Sunday, June 06, 2004
corporate mammoth
mammoth mountain california will never be the same. the corporations have landed (INTRAWEST more precisely). i had the opportunity recently to visit some friends up that way and what i saw was not pretty.
the lord of the rings trilogy had me preoccupied down in new zealand so it's been 3+ years since i've been to mammoth. when i returned i saw a newly completed multitiered consumer village where small local shops and a hotel used to reside. mammoth mountain is no longer a really cool mountain to snowboard or ski, it's now a growing shopping mecca for the LA crowds, their SUVs and their bulging credit cards which are just begging to be used to further that debt.
apparently, you can't do anything there anymore and they really want you to know it too. i bet the locals are less than pleased. in fact, i know they are.
am i angry at this new change? nah, not really. i had many upon many epic experiences in that town and on that mountain over the past years. one thing's for sure though...times have certainly changed. and with that change, i gotta go look for another mountain. goodbye mammoth.
mammoth mountain california will never be the same. the corporations have landed (INTRAWEST more precisely). i had the opportunity recently to visit some friends up that way and what i saw was not pretty.
the lord of the rings trilogy had me preoccupied down in new zealand so it's been 3+ years since i've been to mammoth. when i returned i saw a newly completed multitiered consumer village where small local shops and a hotel used to reside. mammoth mountain is no longer a really cool mountain to snowboard or ski, it's now a growing shopping mecca for the LA crowds, their SUVs and their bulging credit cards which are just begging to be used to further that debt.
apparently, you can't do anything there anymore and they really want you to know it too. i bet the locals are less than pleased. in fact, i know they are.
am i angry at this new change? nah, not really. i had many upon many epic experiences in that town and on that mountain over the past years. one thing's for sure though...times have certainly changed. and with that change, i gotta go look for another mountain. goodbye mammoth.