While Mammoth CEO Rusty Gregory was not in attendance, the ski area still got a mouthful from June Lake residents at a recent meeting, who remain distrustful despite Mammoth's VP of real estate claiming that June Mountain will be re-opened "no matter what you [June Lake residents] do, or what happens" come next December. The tiny town's residents have been up in arms since Mammoth abruptly closed June last summer and started one of the most heated ski resort-versus-locals debates in recent memory.
About 100 June Lake residents attended a meeting to hear the result of the "peer resort tour" taken by Mammoth Mountain representatives as well as local residents and tourism officials, which visited several small family-oriented Vermont ski areas in order to gain insight into how to better run June Mountain should it re-open. The most salient take-away was that the success of those small ski areas hinged on their "fantastic customer service" targeted towards families and beginning skiers, with an eye towards making them feel comfortable and keeping them entertained on and off the slopes.
Of course, any meeting concerning June Lake and Mammoth turned into a proxy battle for the fight that began last summer. Some residents were sour that Mammoth had decided to invest in Eagle Lodge this summer instead of June Mountain, while another brought up the Rodeo Grounds parcel that Mammoth has been coveting for condo development at the base of June, suggesting it be developed for a summer-focused project like a golf course instead.
Mammoth seems to hope that their definitive claims of a June Mountain re-opening will get the ball rolling building trust among June Lake residents, but last week's meeting showed they still have a long way to go. While Gregory, who has received the blunt of criticism since June Mountain's closing, was not in attendance, today he gives a more detailed presentation to county supervisors about Mammoth Mountain's plans for June Lake. Rest assured, Curbed will be watching.
· Mammoth Mountain extends olive branch, June residents way [Mammoth Times]