Letters to the Editor: Remembering ‘Mr. McCoy’ on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain

To the editor: It was so long ago that even in California, teenagers called those older than them “Mr.” and “Mrs.” It was 1965, and my friends and I would drive up Highway 395 to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and stay in a dormitory for $5 a night. (“Dave McCoy, who gave skiers and boarders Mammoth Mountain, has died at 104,” Feb. 8)

We’d get up early the next day to be the first skiers on the slopes. And in the lift line we’d see a friendly, older man we knew as Mr. McCoy, and he’d invariably ask us, “How was your run?”

Dave McCoy had a well-deserved, long run of 104 years, and I won’t forget him or his graciousness.

Dan Caldwell, Pacific Palisades

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To the editor: While noting the development of the winter sports, nothing was said about how instrumental Mammoth was in the development of the summer use of the mountain.

In the early 1990s, Mammoth was one of the first to develop a summer bike park using the ski lifts to get bikes and riders to the top. Once at the top, there was a variety of maintained bike trails of various skill levels that you could ride all the way down to town.

Even after all these years, I have not experienced any other mountain bike park that is so well organized and maintained with so many trails.

Laura Newman, Santa Barbara