A MAMMOTH IMPROVEMENT SPARKLING NEW ALPINE VILLAGE AWAITS THIS YEAR'S SKI VISITORS.

Byline: Jerry Rice Staff Writer

Sometimes things do get better with age.

For proof, winter sports enthusiasts need look no further than Mammoth Mountain. Fifty years after Dave McCoy received his first Forest Service permit to develop a ski area, there's a new gathering spot in town - The Village at Mammoth, a key part of a billion-dollar development at the world-renowned resort.

``You can't really question that Mammoth is one of the best ski mountains out there,'' said Mammoth Mountain Ski Area spokeswoman Joani Lynch. ``But we've been lacking this after-ski and other kind of village feel.''

That's exactly how others have summed up the Mammoth experience. A year ago, readers of Ski magazine offered their comments about resorts around the country, and this is what one had to say about Mammoth: ``The town needs to live up to the mountain.''

That's finally happening. Entering its first winter season, the village is a European-style, pedestrian-only complex featuring an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, galleries and 166 luxury condominiums.

It already has been making fans out of the locals.

``It's great for Mammoth,'' said Ashley Cramond, general manager of the Whiskey Creek restaurant and bar, a Mammoth institution that is not within the confines of the village. ``I think it will bring more people to Mammoth, and we'll be busier than ever.''

While that's his longer-term hope, it wasn't the case last month before crowds started filling up the town for Thanksgiving weekend. Business in Whiskey Creek's bar area, a popular nightspot for the past three decades, was off about 20 percent.

``Our restaurant really hasn't felt it at all,'' Cramond said. ``There's not a lot of restaurants up there (at the village) that match ours, as far as food and dining style.''

Still, there is a good mix. Among the village eateries is the Old New York Bagel & Deli Co., MexiCali Grill, Dublin's Irish pub and Hennessey's (which serves everything from burgers and sandwiches to steaks and fish).

And when it comes time to working off that meal, a new 15-passenger gondola is a few steps away, offering a direct link to the slopes via the Canyon Lodge and three chair lifts.

``This is an exciting time for Dave to see something that he envisioned so long ago,'' Lynch said.

The 88-year-old McCoy - who still regularly works at the ski area - wanted to limit the need for cars back in the 1960s and started mapping out a route for a future gondola.

Now that it's here - along with the village, which was built by the Canadian resort developer and operator Intrawest Corp. - there's lots of other construction activity going on. This past summer, Old Mammoth Road was reworked and now has a center turn lane, pull-outs for buses and sidewalks on both sides of the street.

``The town is heavily investing in their infrastructure,'' said Doug Ogilvy, Intrawest's regional vice president. ``You're also seeing homeowners and shop owners in town also heavily investing and improving their property. The town is really going through a remarkable renaissance right now.''

To keep the momentum going, the focus is turning to the small Mammoth-Yosemite Airport a few miles out of town. While the airport currently serves only smaller private planes, developers would like to see its runway lengthened to accommodate midsize passenger jets like the Boeing 757. But the start of any expansion work is at least a year away, pending a comprehensive environmental impact statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

``If we can get scheduled jet service into that airport, it will really open Mammoth up for the seven-day traveler,'' Ogilvy said. ``The rubber-tire traveler is more likely to come up for a three- or four-day weekend, whereas someone from the East Coast, by the time they come across the country, they're going to stay for a full week.''

And that's only part of the story, said Bob Roberts, the executive director of the California Ski Industry Association. A larger airport would also help bring more international travelers to Mammoth, thanks to easier connections through Los Angeles or San Francisco.

``There's anywhere from 10 to 12 nonstop flights from London to California on a daily basis,'' Roberts said. ``Colorado has one daily flight.''

As it is, Mammoth Mountain is doing just fine. The resort attracted 1.3 million visitors last winter, ranking it third in the country behind two Colorado resorts, Vail (1.6 million) and Breckenridge (1.4 million). Some 85 percent of Mammoth's visitors trekked up from Southern California.

``I've maintained since I first arrived in Mammoth that there are enough people who live in Southern California that we as a developer would continue to develop with or without an airport,'' Ogilvy said.

Besides its work at Mammoth, Intrawest is also active farther up the Sierras at Lake Tahoe's Squaw Valley USA. New this season is another European-inspired village, complete with seven new restaurants, shops and high-end condominiums.

The new construction almost doubles the size of the existing base facilities.

``There's a blending of the old and new so it's a seamless experience when you walk from one to the other,'' said Squaw Valley spokeswoman Katja Dahl. ``It has changed the dynamic of the base area and made it much more inviting.''

Another Lake Tahoe resort is undergoing a renaissance of its own. Heavenly, thanks to a five-year, $40 million investment by Vail Resorts Inc., is introducing a new ski school registration center and a beginners' area with access via the gondola from the year-old village. The resort has also upgraded its lifts extensively.

The improvements prompted Ski magazine to rank Heavenly 13th in its October reader survey - up four spots from last year's list.

``This is sort of our coming-out year,'' said Heavenly spokeswoman Molly Cuff. ``With Vail coming in and injecting so much capital into the resort, we were also able to remodel several of our different lodges.''

Most of California's major resorts - particularly Mammoth, Heavenly, Kirkwood, Northstar-at-Tahoe and Squaw - are making major investments for one big reason, according to Roberts.

``They have really taken their acts to a much higher level because they're looking for that destination market,'' he said. ``They're looking for people who are going to come in and spend a week - people who have historically been, more or less, focused on the Rockies in the past.''

IF YOU GO

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN: From Highway 395 north, turn onto Highway 203 (at Mammoth Lakes Junction) and go west into town. The distance from Los Angeles is 325 miles. Ski and snowboard info: [phone]; www.mammothmountain.com. Lodging info: [phone]; www.visitmammoth.com.

LAKE TAHOE RESORTS: If you're driving, Lake Tahoe is about 130 miles from Mammoth Lakes. Take Highway 395 north to Highway 50 east. Several flights, as of mid-November, were available for Christmas week on Alaska Airlines from LAX to Reno/Tahoe International Airport starting at $195 round trip. United Airlines offered fewer flights during the same week, but prices started at $190.

Heavenly: Snow phone: [phone], Ext. 1. Info: [phone]; www.skiheavenly.com.

Squaw Valley USA: Snow phone: [phone]. Info: [phone]; www.squaw.com.

ROAD CONDITIONS: Caltrans, [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) A new European-style village at Mammoth Mountain, top, is beginning its first winter season. The pedestrian-only complex hopes to provide off-mountain experiences that match the resort's impressive terrain. Meanwhile, skiers at Lake Tahoe's Squaw Valley USA, above, will be able to soar down the mountain to a newly enhanced village of their own.

(3) A hot dog skier cuts loose at Lake Tahoe's Squaw Valley USA, above, which now boasts a European-inspired village.

Box: IF YOU GO (see text)