Travel letters: Mammoth a five-star skiing experience

Regarding “Looking Good” by Christopher Reynolds, Dec. 9:

We have skied at Mammoth for more than 35 years and have never had a disappointing experience. The town has reasonable accommodations and restaurants. The beautiful desert drive from L.A. is six to seven hours, but it gives your body a chance to acclimate to the high elevation, and even in a winter storm the roads are snow-free, most of the time. Mammoth built its reputation on a great mountain with state-of-the-art lifts, superb grooming, great runs for beginners to experts and an attitude that if it makes the ski experience exceptional, people will come. Despite the town’s financial problems and the burst real estate bubble, the mountain remains a rock-solid, five-star skiing experience.

Dennis Arntz

Laguna Niguel

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I want to thank Reynolds for his excellent article on Mammoth. Its depth was excellent. I own a property in Mammoth, but we haven’t spent nearly as much time there as in years past. We also no longer get the Mammoth Times delivered, so I don’t get as much local info as I used to. I am aware of the larger issues (town bankruptcy, etc.). However, I loved his recap of the dining scene. That was great.

Brendan Keeney

Burbank

The art ‘jewels’ of Fallbrook

Every Sunday, I look forward to reading the highlighted community in Weekend Escape. I was especially excited to see that the community chosen for the Dec. 2 issue was my town, Fallbrook [“Evergreen Serenity” by Irene Lechowitzky]. As I read the article, I was disappointed that there was no mention of two jewels — the Fallbrook Art Center and the Fallbrook School of the Arts. These two institutions are the pride and joy of the community. The art center presents many unique exhibits throughout the year. And the art school offers diverse subjects featuring nationally recognized artist instructors.

I believe pictures of the downtown with its art center and school, along with the small shops and restaurants, deserved the author’s attention.

Sten Thordarson

Fallbrook

His solution to scam adds up

Regarding “Don’t Fall for These Tricks,” McClatchy Tribune News Service, Dec. 9: In order to counter the “math genius” scam, I always say out loud the amount of money I’m putting into the vendor’s hand; for example, “Here are two 10-dollar bills.”

It’s probably not a perfect defense, but if the vendor takes the money without protest or correcting me, I take that as his or her tacit agreement with what I’ve said.

Mike Norton

Berkeley

In defense of male travelers

Regarding “High Alert When Children Fly Solo” by Catharine Hamm, Nov. 25: So no one wrote in, horrified like me, that the mom of a minor wanted to request that her daughter not sit next to a man?

What a paranoid “every male is a pervert” society.

I was recently in the San Francisco airport when a small child, about 4 years old, ran through the terminal crying, “Mommy, mommy, mommy.”

In her confusion, she ran up to a man entering the restroom. I was getting to her, as were other airport workers, when the man stooped down and comforted her. He redirected her and went to great lengths to get her settled and connected to Mommy. It was a wonderful yet reasonable thing to see.

Christina Neumeyer

Licensed marriage and family therapist

Carlsbad