MMSA elevates its entertainment experience
(Photo courtesy MMSA)
You’ve ridden your first chair and taken your first turns of the 2012/13 ski and snowboard season at Mammoth Mountain, so now it’s time to experience the entertainment of opening weekend while the snow (hopefully) falls down around you.
Recently voted number 5 on the list of the “Best Ski Resorts in North America” by Outside Magazine online, and described as the “cool kid on the ski resort scene,” MMSA is putting in the work to live up to that hype.
“We are focusing on providing a better level of entertainment and booking bigger acts,” explained MMSA’s Director of Nightlife and Entertainment, Tommy Smith, who some of you might know as the former General Manager for Hyde Lounge in the Village. “We really want to pump things back up after last year.”
For example, Smith explained, the Mountain is not just going to put on concerts it is going to put on experiences.
“We’re going to have crazy things going in addition to the talent,” he said. “The talent is just going to be a piece of it all.”
And this weekend is a great example of exactly what he means.
On Friday, Nov. 9, experience Winterfest presented by Vestal and Oakley and featuring Blondfire and LA Riots at Eagle Lodge, which will be transformed into the set of a Hot Tub Machine with an 80’s theme.
“We really bumped up Friday night and gave it more of an event feel,” Smith said. “Blondfire is really climbing the charts and LA Riots is going to be Mammoth’s first sponsored artist.”
On Saturday, the party moves to Canyon Lodge, and the setting changes to a turn of the century carnival crossed with the 4th of July, for “Carnivale” presented by Vestal. Featured entertainers are DJ duo, Sex Panther, and later in the evening, The RZA, who, in addition to his long list of musical accomplishments recently directed, co-wrote and starred in the new movie “The Man with the Iron Fists.”
According to Smith, MMSA is currently looking at Sex Panther as potential resident DJs for the Underground Lounge, opening in mid-December in what was previously the Auld Dubliner in the Village.
Saturday evening also hosts the unveiling of Unbound Magazine Vol. 3.
So how is MMSA making all of this hyped up entertainment happen after coming off a tough snow year?
“We’re not bumping up the budget, we’ve just teamed up with our partners to make it bigger,” Smith explained. Partner such as Vestal, mophie, Oakley and more are bringing in pieces of animation to complete the entertainment experience each evening.
“The snow’s coming,” Smith said (indeed a storm is forecast for the weekend), “so that’s going to help us, but by making the value of the entire experience better and bumping up the caliber of entertainment, people can get more bang for their buck.
“We can’t control the weather but we can control the entertainment,” he added.
Both evening events kick off at 9 p.m. and tickets for Winterfest are $10 while tickets for Carnivale are $15 advance/$20 at the door.
There are also events scheduled all day long on the Mountain on both Friday and Saturday. Visit www.mammothmountain.com for full schedule and stay tuned for more elevated entertainment throughout the winter.
