What does it take to walk away from security, status, and legacy — and start over again and again?

In this bonus episode of the Four Fs Podcast, Bev McCoy shares her extraordinary journey from working in corporate law in Los Angeles to becoming a ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain — where she met and married Olympic downhill skier Dennis “Pancho” McCoy, son of Mammoth founder Dave McCoy.

Together, they made a bold decision: walk away from the mountain and build a cattle ranch from scratch in Dillon, Montana.

What followed was 30+ years of ranching, raising cattle, diversifying into fly fishing, duck hunting, and land stewardship — and learning hard lessons about commodity markets, immigration labor, resilience, and reinvention.

Bev reflects on:

• Teaching skiing during Mammoth’s golden era (with celebrities like Paul Newman and Wilt Chamberlain)

• Building a home from a log cabin kit with no roadmap

• Creating a private fly-fishing paradise from spring creeks

• The economics of ranching and diversification

• Marriage, partnership, and shared risk

• Reinventing life in your 30s… and again in your 60s

This is a story about courage, grit, stewardship, and the confidence to say, “Why not?”

⏱ Chapter Timestamps

00:00 – From Pittsburgh to California
04:30 – Leaving Corporate Law for Ski Life
09:15 – Teaching at Mammoth’s Golden Era
14:40 – Meeting Pancho McCoy
20:10 – Olympic Skiing & the McCoy Legacy
26:30 – Walking Away from Mammoth
31:45 – Building a Montana Ranch from Scratch
39:20 – Commodity Markets & Ranch Economics
45:15 – Creating a Fly-Fishing Destination
52:10 – Diversification: Ducks, Deer & Sustainability
58:40 – Selling the Ranch & A Surprise Buyer
1:05:30 – Retirement, Bend, Oregon & Final Reflections
1:12:00 – The Courage to Reinvent

If you enjoy How I Built This, The Tim Ferriss Show, Founders, or Modern Wisdom, you’ll love this episode — especially if you’re drawn to stories of reinvention, entrepreneurship, legacy, and bold life pivots.

Tags: Bev McCoy, Mammoth Mountain, Dennis Pancho McCoy, Dave McCoy, Olympic skiing, ski instructor, Montana ranching, cattle ranch, fly fishing, entrepreneurship, reinvention, second act, rural business, western lifestyle, land stewardship, agriculture business, diversification strategy, immigration labor, leadership lessons, bold decisions, legacy families, Bend Oregon, ski culture, outdoor industry, building from scratch