A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin verb “celebrere” but they may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is piqued.

There are degrees of celebrity status which vary based on an individual’s region or field of notoriety. While someone might be a celebrity to some people, to others they may be completely unknown. A global celebrity on the other hand is someone who is known by most people or is a mainstream celebrity. Such celebrities are also known as either a household name or superstar.

Generally speaking, a celebrity is someone who seeks media attention and most frequently have extroverted personalities. The desire to be famous is implied by some to be a part of western culture and more specifically the American Dream as a measure of success. Celebrities that shy away from the public eye or keep a very seperate private life are called a reluctant celebrity. A notable example is Kurt Cobain. On the oher end of the spectrum, those that seek out publicity for themselves are often called a media tart whereas those that use their private life as a vehicle for enhanced celebrity status, sometimes desperately, are referred to as a media whore. Examples of this are fake or planned relationships, reality television appearances, celebrity nudity and in extreme cases, scandal or celebrity sex tape.

There are a wide range of ways people can become celebrities, from their profession, appearances in the mass media, beauty or even by complete accident or infamy. Instent celebrity is the term that is used when someone becomes a celebrity in very short period of time.

In some places, someone that somehow achieves a small amount of transient fame through hype or mass media, is stereotyped as a B-grade celebrity. Often the stereotype extends to someone that falls short of mainstream or persistent fame but seeks to extend or exploit it. The Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a large ski resort located in Eastern California, along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest. The ski area, commonly called Mammoth, is a popular ski resort for residents of Southern California. Geographically, the ski area exists on the north side of Mammoth Mountain, located in the volcanic Long Valley Caldera. Overnight guests stay in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, and occasionally in neighboring towns like Bishop. Mammoth has more than 3,500 acres of skiable terrain, serviced by 28 lifts (including three gondolas). The area is at an elevation of 11,053 feet. The top of the mountain has challenging chutes and open mogul runs. There are three main terrain parks branded “Unbound” at Mammoth. Extreme snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts praise Unbound Main, located adjacent to Main Lodge, as one of the major attractions of the ski resort. Many top professionals in the sport, including 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics gold medalist Shaun White, come to practice and compete in the world famous 18-foot-tall Super Pipe and 22-foot-tall Super Duper Pipe. There are only a handful of Super Duper pipes in the world. There is also a Mini Pipe. Mammoth Mountain is one of only a handful of resorts in the world to offer a half pipe of this size and is the only resort in North America that has three different sized half pipes. Mammoth Mountain also has one of the longest ski seasons in North America, which averages from November to June. Mammoth does occasionally open earlier; in 2005, the resort opened in October, and did not close until July 4. Mammoth Mountain’s longest season, over 10 months, was thanks to the 1994-1995 winter season when the resort opened on October 8 and did not close until August 13. Mammoth receives an average of 339 inches (860 cm) of snow per season, though during 2005-2006 season the resort accumulated an astounding 578 inches (1,470 cm)–a record tally.

Mammoth Mountain is located in the Eastern Sierras of California, approximately 100 miles south of the Nevada state line and 30 minutes from the Eastern Gate of Yosemite National Park. The ski area resides in northern California. Skiers and snowboarders from Southern California frequent the resort. Though it is a five-hour drive from Los Angeles, Mammoth is much closer for Southland skiers and riders than the Lake Tahoe area resorts, which are more accessible to those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mammoth Mountain is a more popular destination than Southern California resorts because these areas rely heavily on snowmaking, have lighter precipitation and notably shorter seasons. Although Mammoth is physically closer to San Francisco than L.A., mountain passes along the Sierra crest close after the first major snowfall, and this lack of a trans-Sierra travel route creates an unusually long drive to Mammoth from the Bay Area and most of Northern California. For example, during the summer, the distance from Fresno to Mammoth Lakes is 189 miles, while the same excursion in winter involves 366 miles of driving. In recent years, Mammoth visitors from outside of California and Nevada fly into Reno and travel down. Ski season commercial flights are now available to MMH via LAX on Alaska Airlines (operated by Horizon Air). The Mammoth Mountain ski area has been aggressively trying to tap into the Bay Area market as an alternative to Tahoe, since the airline offers flights out of Mammoth.