mountain passes along the Sierra crest are closed after the first major snowfall, and this lack of a trans-Sierra travel route creates a long drive to Mammoth (6–8 hours) from the Bay Area and most of central California. For example: during the summer, the distance from Fresno to Mammoth Lakes is 189 miles (304 km), while in winter it nearly doubles to 366 miles (589 km).

#### Airlines

In recent years, Mammoth has hosted more visitors from outside of California and Nevada. Scheduled passenger service, as of April 2024, is available to Eastern Sierra Regional Airport (BIH), about 45 min from Mammoth Lakes from San Francisco (SFO) and Denver International Airport (DEN) on a seasonal basis.

## Notable incidents

As the ski area grew, McCoy faced adverse circumstances: the 1973 oil crisis, an avalanche in 1979 that destroyed a ski lift, and a prolonged drought that led to layoffs in 1991.

### Plane crash

In 1973, the resort bought Sierra Pacific Airlines from 3-D film cinematographer Chris Condon. On March 13, 1974, a film crew for Wolper Productions filming a National Geographic history of Australopithecus at the resort was killed when their Convair 440 aircraft (N4819C) flew into a 7,000-foot (2,130 m) ridge shortly after an evening take-off from Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, killing all 35 on board including 31 Wolper crew members—although not Wolper himself. The filmed segment was recovered in the wreckage and was broadcast in the television show Primal Man. The National Transportation Safety Board was unable to determine the cause of the accident, and the resort sold the airline. Sierra Pacific previously operated scheduled passenger flights with turboprop aircraft between Mammoth Lakes and Burbank, Fresno, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

### 2006 ski patrol deaths

On April 6, 2006, three ski patrollers at the ski area perished either due to a fall or combination of CO$_2$ and hydrogen sulfide (H$_2$S) poisoning. Both gases are present on a known dangerous fumarole on the mountain and were more concentrated on that day because the fumarole had been covered by snow for days. Four patrollers, including John "Scott" McAndrews and James Juarez, were raising the fence around the fumarole, which had become buried due to heavy snowfall. The fumarole had melted a cavern below the snowbridge which collapsed under James and Scott. The pair of men fell 21 feet (6.4 m) and perished within a matter of minutes. Another ski patroller, Walt Rosenthal, perished in a rescue attempt, which injured seven others. The oxygen masks used by the Mammoth Mountain ski patrol did not properly seal, allowing hazardous gases to come in.

### Ski patrol death from avalanche

On February 14, 2025, at approximately 11:30 a.m., two Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol members were caught in an avalanche on Lincoln Mountain during mitigation efforts following a significant snowstorm that deposited about six feet of snow over 36 hours. One patroller was extracted and found responsive, while the other sustained serious injuries and was transported to Mammoth Hospital before being flown out for further care. The area was closed to the public at the time, and the resort suspended all operations at noon for the remainder of the day. On February 22, 2025, the ski patroller, who had been taken to the hospital, died from her injuries.