14 Facts About Dave McCoy

David McCoy was an American skier and businessman who founded the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in 1942.

Dave McCoy was born in El Segundo, California, in August 1915.

Dave McCoy spent the first six years of his life there while his dad worked at the oil refineries in the area.

Dave McCoy first visited the eastern Sierra Nevada when he was 13, and went on to make his own first pair of skis in a high school shop class.

In 1936, Dave McCoy took a job as a hydrographer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which involved skiing up to 50 miles per day.

In 1938, Dave McCoy got a permit and set up a primitive rope tow on McGee Mountain, near US Highway 395, using parts from a Model "A" Ford truck.

Dave McCoy went to a bank, seeking an $85 loan to set up a permanent rope tow.

The Dave McCoy family used it as a home during the early years of Mammoth.

Dave McCoy went to the bank again for a loan of $135,000 to build a chair lift.

Dave McCoy bought a small airline to fly a few skiers from Burbank, California to Mammoth.

In 2005, Dave McCoy announced that he was retiring after running the ski area for 68 years.

Dave McCoy continued to ski until 2008, but stopped due to a knee replacement and his age.

Dave McCoy turned 100 on August 24,2015 and died on February 8,2020, at his home in the eastern Sierra Nevada community of Bishop, California at the age of 104.

Dave McCoy was portrayed by Dabney Coleman in the 1975 film The Other Side of the Mountain.