The ski industry is a tough business. Just ask American Skiing Company's Les Otten (Killington, Steamboat, Heavenly, etc.) or George Gillette (Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge, etc.). Despite owning dominant ski resorts in their respective geographical region, both failed miserably. The only truly successful ski operator is Intrawest becuase they develop significant base area facilities (i.e., real estate, time shares, retail space, etc.)

Other's try to copy Intrawest, but very few get it right. I'm just a little confusd why Intrawest would sell to Starwood, unless they feel that there is minimal potential at Mammoth. It's been many years since I've skied Mammoth so I really don't know what the base area holds.