Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

History and ownership

Mammoth was founded by McCoy, a hydrographer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. As a member of the Eastern Sierra Ski Club in the 1930s, he 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, leading to the opening of the mountain's first lodge, "The Pit.". The first permanent mechanical lift, Chair 1, was installed in 1955. The initial chair was a two-seater with 900 person capacity.

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. The mountain also had an avalanche in 1979 that destroyed a ski lift, Between 1970 and 1985, fifteen new chairlifts were opened. In 1988, Chair 1 became a high-speed four-seater, and then was updated with a Doppelmayr retrofit in 1996. Snowboarding was allowed on all slopes in 1989. There was a prolonged drought that led to layoffs in 1991.

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. 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 would be sold for $365 million to Starwood Capital Group, a private equity fund specializing in real estate run by Barry Sternlicht. In 2014, Mammoth acquired Big Bear Mountain Resorts.

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 has maintained a fleet of Snowcats to groom the terrain for many years. As of 2002, the resort had multi-million annual grooming program to manage up to 14,000 daily visitors. The resort operated 35 snowcats across two nightly shifts and processed 1,000 acres of terrain.

Terrain

Mammoth Mountain terrain is primarily north-facing (65%), ensuring excellent snow retention. The east and west parts of mountain offer varied exposure, while the minimal south-facing terrain sees the most variable conditions. The top of the mountain has challenging chutes and groomed as well as mogul runs. 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 15-passenger Gondola connects the pedestrian village to the Canyon Lodge base. Mammoth Mountain is located in California's Eastern Sierra approximately 36 mi (58 km) southwest of the Nevada state line. Because Bay Area residents have to drive across four mountain passes to reach Mammoth, most of the skiers are from the Los Angeles area. It is also approximately 23 mi (37 km) south-southeast from Tioga Pass on the eastern boundary of Yosemite. Mammoth Mountain is a lava-dome complex on the southwest rim of Long Valley Caldera. Its last magmatic eruption occurred about 50,000 years ago. Volcanic gas is emitted at several locations on the mountain.

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 later buying a stake in the resort.

Danny Kass, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in halfpipe snowboarding, trained at Mammoth Mountain during his career.

Chloe Kim, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in halfpipe snowboarding, currently trains at Mammoth Mountain.

Jeff Anderson (snowboarder)

Mason Aguirre, snowboarder who competed in 2006 Winter Olympics

Penny McCoy, American alpine skier

Dennis McCoy (alpine skier), American alpine Skier

Linda Meyers, American alpine Skier

Jill Kinmont Boothe, American alpine Skier

A total of six Mammoth residents competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia; Kelly Clark, Greg Bretz, John Teller, Trevor Jacob, and Stacey Cook represented the U.S. while Kaya Turski represented Canada.

Safety and incidents

As of 2017, ski patrol uses explosives via howitzers that are leased from the U.S. Army to trigger controlled snow slides in high-risk avalanche areas.

Incidents

On December 13, 1973, Marvin Ray Critton, a ski patroller died in an explosives accident while performing avalanche control work. He was throwing the explosives above Chairlift 5 when the explosive accidentally discharged. Several ski runs at the resort are also named after his nickname "Critter," including Critters and New Critters. Within three weeks, in January 1974, a Mammoth ski area employee was in critical condition after an explosive used in avalanche mitigation went off in his hands.

In early 2006, the mountain had a series of five unrelated fatalities over a brief consecutive period. On January 26, a 16-year-old boy from San Diego died after taking a jump too fast on an intermediate run and missing the landing, despite wearing a helmet and reportedly being an experienced skier. The following day, January 27, a 39-year-old man from Laguna Niguel lost control at high speed on an intermediate trail, struck a tree after hitting a mogul, and died from his injuries four days later at Renown Regional Medical Center. The following day, on January 28, a 61-year-old Los Angeles dentist became disoriented and collided at full speed with a 30-foot boulder in a canyon area amid windy and snowy conditions that had closed some lifts. The next day, January 29, a 63-year-old man from Garden Grove suffered a fatal heart attack while skiing. According to a 2006 Los Angeles Times article, in a normal season, three people die in accidents or from natural causes, while only two people died during the previous season. In January 2006, a 31-year-old ski patrol member was caught in an avalanche while off-duty near Twin Lakes and suffered severe injuries including a broken back and leg that resulted in her death.

On April 6, 2006, three ski patrollers at the ski area died either due to a fall or combination of CO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) 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 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 two of them. The pair of men fell 21 feet (6.4 m) and died on scene. Another died at a later time and seven others were injured. The oxygen masks used by the Mammoth Mountain ski patrol did not properly seal, allowing hazardous gases to come in.

In February 2025, 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 taken to the hospital. 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, the critical patroller died of their injuries. On Christmas Day 2025, a skier died after becoming immobilized in deep, heavy snow.