why would Bay Area skiers drive by Kirkwood, Heavenly, etc to get there?
When Tahoe has no snow, like now? Or when the snow is much better at Mammoth, essentially anytime after April 1. I notice Ikon luring more Bay Area/Tahoe skiers to Mammoth in the spring than before.
And they have ski resorts that could operate nearly 9 months per year.
But only one of those resorts makes any effort for that to happen.
Why hasn't Mammoth gone beyond lodging options of, as described recently, aging 60s and 70s condos? It seems like there would be a huge market for a more proper "ski town" that addresses the glaring deficiencies. I've never been to Mammoth so I assume that there are probably some legitimate reasons why it never happened.
During the Intrawest/Starwood era there was such an effort with the village construction and the access gondola connection from there to Canyon Lodge. I still remember Rusty Gregory's quote to NASJA members in 1999, just after Intrawest bought its 49% share from Dave McCoy.
The town of Mammoth Lakes resembles an El Monte strip mall.
Why was the village not successful in tapping the upscale national market?
Mammoth makes Telluride easy to get to (somewhat). There is no airport, and 5-6 hours from LA or SF [also LasVegas!].
Yes, and they blundered by developing the Mammoth airport in chronic crosswinds and bankrupting the town of Mammoth Lakes with the developer lawsuit in the process. I said at the time the airport needed to be in Bishop. Bishop was not interested then but supposedly is now. Thus the national clientele never really materialized.
Meanwhile we Mammoth weekenders from SoCal are cheap. We love the mountain but we grind zealously to make connections and secure bargain recurring lodging deals. From 1983-2003 we had direct rental from a condo owner with the proviso that we bring our own linens and clean the place thoroughly before departing. From 2011-2015 Adam belonged to a season rental ski house that was packed on weekends but I could go there midweek and pay $20 per night. After that we usually stayed at Sierra Lodge until MMSA bought it and turned it into employee housing. We have a new private arrangement since 2023, not sure how long it will last.
The village has underground parking for people staying there. But if you want to do apres ski or dinner in the village, street parking is limited and most of it has 30 minute limit. We cheap locals won't use the pay lot across the street from the village when there are many other options in town. And remember, unlike a lot of destination resort visitors, everyone coming from SoCal has a car and can go out wherever they want.
Not sure about the cheap rooms at Mammoth as Motel 6 can be over $200 plus tax some days.
Motels have always been relatively expensive at Mammoth since there are relatively few of them compared to the abundance of condos. And if motels are cheap, they are often very dated and/or run down. Lots of SoCal skiers like to come in groups, cram a condo and eat meals in to keep costs down.
You could totally buy into Mammoth in the 2000s and 2010s. A bargain compared to Colorado, Utah, and Tahoe.
The real deals were in the mid-1990's after the SoCal aerospace recession, just before Intrawest came in. I've just never been interested in vacation real estate because I'm a variety junkie who doesn't want to go to the same place all the time.
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