Mammoth Nordic pulls plug on operations
In a move that surprised some in the Mammoth Lakes Nordic community, trail setting and grooming organization Mammoth Nordic, a fixture on the Nordic scene since 2002, effectively shut down its Community Nordic Trail System program. The action was explained to the general membership on Jan. 21 over the group’s website in a statement from Brian Knox, Founder of Mammoth Nordic.
Up until the decision was made to shelve the project, Mammoth Nordic had worked with the U.S. Forest Service and volunteers in grooming roughly nine miles of cross-country ski trails for the public. A service considered to be an important amenity during the winter. Earlier last year, the group had outlined plans to expand its grooming and track setting operation, almost doubling its number of miles of trails.
“We did our level best to bring this forward, and we feel this is something the town deserves,” Knox told The Sheet. “We want it to succeed, but we can’t do it at the level of service it needs all by ourselves.”
The organization ended up the center of some controversy when Mammoth’s Recreation Commission announced (and Town Council subsequently approved) its Measure R funding distribution recommendations. That, Knox indicated, was the last straw, and likely solidified Knox’s decision to shut down Mammoth Nordic’s operations, for now, and possibly for good.
Mammoth Nordic had submitted an application for $355,000 Measure R funds during the fall cycle, but commissioners only approved $5,440, the same amount as last year, which Knox called a “huge disappointment.” Mammoth Nordic’s request included more than $120,000 for a new grooming machine, as well as paid staff and other overhead expenses. The Commission concluded the item needed to be studied more as to ownership and maintenance issues, as well as whether a “new” groomer was a good idea, versus a “pre-owned” one.
The Recreation Commission also expressed its wishes that the Town’s Recreation Department form a committee to see if Mammoth Nordic could be paired up with John Wentworth’s Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access Foundation (MLTPA), which received $200,520 (and another $46,000 in the upcoming spring cycle) out of the $620,000 available in the fall cycle.
Knox said the decision to shut down the program was effective immediately, but added that should the climate change between the organization and the Town, he’d be more than willing to work with them and pull Mammoth Nordic out of mothballs. In any case, don’t expect any change in the near future at least. This deep into January, Knox said even if things turned around tomorrow, Mammoth Nordic is well past the point of no return on this winter season.
Part of the letter to members on the Mammoth Nordic web site takes a dim view of the new and still-evolving RECSTRATS document, the Town’s “visioning and implementation” plan for recreation, which according to Knox, puts “Community Nordic Trails four years out from further consideration for development.” Recreation Chairman Bill Sauser disputes Knox’s assessment, pointing out that RECSTRATS is just getting underway, has no position whatsoever on Nordic or any other specific topics, and has yet to hold its first of at least seven planned public meetings.
Sauser also said that part of the problem the Commission faced with Mammoth Nordic’s application stemmed not only from the large request submitted during the past fall and spring funding cycles, but also a request for continued annual funding of roughly $140,000, which Sauser said Measure R was not designed to provide. He also views the Town as the best owner of a new groomer, which he added should be a “multi-use” piece of equipment. Sauser said it should able to do cross-country trails, but also be available to snowmobile user groups, cutting toboggan runs and even safety and Search and Rescue training and missions, should those arise.
According to Town Recreation Manager Stu Brown, his department was notified on Nov. 9, 2010 that Mammoth Nordic would not be continuing. In an e-mail to The Sheet, Brown said, “We [the Town, U.S. Forest Service and Mammoth Lakes Tourism] are now trying to create a temporary program for this season to offer grooming and track setting at Shady Rest. It will come down to Mammoth Nordic and their willingness to lease the equipment to the town.”
Sauser added that the Recreation Department is attempting to hammer out an option agreement with Mammoth Nordic to see if the group would be amenable to having the Town use the groomer to finish out the season, even at somewhat abbreviated levels of service. Brown said the Town should hopefully know by the end of the month “if we can make it work.”
Sauser said if a deal is reached to use the Nordini groomer, the plan at that point at least, is to resume grooming three to four days per week, as opposed to the daily grooming previously done by Mammoth Nordic. “We believe it’s still a worthwhile program and think volunteers can be found to make it work,” Sauser said.
