According to the LA Times, Shaun “The Flying Tomato” White, 29, has bought a minority stake in the company who runs Mammoth Mountain ski resort in California.ย That company is called Mammoth Resorts and they recently acquired Snow Summit and Bear Mountains ski resorts in SoCal for a cool $38 million.ย Mammoth Resorts also owns June Mountain, CA.
Shuan made a “seven digit” investment into Mammoth Resorts according to Mammoth CEO Rusty Gregory.
“As a part owner of Mammoth Resorts, White will help oversee the operation of more than 4,000 acres of skiable land in California, visited by more than 2 million skiers and snowboarders each year.” – LA Times
Shaun is already pitching ideas on how to get more visitors up to Mammoth’s resorts including more music festivals and events.
“We think he is the exact right guy to sit at the table with us and move culture in Southern California,” Rusty Gregory, Mammoth Resorts’ CEO told the LA Times
Shaun is from San Diego and has spent a lot of time at Mammoth over the years.ย It would be really cool to see Shaun bring more music and events to Mammoth.ย The SnowBrains crew lives in Mammoth every May and the place is simply unreal.
“It’s like a homecoming to me.” White told the LA Times
I am of the opinion, that outdoor recreational activities, particularly those recreational activities, such as skiing, hiking, camping, fishing, ect, are more enjoyable when done in over commercialized, over developed, over crowded, or at least crowded places, where the sounds of nature are either non existent, or drowned out by the steady, roars, booms, and clangs, of what would be urban sprawl, if the source of said sounds, were any where other than what was at least once, a quite, laid back, not over developed, over commercialized, over crowded, rural mountainous area.
For the life of me, I can not understand why any ski enthusiast, or other fan of mountain activity; would want to leave the hustle, bustle, hectic, concrete jungle of the typical American metropolis; where concerts, theater, art shows, organized sporting events, public speaking events, and all manner of social gathering, is offered, 24-7, and venture into a remote, mountainous area that has naught to offer, but wonderful scenery, fresh air, a lack of traffic jams, peace and only the sounds of nature, camp grounds that do not, more resemble small, poorly planed cities , day hiking, back country back packing, horse riding, fishing, hunting, bird watching, skiing, and all the the things that can not be found, and or done, in the metro areas, nor in the utilitarian countryside, between the metro areas.
Now to be honest, I do not know much about the Mammoth Mountain resort, nor am I familiar with that region of California in general. But being that most large ski resorts, are located in, or very near, sizeable tracts of the nation’s semi wild to wild, lightly populated lands; and being that resorts in or near such areas, if not incessantly advertised, far and wide, as establishments of around the clock, season, or year long, entertainment and excitement, on the slopes and even more so, off the slopes, tend to draw lighter crowds of people, people that is; whom for the most part, would prefer to actually spend time skiing, ”rather than waiting in line to ski,” and engaging in the sort of activities that can only be engaged in, when, within large tracts of wild, to semi wild mountain terrain. This all said, the fine patrons of Mammoth Mtn resort, and the goodly folk of the Mammoth Mtn, region, should consider themselves fortunate, for the efforts S White, to transform MM resort, and eventually the MM region, into the sort of over developed, over commercialized, over crowded, over regimented, establishment and community, that skiers and other, outdoor- nature, back country, and mountain lovers, can find, almost anywhere in the country.
No doubt about it, this is a win for everyone, except for those few peculiar souls, whom believe that excursions into the mountains, should be like excursions into the mountains, as opposed to visiting a cross between something similar to Disney world and Times Square, during a New Year celebration.
You know how it is though, some people just can not accept the fact, that bigger is always better, and bigger monetary profits, resulting from bigger crowds, more development, and still bigger crowds, resulting in still bigger profits, are the true measures, of how worth while, something, or some place, is.
You have to wonder, will these misfit spirits, ever be more reasonable and realistic in their expectations and hopes ? Well, just in case, my sarcasm is not so evident, I will tell you a secret; I for one, certainly hope, those misfit souls, never change.
Bye for now, folks !
David Keeler; The fact of the matter is, that at least since 9-11, the ” clamp-down,” mentality, as you call it, has become an all invasive, and ever expanding, feature of American culture. It would be far easier to compile a list of things, activities, and aspects of American life, that have not been clamped down on, than to write, what would essentially be an encyclopedia of American clamp downs !
Hope he can return Snow Summit & Bear Mountain to a level of more open freedom, fun & comradely than the ‘clamp-down’ mentality that has existed in recent years.