The only reason Mammoth Lakes exists is for recreation AND it is where the land rights for water for the LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER.
If you pull up a map of the Mammoth Lakes area you will see it is on the east side of the Sierra Nevadas mountain range.
The only winter access west where there are more jobs is up north thru Lake Tahoe (which has similar atmosphere like Mammoth Lakes) To the south is Bishop where the Indian reservation all the illegals live. There is a bus going from McDonalds to Bishop once a day for about $4 each way. A room in Bishop is about $50 and has been $50 for the past 10 years. You would have to go all the way south to HWY 58 to go west.
There are no "easy" east west roads until you get to Tahoe and Mojave.
Most other mountain passes are closed during winter and become access roads for snowmobiles
Mammoth Lakes in one word (and this is coming from a guy in Los Angeles where a 2000 sq foot house is $350,000 to 700,000) is expensive and isolated.
They just started for the first time a plane flight once a day from Los Angeles for around $175 each way. The environmentalist have been fighting plane flights for decades because of pollution and scaring the wildlife.
Winter room rates are at least $120 a night during winter. If you get one. A condo rents for $400 plus a day. Summer is 25 -50% less. and rates are dependent on snow conditions.
Just north of Mammoth is June Lake which is a little cheaper and just north of that is Lee Vining where rooms are under $70 a night.
There are two snowmobile shops in Mammoth. 3 or 4 rental "sites" where insurance requires renters to stay below 25MPH at all times. Other sledding jobs are search and rescue which are quite busy.
The biggest employers are the Forest Service and Mammoth Sky area.
The entire area is a National forest.
Go here to see local sled clubs
http://www.cnsa.net/
Locals who work go on sled rides AWAY from Mammoth on Sunday. Always north cause there is no legal sled access south until you get to Lake Isabella ... about 5 plus hours away. Or east towards ELKO.
The local clus is :
Mammoth Lakes Snowmobile Club
P.O. Box 2154
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Rep. Bill Sauser
P.O. Box 26
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
760-934-6157
cbsauser@earthlink.net
Bill the locksmith is a great guy.
If you want a job I would appy now cause lots and lots and lots and lots of single guys from the Los Angeles and San Francisco bay area go there for the recreational sex.
Yep lots of middle upper income people go there to party.
If you want to have fun be a ski instructor. You and your girlfriend will break up but hey you'll be quite popular.
For riding you have locals who will invite other riders from clubs to ride with them.
JOIN the CNSA club and let locals know you are a member.
The other riders "outsiders" are typically renters who don't know how to ride or speed demons who ride as fast as they can and laugh at you as they almost collide with you on the trails.
Off trail riders are few and in between but the best sledders there. Most locals ride off trail.
You are gonna get some thick skin living there and snowmobiling. Most people there are anti sledders. Especially the park service and skiers which make up the over whelming majority. And yep the forest service has a radar gun on the trails and tickets speeders where the speed limit is posted.
If you leave your sled out all day by the Main ski lodge in Mammoth it will get vandalized. Slashed tracks and banged up from ski shoes.
MThe ski lodge is the only sled access to food. You cannot ride to fuel. You have to parks your sled and drive your car.
Why am I writing such a negative reply. Too let you know this town is a hot spot for city folks and you need to be prepared on how nice and how rude they will be towards you.
During the week and non holidays is kick back. During weekends and holidays is is congested.
http://www.visitmammoth.com/
http://www.ci.mammoth-lakes.ca.us/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Mountain_Ski_Area
Mammoth starts at 7,000 feet and goes up to 11,000 feet. 90% of sled riding is 7500 to 10,000.
The ski area is built on the north side of Mammoth Mountain, located in the volcanic Long Valley Caldera. Overnight guests stay in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, and occasionally neighboring towns such as Bishop. Mammoth has more than 3,500 acres (14 km²) of skiable terrain, serviced by 28 lifts (including 3 gondolas). The area has 3100 feet (940 m) of vertical, rising to an elevation of 11,053 feet (3,368 m). The top of the mountain has challenging chutes and open mogul runs. There are three main terrain parks branded "Unbound" at Mammoth. Unbound Main, located adjacent to Main Lodge, is highly praised by extreme snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts, and is one of the major attractions of the ski resort. Many of the top professionals in the sport, including 2006 Winter Olympics Gold Medalist Shaun White, come to practice and compete in the world famous 18-Foot-Tall Super Pipe and 22-Foot-Tall Super-Duper Pipe. Mammoth Mountain also has one of the longest ski seasons in North America, which averages from November to June. Mammoth does occasionally open earlier, such as in 2005, when the resort opened in October, and did not close until the 4th of July. Mammoth Mountain's longest season, over ten months, was thanks to the 1994-1995 winter season when the resort opened on October 8th and did not close until August 13th. Mammoth receives an average of nearly 400 inches (1016 cm) of snow per season [1], though the 2005-2006 season saw the resort accumulate an astounding 668 inches (17 m), a record tally.
Satellite view of Mammoth ... notice eroded ski area of the mountain and the lush beatiful areas to the north east where you can snowmobile.
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-map-474360-map_of_mammoth_lakes_ca-i
