June Mountain has been losing money for the past six or seven years, according to MMSA CEO Rusty Gregory.
Elected officials and business people have gone to a series of meetings with Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory and Forest Supervisor Ed Armenta. They hope to somehow keep June Mountain open next winter.
Earlier this month, Gregory announced closure of June Mountain due to financial considerations. Banks that hold loans for Mammoth Mountain pressed the company to tighten up finances after a bad winter and low revenue. One of the big annual losses for the past seven years was June Mountain at $1.5 million per year.
Mono Supervisors Byng Hunt and Larry Johnston confirmed that meetings and discussions are taking place. Other sources said Supervisor Vikki Bauer, Supervisor-elect Tim Alpers, and Connie Black of Double Eagle are also meeting with authorities about June Mountain.
Sources close to the situation have said the Mono County Supervisors may look at items that might encourage Rusty Gregory to keep June Mountain open. Some ideas kicked around include generating more Transient Occupancy Tax through rental of second homes in June Lake. This might also address Gregory’s concerns about not enough beds in June Lake for visitors.
Mono County might also consider granting back part of the bed tax for professional marketing of June Mountain. Residents had complained at the July 10 meeting in June Lake that Mammoth has never seriously marketed June.
Some residents also hope that the Mono Supervisors might consider re-zoning the 88 acre Rodeo Grounds land in June lake to help the marketability of this key piece of property.
Citizens recently meeting on the future of June Mountain reportedly took Forest Supervisor Armenta on a driving tour of June Lake. They pointed to the possible loss of businesses and lodging if June Mountain fails to open this winter.
Armenta had announced that the Forest Service would issue a letter of non-compliance to Mammoth Mountain for the closure of June Mountain. That letter would trigger 180 days in which Mammoth would be asked to submit an operations plan for June Mountain.
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Rusty will just hold June hostage until he gets more public subsidy for airfare or TOT. Call his bluff Sup’s. @MJA-Oh hell Ya!
Turn June into a municipal ski area that is run not for profit but more like an amenity such as a park. Hire a concessionaire to run the the lodge on a profit only basis. Ask for volunteer ski patrol to work and ski for free. Find and pay for a small but efficient lift and slope maintenance crew. Work out a stewardship only lease with the FS. Charge low affordable lift tickets (and add a healthy sprinkle of snow.
Rather than giving Rusty and airlines money and tearing up more pristine lands I think reopening June is much more simple than thought.
Best wishes,
=
Yes, the voice of reason in the wilderness! And it can be done, there are plenty of examples out there!
MJA as usual your ideas are complete fluff and hold no place in reality. They asked MMSA not to Mammoth June and here is what they get.
In the end it’s all about MMSA getting more tax dollars to support their poor business decisions over the last decade. Please stop the madness, throwing money at the problem is not the solution. To all taxpayer, do you think you will get any breaks when things turn south on you.
Funny, 5 of the ‘lodging establishments ” have told me they dont care. They have never made money in the winter and being closed would actually save money and open up vacation time…just sayin
the rodeo and monorail from mammoth sounded cool. caltrans could pull the permits within the week. any investors?
can we ice fish or ice skate at gull? now were planning.
where can i make a reservation?
June residents did it to themselves. It is not just Mammoth that needs to market June, June needs to market June. They did nothing but fight Mammoth every step of the way to progress. Interwest backed out of the Rodeo Grounds deal due to too much fighting with the townspeople. June residents need to stop blaming Mammoth Mtn. and start blaming themselves for the problem they are in. The mountain did their part by running the mountain. The town needed to do their part by making the town welcoming to tourists. This did not happen. SHAME ON YOU RESIDENTS OF JUNE!!!
shame on you, Jerry, for perpetuating the falsehood that “Interwest backed out…..due to too much fighting…”
the rodeo grounds project was approved and what proof does anyone have that a new “village” would have “saved” June Mt? spare me the “projections” that seem to come out of someone’s financial wet dream instead of economic reality
what’s the difference between Bodie and the village at Mammoth? Bodie has parking –
thats funny.
park at june, monorail to mammoth.
Could be a blessing in disguise. This could be a chance for June Lake residents to be in charge of their own destiny and have a say in what happens with June Mountain. I have never spent time in a more welcoming community or at such a friendly ski area. Thank goodness June Lake does not feel compelled to follow in Mammoth’s footsteps.
Hey Jerry….ONE MORE TIME……..the town of June Lake supported the rodeo grounds….we elected a supervisor 2 times based on her support of the project.She used it as a platform issue. Yes there were opponents and they had a loud voice. But in the long run they had no power….there were also major problems w/ the zoning w/ the county.
Then the economy took a dive.
We welcome tourists, in fact right now the town is full of tourists.Campgrounds are full,motels are full.We hang out w/ tourists during the winter. If they are cool we even show them our powder stashes……what dont you get?
Please stop making the statement that they pulled out because of the opposition by us townfolk.You have no Idea what you are talking about.
I pick the option that screws Mammoth Mountain owners the most. Don’t try to help them. Take it away.
The screwing would be passed on to the employees.