California Official Visitor's Guide 2009 - (Page 26) compound of high-end condos and hotel rooms surrounding a central square with restaurants, bars, shops, and a gondola to carry skiers directly from town to the mountain. At last there was a place to gather off the slopes. Nearly overnight, the dominant home-design aesthetic shifted from orange shag carpeting and avocado green appliances to earth-toned sisal rugs and granite countertops. Mammoth had arrived. Plenty of dining and nightlife The boom transformed the once-lackluster nightlife and dining scenes, which were formerly defined by pizza, burgers, and beer. You can still shoot pool and down lager with local 30-somethings in the Clock Tower Cellar at the Alpenhof Lodge—a Mammoth institution—but these days you might also spot a young celeb, such as Justin Timberlake, slinging a mai tai at Lakanuki. This faux tiki bar in the village draws revelers with entertainment six nights a week. Restaurant LuLu, that celebrated San Francisco spot famous for unpretentious Provençal cooking, imported urban chic and was an immediate hit. Petra’s Bistro Wine Bar introduced appealing wine flights and tapas-style small plates of the sort you would expect in San Francisco, not the Sierra. Even the ski resort has upped the culinary ante with Parallax Snowcat Dinners: Diners ride up the mountain inside a luxury snowcoach to the mid-mountain for a multicourse, candlelit white-tablecloth meal, paired with wines. Look for equally picturesque dining at Northern-Italian-influenced Cervinia, in the Yodler building, a 50-year-old Swiss Alps-style lodge at the base area, where icicles drip off the carved wooden façade like an illustration straight out of Heidi. But nothing is as timeless as the mountain itself, that majestic snow-covered volcano lording over the landscape, just as it did when the legendary John Muir explored the Sierra a century ago. JOHN VLAHIDES a scaled-down and safe environment. If you’re not ready to put the family on skis, there are plenty of gentle hills around the area for snow-tubing, a low-risk and wildly fun alternative. When you need a day’s rest from physical activity, explore the snowbound wilderness on a traditional dogsled ride with Mammoth Dog Teams, an exciting— and green—alternative to snowmobiling. A visit to the cross-country ski and snowshoeing center at the vintage 1920s Tamarack Lodge & Resort is a must. Tucked in a sylvan dell surrounded by towering peaks and tall pines, the lakeside CLOCKWISE FROM TOP The Minarets at sunrise; snow fun for all; scallops at Cervinia; hip-deep powder. lodge looks like a Christmas snow globe come to life. For a romantic escape with your sweetheart, consider a guided fullmoon cross-country tour here and glide through the woods by moonlight. A new resort boom Up until 2000, Mammoth Lakes was a sleepy resort town with no real center point, just a few scattered strip malls and frozen-in-time 1970s-era condo developments a few miles off lonely Highway 395 [ Inside Scoop: Scenic Drive]. Then came Intrawest, the real-estate firm famous for its luxury resort developments. The company bought into the resort and began construction of a new “village,” a 26 Enter keyword in Search box at visitcalifornia.com CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: CHRISTIAN PONDELLA (2); PALOMBA; PEATROSS/MMSA http://www.visitcalifornia.com
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