As the Mammoth Town Council settled in for a long discussion on the new Tourism Business Improvement District Wednesday night, Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory stood up to encourage support of the TBID. With little explanation, Gregory said, “In two or three weeks I’ll be announcing who will run Mammoth Mountain Ski Area next. Mammoth Mountain,” he said, “will not be run by me.”
Slight applause from the full audience followed. Gregory gave no more explanation for this pivotal moment. He only said that he had promised in November of last year that “I would get out of the way.” After saying he would not be running the Mountain, Gregory said, “We’re making a lot of changes organizationally that are difficult to make because for us to do things in the future, we can’t do things the same way harder and faster and expect a different result.”
The long-time CEO called it a very important time for the Town and the community. He said Mammoth would be required in the future to do things differently than comfortably done in the past. He repeated that “Mammoth Mountain has made a lot of changes – some public, some not.” He pointed to Howard Pickett. Gregory said, “He has done a great job as Chief Marketing Officer of Mammoth Mountain. He will remain with the Company in the foreseeable future. We need special help to work with the TBID if it passes so we can take our marketing effort and fold it into their effort.
Gregory said of the TBID, “We believe it is the only growth strategy for the future. We need a growth strategy.” He said the TBID will lead to improvements of the Town’s budget and ability to provide services like police. He advised those in the room to remember that it’s a natural tendency to “snap back to what we’ve been doing. What we’re comfortable with in the past is not the right answer for the future,” said Gregory
The CEO repeated that “We think this does represent a growth strategy for the future. Please look very carefully t it. We’ll do our best to comply,” he said.
Left with this stunning revelation – an apparent shift of what’s going on in the heart of the Eastern Sierra economy – Mammoth Mountain – the Council went on to hear other public comments. We placed calls to Rusty Gregory to learn more about who will run Mammoth Mountain and what these “organizational changes” are all about.
nice comment kevin. it’s good to see someone stick up for mammoth mt. the price for a lift ticket is very reasonable, compared to other vacation destinations like disneyland or hawaii, and when the snow is deep it’s some of the best skiing anywhere. I’ve been skiing in mammoth since… Read more »
you wont have a job if the skiiers dont show up
Everyone that complains about Mammoth catering to the rich, pricing out the common man, ect… Where else have you skied recently? This is my 4th resort job, CO, UT, WY, CA. Look at the prices elsewhere. Breck child care is $115, lift ticket $104, private lesson $730 http://www.breckenridge.com/plan-a-trip/child-care-and-nursery/nursery-search.aspx#programs#Top Snowbird day… Read more »
Kevin, Name one of the places you cited that is as hard to get to as Mammoth. We LOVE Mammoth, we wish we could move there, we prefer the skiing over Tahoe and Utah any day, but the Mountain has to deal with the transportation logistics and the people who… Read more »
I just wish the town (and the wealth that exists here) could see its way clear to patch up the town’s eyesores. We can no longer pretend these eyesores don’t exist.
Nobody really wants the town of Mammoth Lakes to look like a run-down fishing village.
boneheaded “sierra”fan,i enjoy the beauty of the sierras,not turning mammoth into vail is the best idea i know of,peace and quiet,not hammering and cash registers
Methinks lopez has a distorted idea of how capitalism (especially running a ski area)works.
In short: No dough – no play.
Take your dough and go !
Ferny,
You could be the only one left in town if they don’t get it together. This will leave you with as much Sierra as one can take.
Rusty is a longtime Mammoth local…and we somehow think a hired gun, who doesn’t care a bit about Mammoth as a community, is going to come in here and do a better job then Rusty? Wake up people…your worst nightmare has come true. People loved to bash Rusty, when he… Read more »
No reason for sadness. He’ll come out of the situation smelling like a rose. As this is after all a small town – a very small town, it’s common knowledge how personal problems such as divorce can take it’s toll on a person. There is more compassion for the man… Read more »
Sierragrl is 100% correct! Rusty has done more than most here realize! I think the Rusty hater’s will be the same hater’s when the new management team is announced. There’s no winning everyone’s love when you’re at the top!
Rob just hit the nail on the head. The flight times ARE screwy and pricing parents out of the picture is just dumb. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to encourage these people and their future skier offspring to continue to come?
The following is a memo to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area employees from MMSA CEO Rusty Gregory intending to clarify his remarks at the June 5 Mammoth Lakes Town Council meeting about someone else running the ski area. The communities of Mammoth and June continue to struggle with the hardships and… Read more »
Greg, Thank you. Rusty emailed us the memo and it is on website.
BK
This sort of memo is the usual way a company communicates prior to it’s disclosure that it’s been sold. Next follows the downsizing, the shoestring budgets, the formal divestiture, the broken dreams, and sometimes financial disaster for those who made the company profitable in the first place. The CEO then… Read more »
Bennett – this is being passed around and has been posted on the mammoth forums chat, too. ——————————————— From: “Gregory, Rusty” To: “Send to Everyone” Subject: Mammoth Update – Memo to All Employees June 2013.doc TO ALL EMPLOYEES The communities of Mammoth and June continue to struggle with the hardships… Read more »
This guy should’ve left long ago. From screwing employees w/ employee housing, The Black Pass[The Snob Pass],great mistrust w/ various dept managers,low employee moral, to screwing June Lake. He is a perfect example of the fish rotting from the head down….bye bye Darth Rusty….dont let the gondola door hit you… Read more »
Mammoth needs to cater to the clients who actually come here and stop trying to be Vail without the Vail infrastructure. It is a long drive from So Cal to Mammoth and the flights are weirdly out of touch with the actual schedule of a ski weekend. We don’t fly… Read more »
well said @Rob….you have captured the exact problem!
You are SO correct, Rob. MMSA is not very child-friendly. It seems as if they are trying, but they just cannot seem to grasp what parents really want/need.
Sorry to hear you won’t be coming back. You actually sound like the kind of people we like to visit.
Rob hit the nail on the head. The mountain needs to take notice of this and work with the people who make Mammoth Lakes and Mammoth Mountain a viable operation. Families like this are what the mountain should be making a commitment to if the they truly believe they want… Read more »
The way I see it, it’s not about being an “upscale” resort. It’s about selling expensive condos and McMansions. Starwood Capital is a property developer. That’s the end product — development. And there hasn’t been much development because we are over developed already. That’s what the land swap and the… Read more »
@ Ken Warner – Those “expensive condos and McMansions” have not been immuned to a depreciating market. And don’t think the mega-rich who own the property aren’t aware of this. Those with money want it all (caviar, Dom Pérignon, music and theatre nightlife, film festivals and hanging with “the beautiful… Read more »
I noticed how at the meeting (still being aired on TV) the town mayor vehemently jumped on a disgruntled resident for not directing his comments to the almighty board that sits before him that resembles a supreme court. However, when Gregory directed his comments to the peanut gallery (as he… Read more »
That is very interesting…
Mathew knows which side of his bread is buttered.
If he was an honorable mayor or human being for that matter, he would listen to the public and weigh it equally.
He is a public servant, not a dictator.
Let’s hope he does the RIGHT THING…
It sounds to me like they are about to quietly sell / cash out.
I would be shocked if the mountain doesn’t sell after the Rusty news.
Let’s not start re-writing history because of a few tears from Rusty at the podium. He doesn’t do anything without a plan. If he says he is leaving, I want to see his butt heading out the door. Otherwise he will still be pulling the strings of his Minions from… Read more »
Rusty didn’t say he was leaving MMSA – just that someone else would be “running” the mountain. My guess is that he will still be there – with a puppet in the public eye implementing his every desire….it’s a PR move plain and simple. “Don’t pay attention to that man… Read more »
Have more of the successful Bluesapalooza musical events. Think haute rather than trout. Tear down or improve the town’s eyesores. Focus on changing the trailer camp image. Replace every town councilman with residents who care. Promote art and culture Attract headliner entertainers for concerts. Pay attention to what the residents… Read more »
No one will take the new puppet serious because the new face will still have to check w/ the “man behind the curtain”. The fact that they think we will fall for this charade is an insult. Flush the toilet, unincorporate the town, have a paid mayor that takes responsibility,… Read more »
Thats great news for the ski area. Maybe there is a chance for the ski area to be a ski area again. Did Rusty really ever run the ski area? I don’t think so. He tried to be in charge of the brand -“Mammoth Mountain” but failed in his vision… Read more »
Mammoth won’t be stagnant for long.
I’m sure the line of brown nose’s awaiting the new CEO will be long and distinguished.
I think the bossess at Starwood Capital has run out of patience. Oh well, change is coming.
Barry is probably still chewing his ass for endorsing single family rentals to compete with one of their core revenue streams.
When the heads start to roll at the corporate level – watch out! Mammoth Mountain will never compete with the ultra-luxury ski resorts that cater to the mega-rich (a fast-growing segment of our society). In this community too much emphasis has been placed on marketing the mountain and not the… Read more »
My first impression of Mammoth would remind me of the music from Sanford and Son. I agree with you, but what does Mammoth have that those other resorts do not? Great, if not awesome skiing– that’s what. At the end of the day, most other ski resorts cannot compete with… Read more »
hmmmm.evolving into what?skiing and fishing dont evolve,they change a little but thats it,theres enough sleeping accomidations for what the area can handle and then some,plenty of great places to eat,lots of places to buy fishing gear etc…evolving is just a curtain term for trying to squeeze blood from the rock
I’ve always thought it stupid to promote a tourist destination as place to camp and catch trout. How much profit is there in fish hooks? How many fishermen leave their tents and RVs and eat restaurant food? These people are not exactly what one might call big spenders. The only… Read more »
Simple minded Ferninand… Simple minded! You have to look past your hands in order to see the whole picture.
kinda like when nixon left office,why is it always about growth,instead of bettering what mammoth already has
FL, Think about what you’re asking! You can not sustain a business if it’s not growing or evolving! In other words, a stagnant town is just that! If you’re not moving forward then you’re moving backwards! This town and the mountain need to continue to look for new revenue stream… Read more »
The middle class in America is disappearing. That leaves the non-rich (a lot of snowboarders are young, eat at McDonald’s, and stay 6 to a room in Mammoth) leaving those with the money (from Southern California) preferring the upscale luxury of a Deer Valley ski vacation (where the movie stars… Read more »
yep.. I commented on this earlier this week.
Mammoth needs some serious change.
heading off to Deer Valley with the family next week for a chage of scenery..
figure it out fast mammoth fLakes before you loose the rest of the
sheeple.
“see ya” must be one of those people who love crowds (something Mammoth doesn’t have to worry about) Park City has become completely and disgustingly developed. You’d swear you were in an overcrowded L.A. suburb. Danger ahead: Mammoth Lakes’ current mayor is … (here it comes) … (drum roll) …… Read more »
I don’t know about you all but I would take big crowds over what we have now! Big crowds = more and better paying jobs, business growth and stimulation with the low crowds comes lay off’s, mountains closing, business’s closing, lower paying jobs, less in tips, and on and on…….… Read more »
Why all the thumbs down for SerraFan? He or she has it right. Whether you like it or not that is reality. Just ask Palm ( as in Palm pilots for those that miss the reference).