New Mammoth Mountain President Says Resort Will Invest in "Employee Experience"

Mammoth Mountain, CA recently made a big change in their leadership. Chief Operating Officer (COO) Erick Clark has been promoted to President and COO of the resort as of May 2024.

Keep reading for our short Q&A with Clark about the future of the resort.

Clark grew up in Colorado, and received an MBA in Economics from the University of Denver. He has over 30 years of experience in the ski industry, and began working at Mammoth in 2013 as the Chief Operating Officer of Hospitality. Two years later, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Resort Services.

Clark is involved in many community organizations including serving on the board of Mammoth Lakes Tourism as well as the board of Mammoth Hospital Foundation.

We caught up with him to hear about his new role and the foreseeable future for Mammoth.

Mammoth Mountain President & COO Eric Clark Q&A

H ow has your time as Chief Operating Officer of Hospitality and Chief Operating Officer of Resort Services influence your perspective on Mammoth today?

"I’ve had a role in managing many areas of our business including our lodging properties, catering services, hospitality, food and beverage, retail, and guest services. I’ve spent the past decade learning what it takes to make Mammoth work while building close relationships and trust with employees across these departments. Their efforts day in and day out are the reason Mammoth has become what it is today and that has an enormous impact on how I think about leading the organization."

How do you plan to improve guest experience while increasing revenue and supporting the local community?

"Improving guest experience starts with improving the employee experience. Investing in the employee experience will drive the guest experience and then increase revenue. In the same vein, we recognize that our success or failure has far-reaching implications on the community.

We have made and are continuing to make significant investments to improve the employee and guest experience and in turn, the quality of our product. Maximizing these investments and providing our employees and guests with a world-class experience is my top priority. It means that folks come back, and they bring their friends and their families. Like me, they might even move to Mammoth Lakes one day.

As a destination whose economy relies heavily on tourism, we know our visitors, our employees, and our locals all benefit when we succeed and that responsibility is not taken lightly."

Mammoth is replacing Chair 1 (Broadway Express) . Are you involved with this project?

"The replacement of Chair 1 is being managed by our Operations and Mountain Development team. They’re a fantastic group who are working hard on the new chair in tandem with a number of other capital improvement projects in progress on the mountain this summer. These improvements have impacts across many aspects of our operations and my role is to help oversee these projects in relation to both the short and long-term implications for the resort. The short-term implications this year have meant that winter operations needed to end on Memorial Day, but the positive impacts on our guest experience will be worthwhile come next season."

What are the biggest challenges facing Mammoth, and you as Resort President? What are you most excited to work on as Resort President?

"Infrastructure and workforce housing are two important challenges that come to mind first. Working with the community to find solutions will improve both the guest and employee experience at Mammoth.

What makes me most excited in this new role is that I can help lead a team of passionate and dedicated individuals into Mammoth’s next chapter – solidifying Mammoth’s reputation within the Ski Industry as one of the best resorts in the world – both to play and to work."

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