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" Kit " Carson White skis the slopes at Alpine Meadows in the early 1960s. Prior to opening the
Sherwood Forest Lift in 1965, Reily, Carson and guides often skied from the top of Ward Peak to
Sunnyside overlooking Lake Tahoe. photo courtesy of Ingrid P. Wicken, California Ski Library
640 acres at the head of the valley and his dream to own the ski area. However, he owned everything else
in the valley, and would go on to develop an entire community, raise a family and save 150 acres of his beloved meadow from destruction by state and local officials who wanted to build a sewage plant at the east
end and pave 50 acres for parking for the 1960 Olympics.
Squaw Valley opened in 1949 with a double chairlift ( " The world's longest ski lift " ), a rope tow and a
50 room lodge. The fledgling ski area was a great success with East and West coast socialites, movie stars
and the skiing elite. Financially, it was a disaster. Revenue for the first year of operation was reported at
$28,000. Over the first five years, three avalanches destroyed the only chairlift on three occasions. Floods
closed the lodge and washed out bridges on the dirt road, leaving guests stranded on either side. In 1955
the lodge burned down.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle announcing that Reno was a candidate for the 1960 Winter
Olympics inspired Cushing to consider a bid for the Olympics - a preposterous idea, but it might give
Squaw Valley a more positive image. After convincing the state of California to sponsor it, the United
States Olympic Committee to choose an unknown ski area with one lift, one lodge and a dirt road over
Aspen, Sun Valley, Lake Placid, Alaska and Reno and the International Olympic Committee to even take
him seriously; Cushing was on his way to not only make Squaw Valley famous, but also to stage " the best
Olympics ever " and to forever change skiing in California and the West. Today, the Tahoe area has the
highest concentration of winter sports facilities in the western hemisphere, and the area has produced
more Winter Olympians and World Cup athletes than any region in the USA.
When John Reily, a Los Angeles businessman and weekend skier, heard that Squaw Valley was a
candidate for the 1960 Winter Olympics, he and his wife, Winnie, made a spring ski trip to the area in
1955. They liked what they saw and built a cabin on the main road. As Reily explored the area - first on
skis and later on horseback - he discovered another valley just over the ridge from Squaw. It didn't take
him long, as Wayne Poulsen had, to fall in love with the idea of developing a ski area.
In the spring of 1957, Reily drove up a logging road in his jeep to get a better look at the valley floor,
and throughout the following winter, he led ski tours down the back side of KT22 to a spot where a weasel
waited to ferry skiers out of the valley to Deer Park Lodge on Highway 89. Encouraged by the enthusiasm
of all who had made this journey, Reily signed a 25 year lease with Southern Pacific for 56 acres on the
The Alpine Meadows Lodge - surrounded
by beautiful pine trees - was constructed in
1961. Don Wolter Photography
A " Weasel " Snow Cat pulls skiers to Reily's
cabin at Alpine Meadows as they were
looking for expansion possibilities.
Don Wolter Photography
FWSA 90th Anniversary Booklet / 1930 - 2020
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2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide
Index
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - Cover1
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - Cover2
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 1
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 2
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 3
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - Index
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 5
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 6
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 7
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 8
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 9
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 10
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 11
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 12
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 13
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 14
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 15
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 16
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 17
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 18
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 19
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 20
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 21
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 22
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 23
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 24
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 25
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 26
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 27
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 28
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 29
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 30
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 31
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 32
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 33
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 34
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 35
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 36
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 37
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 38
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 39
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 40
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover1
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover2
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA1
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA2
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA3
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA4
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA5
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA6
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA7
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA8
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA9
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA10
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA11
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA12
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA13
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA14
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA15
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA16
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA17
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA18
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA19
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA20
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA21
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA22
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA23
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA24
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA25
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA26
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA27
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA28
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA29
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA30
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA31
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA32
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA33
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA34
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA35
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA36
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA37
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA38
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA39
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA40
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA41
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA42
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA43
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA44
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA45
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA46
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA47
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA48
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA49
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA50
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA51
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA52
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA53
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA54
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA55
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA56
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA57
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA58
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA59
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA60
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA61
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA62
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA63
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA64
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA65
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA66
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA67
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA68
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA69
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA70
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA71
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2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA74
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA75
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA76
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover3
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover4
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 41
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 42
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 43
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 44
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 45
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 46
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 47
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 48
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 49
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 50
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 51
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2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 54
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 55
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - 56
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - Cover3
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - Cover4
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