Old Mammoth Road to get busy beginning this weekend
While there was some controversy over whether Mammoth Outdoor Sports should be granted a three-week long special events permit over the Christmas holiday, Mammoth Outdoor Owner Phil Hertzog is intent on making sure Mammoth Planning Commission’s faith in him is justified.
Mammoth Outdoor Sports will kick off the holiday festivities on Old Mammoth this weekend with the Old Mammoth Rail Jam on Friday and Saturday evenings (www.oldmammothrailjam.com).
Event Organizers Jason Chamberlain and Ted Distel, who worked with Hertzog to produce a few events at the Ski Dazzle trade show in Los Angeles last month, are helping stage the Rail Jam and other activities at the Sierra Center Mall.
The Friday jam is an open contest; Saturday will feature amateurs.
Next week, an outdoor film fest is planned from Dec. 19-21 featuring footage shot by and of local riders.
Inside the mall, Mammoth Outdoor Sports will have a mega-sale on 2012 product featuring 8,000-square feet of merchandise.
This is in addition to the 9,000-square feet in Mammoth Outdoor Sports
devoted to this year’s lines.
Various participating manufacturers such as Gnu, Roxy and Salomon will each have a storefront on the 2nd floor.
Mimi’s Cookies, Bleu Handcrafted Foods, CJ’s Grill and Mammoth Brewing Company will also have an on-site presence.
After this weekend’s rail jam, the event site will be transformed into a kids’ snow play area for use during the holiday.
The goal, Hertzog said simply, is animation.
As Chamberlain added, “In the magazines, when they talk about Mammoth, they talk about the Village, but they also still complain about a general lack of community.” Events taking place throughout the community will help dispel this perception.
Along those lines, Hertzog said he has participated in preliminary discussions regarding a Mammoth Lakes Winter Carnival, tentatively scheduled for February 8-10.
Mammoth Lakes Tourism Executive Director John Urdi said the concept is to have activity nodes throughout town – now suggested to be the skate rink, Sierra Center mall, the Footloose parking lot and the Village at Mammoth.
Because the dates fall within the Mardi Gras time period (6th-12th), that is one potential theme under consideration.
(Photo: Lunch)
