As young ski instructors with a deep love of the mountains,Jack and Kathy met at Mammoth Mountain Ski School in 1973. Jack, a preppy East coaster, had started skiing as a kid at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, while Kathy, everybody’s favorite wild child, was a ski racer from Vermont. Married in 1979, they enjoyed 40 spectacular years together, centered around mountains, skiing, hiking, teaching, pushing boundaries and becoming leaders in helping others find growth, joy and challenge through skiing.

Over the years, both Jack and Kathy filled many different roles working for Mammoth Mountain; eventually Jack became the Ski School Director and Kathy created and ran all the children’s programs for Mammoth and June Mountains. At the same time, Kathy developed the emerging adaptive program for the Mountain, before retiring in 2000. Understanding that there was a need for a non-profit adaptive program utilizing volunteers, Kathy began to envision and develop the idea of the DSES program, raised the funds and started taking reservations for lessons in 2003. The first winter in operation, DSES taught 625 lessons to children and adults with all kinds of disabilities and Kathy learned that she had too much energy and vision to be retired.

In 2005, a disillusioned and angry Gulf War veteran, Terry Smutney, rolled into the DSES office, bringing with him multiple physical injuries, a dark attitude and self-harming habits. Kathy embraced Terry, and eventually he found a new life of purpose and renewal through skiing, becoming a talented sit-ski instructor himself and introducing Kathy to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Thus began a long, fruitful and innovative relationship between DSES and the military, which Kathy and Jack imagined, developed and pursued together, culminating in their shared dream of a peaceful mountain retreat for veterans – the Jack and Kathy Copeland Center.

A year-round retreat and conference space located in June Lake, California, the Copeland Center provides an inclusive, healing environment for military members, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and anyone facing barriers to outdoor access. Just 30 minutes from Mammoth Mountain, the center is nestled in a tranquil forest setting—ideal for reflection, connection, and growth.

The Copeland Center will begin operations in the summer of 2026, expanding Access Mammoth’s impact and creating new opportunities for healing in nature.

A reinvigorated, 100-year-old lodge surrounded by 10 individual cabins in the heart of the June Lake corridor and under the magnificent bulk of Carson Peak, the property accommodates up to 40 guests year-round.

Communal spaces, both indoors and out, are designed to foster camaraderie, contemplation, and connection. Fun has never felt so deeply meaningful.