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Ski Area’s Williams says June Mountain decision is final

June Mountain Ski Area General Manager Carl Williams told the full house of concerned citizens who attended the Keep June Mountain Open Coalition (KJMOC) meeting in June Lake on Wednesday evening that despite their best efforts, “June Mountain will not operate this season.”

And to make it perfectly clear, he repeated it twice.

The news appeared to stun Double Eagle Resort Owner Connie Black, who moderated the meeting. Prior to Williams’ statement, she had said, “If we don’t continue [pressing forward] and get June Mountain open this year, the odds of getting it open in future years are slim.”

Black and fellow KJMOC members had just spent the previous 20 minutes talking about the number of meetings they’d had and who they’d contacted.

At a July 10 meeting, Black said Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory had outlined three things he needed [to even consider opening June]: for the County to approve a $100,000 commercial air service subsidy, entitlements on the zoning of the Rodeo Grounds property, and assurance that June Lake’s vision and development strategy would support a ski area. (In short: put a lot more heads on a lot more beds.) 

“I heard we had time,” said Black.

Williams, who attended the July 10 meeting, replied, “We said two weeks. It’s been two weeks. Time’s up.”

Fellow KJMOC member Patti Heinrich said if the Mountain wouldn’t open, then she wouldn’t support an air service subsidy or any modifications to the June Lake Area Plan. Her statement met with applause from those inside the packed June Lake Community Center.

Then the odds of opening anytime in the future become less and less, said Williams.

As Williams said, he’s already let go 17 full-time employees and the only two people he has left have spent the past 45-60 days putting things to bed, as opposed to readying equipment for next season. “The decision to not operate is a financial one, and conditions haven’t changed within the last 45 days.” Inspection and routine maintenance of lifts to get them ready for the season costs approximately $300,000 according to Connie Black (via the July 10 meeting with Gregory and Williams).

“We need a ton of snow, and Mammoth Mountain needs to make a shit-pile of money [for June to even have the possibility of opening in 2013-2014],” Williams added.

So where does that leave June Lake and Mono County?

A lot poorer.

June Lake resident Chris Edwards said he will immediately apply for a Prop. 8 property tax reduction of at least 50%, and figured everyone in June Lake would do the same.

Double Eagle Resort Owner Ralph Lockhart said the Double Eagle remitted $45,000 to the County in transient occupancy tax from December 2010 through March 2011. “We wouldn’t pay 20% of that if June Mountain closed this year.”

While Inyo National Forest Supervisor Ed Armenta said he cares about the community and is “deeply concerned,” he also warned that permit holders have rights, certainly the right to appeal if a permit is revoked, and that whatever process occurs will take time.

Mammoth Lakes District Ranger Jon Regelbrugge also noted that Mammoth Mountain owns the improvements on its leased property. It’s not as simple as asking MMSA to leave and bringing in a new operator.

The ever-popular Forest Service did not escape its share of derision, however. Regelbrugge noted that there is just one attorney at the Department of Agriculture who is responsible for legal matters at 18 National Forests. The guy is based in San Francisco and has just happened to be out of the office on vacation for the past two weeks. It’s this attorney who can issue a letter of non-compliance, “the only hammer we have [to force MMSA] to get off the stick,” said one disgruntled member of the audience.

Regelbrugge responded defensively. “We don’t have a trump card that could force Mammoth Mountain’s hand in a week.”

The assembled crowd did achieve one small victory. After a night of haranguing about what it would cost to buy June Mountain, Carl Williams did say it had an asset value of $14 million. However, he also said the Mountain is not for sale and that even if it was, any buyer would take one look at the books and run the other direction.

Mono Tourism meeting notes

Prior to many questions regarding JMSA’s future getting answered Wednesday, ideas and speculation ran rampant during a meeting of the Mono County Tourism Commission the previous day. Lockhart said the Keep June Mountain Open Coalition had called for an emergency meeting of the Mono Board of Supervisors on July 31 to present a package of potential ideas to put before Gregory regarding how to potentially open JMSA for the winter season.

With so much now taken off the table, exactly what the supervisors will discuss at that meeting remains to be seen. Gregory has been invited to that meeting, but why he would attend now is also a mystery.

Tourism Chair Jimmy Little said he thinks that a statement reportedly made by Gregory about June not have a clear vision represents something of a disconnect between Gregory and the community. Rebranding and chairlift upgrades are ideas Lockhart thinks Gregory will resist until he sees more detail on how June Lake will build on its lodging and development markets.

Gregory, according to Lockhart, called selling and subleasing JMSA “stupid ideas.”

“It was like extortion,” current District 4 Supervisor Tim Hansen said of the earlier June Lake CAC meeting with Gregory. Hansen said he found Gregory’s responses “offensive,” and railed against Mammoth Lakes’ “doubling down” on air service. He also called attempts to link air service and June Mountain’s predicament essentially “extorting and further trying to shame the County into putting in more money.”

Mono Economic Development Manager Alicia Vennos defended air service, pointing out that visitors flying in tend to stay longer and that research show the money spent tends to be higher.

“The County has a huge role to play here [in June Lake],” Little charged. “If tourism goes away, money to provide resources for other things goes away.”

“Does this community want a ski area, does it benefit the community and if so what are we willing to do to keep it?” Lockhart summed up.

By Monica Prelle

Before you get all teary-eyed about the closing of Restaurant Skadi, pop a bottle of your favorite bubbly and raise your glass — this is a story worth celebrating.

Restaurant Skadi opened its doors for business on Dec. 21, 1995. It was the winter solstice, and the beginning of a dream. It is the restaurant many locals consider the best in town and when Skadi closes on Saturday, May 26, it will have been open for a celebrated 16 1/2 years.

What sets Skadi apart from other restaurants is the man in the kitchen. Wearing a proverbial toque and clad in crisp chef whites, Chef Ian Algerøen leads the culinary team from his post at the sauté station. He’s diligent and methodical in his work and passionate about theater of dining.

At 5 p.m. Chef Ian gathers the staff for a champagne toast. This isn’t a ritual that happens every night at Skadi, but a good one that happens from time to time.

Named for the Viking Goddess of Skiing and Hunting, Skadi draws its inspiration from the mountains that surround it. The Scandinavian and Alpine influenced cuisine lures food-savvy locals and in-the-know tourists just about every night of the week. The food is a substantial part of the restaurant’s appeal.

An old Chair 9 hangs in the foyer at Skadi, while the Norse God Ullr welcomes guests inside. The second floor Old Mammoth location’s panoramic views, intimate 60-seat dining room, ski memorabilia, and mellow vibe create an unparalleled locale for fine food and wine.

The intimate dining room at Restaurant Skadi

There isn’t a better dinner table in Mammoth.

Each plate at Skadi is delicately assembled with fresh seasonal ingredients. And many of those ingredients come from the Walking Beam Ranch in Santa Paula where Rancher Peter Busch, Chef Ian’s former business partner and lifelong friend, oversees the daily operations. The ranch exclusively supplies Skadi with venison, macadamia nuts, avocado, citrus, and herbs.

Inspired by the success of deer farming in New Zealand, Busch’s parents, decided to farm venison. The family has owned and operated the Walking Beam Ranch since 1978.

Menu highlights include a Walking Beam Ranch venison sausage served on fresh corn pancakes, savory mushroom crepes, salmon gravlax and a duck leg confit served with spätzli and lingonberries. There’s even a kids menu, a vegetarian menu and a very popular Sunday night burger menu.

The success of the restaurant is a direct result of Chef Ian’s passion and dedication to the culinary arts. He began his career at the age of 13, working as a cook and bus person at the Big Green House, “Chicken, Steak and Chocolate Cake—all you can eat,” in Ventura. He went on to study at the California Culinary Academy (CCA), receiving a Professional Chef diploma in 1984.

Algerøen has worked as a pastry cook during the game season in Switzerland as Chef Tournant at the Hotel Biberenbad and Chef De Cuisine of the Blue Fox in San Francisco. And he was the Executive Sous Chef at the CCA from 1989-1993.

Eventually Algerøen settled in Mammoth and he was hired as Chef De Cuisine at Nevados (formerly Roget’s).

“I moved back to my wonderful home nine times and haven’t left in 20 years,” Ian said. “Mammoth is my home. I’m here for good.”

After two years working for Tim Dawson at Nevados, Ian and Pete opened Restaurant Skadi.

There have been many intelligent hard working individuals to pass through the back door at Skadi. If one wanted to be a successful Skadi employee he/she only needed to follow two rules: 1. The Chef is always right, and 2. Please refer to rule number one.

After working at Skadi for a short time, one would quickly learn that the Chef actually is crazy. Seriously. It even said so on the menu.

A quick phone call to let Chef know that I was going to be late for work (because I was about to drop into epic powder on the Sherwins) was not reprimanded. Rather, Ian ran to the office to grab a pair of binoculars so he could watch.

The Skadi ski tune room was open to current and former employees and a few select friends. There were many late night tuning sessions where limited bottles from Chef’s private cellar were consumed while the snow accumulated outside.

Chef quizzed his employees about the best rock and roll band to ever live (Led Zeppelin) and taught the staff about cuts of meat by demonstrating on his own body. He cooked lobster and eggs for the cleaning parties and taught us that that the Caesar salad was invented by an Italian chef in Tijuana. At Skadi we did not drink—we tasted because it was part of our education.

But all good things must come to end.

Chef Ian is crazy ... it says so on the Skadi menu

“It is very difficult running a small fine dining restaurant in a resort town,” Ian said. “Ever since the economic collapse in 2008 things just changed. It’s tough economic times.”

The closing of Skadi is bittersweet for me. I moved on five years ago to eventually become the Wine Director at the Westin Monache Resort. Now that Chef Ian is moving up the hill to take the Executive Chef position at the Westin, once again, I get to work with the chef that taught me everything I know about food and inspired me to learn about wine, but the restaurant where I feel most at home is closing.

And I’m not the only one who’s sad. For the final week of business the restaurant has been packed with locals enjoying a last supper.

“The Eastern Sierra is losing one of its best, if not the best, restaurant in the region,” said John Rogitz, a loyal customer and good friend. “Skadi’s bill of fare fit well into anyone’s gastronomic preferences, and some of the best bottles of wine this side of Bordeaux were regularly uncorked there.

“The Westin, in luring Ian with the proverbial offer he couldn’t refuse, has added new luster to its dining room and raised the bar for other fine dining establishments in Mammoth. “

Part of what made Skadi so successful was the quality of the guests and the intimate size of the dining room. Chef Ian made regular laps throughout dinner service. Longtime customers became friends and new customers were genuinely welcomed.

“There have been so many great customers,” Ian said. “In 18 years I’ve watched children turn into adults and couples get married and start families.”

On snowy nights as dinner service slowed down, Chef Ian would gear up and dig cars out of the snow. He never asked a server or a dishwasher to shovel; he did it himself.

Chef Ian plans to bring some of the classic Skadi dishes with him to the Westin, but will most likely leave the snow shoveling and car service to the hotel’s valet team.

“One of the greatest things about my new job is I get to focus on food, food, food,” Ian said. “People want the duck and they love the crepes. We’ll continue to get venison, macadamia nuts, and citrus from the ranch, and I will continue to deal with small farmers.”

He also wants to integrate Mexican and Japanese inspired dishes, drawing influence from the California culture in which he grew up, and there is a good possibility of a “Skadi Burger” making its way to the menu.

With moving to a much larger restaurant Chef Ian will be managing a bigger culinary team and cooking three meals a day, but he wants to offer the same personal dining experience that his guests at Skadi came to know and love.

“My new kitchen is an exposition kitchen, so I will be in contact with the guests just as much,” he said. “I just have to walk a bigger lap.”

Up the hill at the Westin, the current staff is buzzing with excitement and anticipation. For Ian and those close to the restaurant, it is an emotional beginning of another chapter.

“Skadi is my baby, my everything,” Ian said. “She will not die, though. A mere mortal cannot kill a goddess!”

There is no truth to the rumors reportedly being circulated claiming that the state of California is closing Cerro Coso Community College due to the growing state deficit. According to a statement issued recently by Public Relations Director Natalie Dorrell, “The news from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) regarding the state’s deficit changes daily. However, the growing state shortfall could result in a reduction in the Kern Community College District (KCCD) budget between $13.2 and $17.8 million for the 2013 and 2014 budget years. As a result, KCCD is proactively developing a strategic plan that will drive the budget that considers both worst case and best case scenarios.

“This plan does not include closing any of the three colleges within the KCCD, which include Cerro Coso Community College, Bakersfield College, and Porterville College. An aggressive district-wide planning process is underway. Programs, support services, and operations are being prioritized to best serve our communities and students in the most effective manner possible with the resources that are available. KCCD and the Cerro Coso Community College are committed to their mission of providing outstanding education programs and services that are tailored to the students and workforce needs of the rural communities we serve.”

Earlier this year, The Sheet reported that Cerro Coso was not in financial difficulty, and in fact, was prepared for state budget cuts.

Rumors and local chatter during the July 4 holiday weekend that Mammoth Mountain Ski Area might have been trying to extend the ski season turned out to be untrue. According to MMSA’s Joani Lynch, the Mountain had queried some ski teams as to whether they would like to get some summer practice time in at MMSA, but had no takers and decided that July 4 would indeed be it for the winter season.

Lynch said that while there may be a few feet of snow still clinging to the Mountain’s upper regions, the warm weather has erased much of the mid- and lower-level coverage. As of July 6, there were about 5 to 6 inches at the base of Chair 11. “Lots of brown [dirt] is showing through, and when that happens the snow goes pretty fast,” Lynch commented.

One thing unusual about his year, however, is that Chair 2 [Stump Alley] and The Mill were open all the way through July 4, a rarity in most ski seasons at this time of year. By July 5, however, what was left of the narrow run was deemed not skiable. Lynch said the focus now is to get the Bike Park trails fully online and press on into summer.

Mammoth was one of a handful of ski areas in California that made it to July 4, including Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood, Sugar Bowl and Squaw Valley. It’s only the fourth time Squaw has operated that late in the year since it opened in 1949.

Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood in Oregon is salting its best two runs and is forecasting being open through Labor Day. For you hardcore snow chasers, north of the U.S. border Whistler B.C. is reportedly open daily for glacier skiing/riding. –AG