2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSA59

90th Anniversary Booklet/FINAL.qxp_90th Anniversary Booklet 12/6/20 2:14 PM Page 59

1926 - Oregon Highway Department begins to
keep the road to Government Camp open in the
winter.
1926 - First modern downhill race in the U.S.
held at Mt. Moosilauke, New Hampshire.
1926 - First ski shop in U.S. opened in
Boston, by Oscar Hambro of Norway.
1927 - Mt. Hood Ski Club formed. This club
sponsored ski jumping tournaments at Swim,
located on the south side of Multorpor
Mountain.
1927 - Summit Ski Area built and operated by
Advertising Club of Portland; opened with large
formal ceremonies on December 11, 1927.
1927 - Cascade Ski Club organized; built
Multorpor Ski Jump Hill.
1930 - Rudolph Lettner from Salzburg,
Austria invents the steel ski edge.
Hjalmar Hvam - the tall one on the left - poses with several other ski jumpers in the 1930s.

ident Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. Timberline Lodge is the only true ski-in/ski-out lodging on Mt.
Hood. Much later, in 1983 - 1984, the Wy'East day lodge was built next to Timberline Lodge, to provide
services to the growing number of skiers, climbers, and day visitors.
The first chairlift built on Mt. Hood was the Magic Mile lift, constructed in 1938 above Timberline
Lodge. The chairs on that lift were single chairs (one person at a time). The initial location of that lift was several hundred feet east of the present day location. When the new Magic Mile lift was constructed, the top
station of the original Magic Mile lift was converted into a cabin offering lodging and meals. It is called
Silcox Hut.
The regular ski season at Timberline Ski Area usually ends at the end of May, but skiing continues
on the Palmer Snowfield, almost two miles north and 2,000 vertical feet above Timberline Lodge. This is
a rather large square-shaped patch of snow that never melts. It's like a glacier, but it doesn't move like glaciers do, so it's called a snowfield. Skiing there is sustained by the numerous Race Camps held there and
organized by different groups. The rectangular area is divided into several lanes, each devoted to a specific
camp with its own race course set up there. Only one somewhat wider lane is open for the general public
to ski on.
Race Camps on Mt. Hood started being held regularly around 1956, when Richard Kohnstamm
and the RLK Company took charge of Timberline Lodge, and revived it after a short period of decline
and even a temporary closure. At first, the camps were held on the relatively lower terrain served by the
Magic Mile lift. From 1956 to 1979, the Palmer Snowfield was accessible only by hiking or by snowcat.
Summer Camps got a big boost when the first Palmer chairlift was installed in 1979 -1980. But, the
winds on the upper mountain were so strong that during the first winter, three of the lift's towers were
knocked over by the wind. Also, the ski area operators had to be sure the weather would remain good for
the remainder of the summer before painstakingly attaching each chair to the cable, as this was a fixed
chairlift. In the mid-nineties, the Palmer chairlift was replaced by an express quad, with detachable chairs,
which meant that the lift could be put in service at a moment's notice as soon as the weather improved.
Summer Camps grew in popularity. Among the first groups to organize summer camps were: Timberline Summer Camps and Mt. Hood Summer Camps. But, word soon spread about the availability of
this terrain for summer training, and eventually the US Ski Team came to train here, as well as numerous
other ski racers from around the world.
Typically these days, there are dozens of different groups and organizations from all over the world
that organize summer camps at Timberline. There are camps for children (ages 10 - 20) and for adults

1934 - The first rope tow installed at
Gilbert's Hill, Woodstock, Vermont. Tow rope
was attached to rear wheel of a Model T Ford .
1934 - Dr. Otto George opens First Aid room
in Ski Pole Ski Shop in Government Camp.
1934 - Rope tows installed at Summit and Ski
Bowl Ski Areas.
1936 - Sun Valley opens the world's first
chairlift, copied from banana lifts used in
Central America to load fruit on cargo ships.
1937 - Timberline Lodge opens.
1938- North Slope Ski Club builds first ski tow
at Cooper Spur. The tow was 150 feet long and
had a 50 foot rise.
1938 - First U.S. Ski Patrols established
including Mt. Hood Ski Patrol, Stowe Ski
Patrol and the National Ski Patrol.
1938 - Ariel Edminston, under the
supervision of Otto Lange, starts
Timberline Ski School.
1939 - Magic Mile chairlift built at
Timberline Lodge, as longest chairlift in
the world (4,950').

FWSA 90th Anniversary Booklet / 1930 - 2020

2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide