Because it's what we do

It's hard to say if spending $4 million on a re-do of Mammoth Mountain's Main Lodge third floor is going to be worth it in the end, but in the short run it sure seems like the right thing, if for no other reason than the rockin' new bar.

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The whole thing is called "Broadway Marketplace" and it essentially takes the same food station configuration as McCoy Station—not a bad thing at all unless there are people out there who had a soft spot for Roma's Cantina, which is now kaput.

But the real winner is the bar.

Instead of being stuck up in the rafters like the old bar, this one is smack in the middle of things, siutated right about where Lisa Isaacs' office used to be. It's got flat-panel TV for weather and sports, great views of the Unbound Terrain Park, a fireplace for the itinerant snugglers and pyromaniacs and lots and lots of seating, including booths.

There's going to be a big bash Saturday afternoon between 4 and 6 o'clock for season pass holders so they can see for themselves and maybe toss a comment onto this story if they have other (divergent) opinions.

All this happened even as The Mountain unveiled extensive plans for a makeover of most of its 13-acre footprint—a makeover that would increase the number of guest slots by 1,000, remake, remodel or replace the decrepit Mammoth Mountain Inn.

That makeover would have to get U.S. Forest Service approval or it would have to follow a land swap that would give the new owners, Starwood Capital, the parcel outright.

The Mountain is poised for such a move, having purchased the controversial "Cunningham Parcel" near Lee Vining in the Mono Basin Scenic Area—a parcel that the Forest Service had tried for years to get.

It's a pretty interesting issue all the way around, and worth lots of discussion. Maybe over a cool one at, say, a cool new bar. That would be at Main Lodge.