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killed in Italy fighting as a member of the 10th in a skiing event.
Mountain Division. In his short, remarkable career,
In 1949, Sverre Kongsgaard, a Norwegian
Tokle had broken 24 jumping records and won 42 exchange student at the University of Idaho, set a
of the 48 tournaments in which he competed.
North American distance record at the Ski Bowl,
beating Torger Tokle's hill record set in 1941, and
Skiing After WWII
his 1942 record at Iron Mountain, Michigan. Ski
Skiing resumed after WWII, and Washington Acres opened one mile east of the Snoqualmie
ski areas were expanded and upgraded. Snoqual- Summit, with the first chair lift on the Pass. The
mie Summit Ski Area tripled its ski terrain, new Spokane Ski Club built a ski jump on Mt. Spokane
rope tows and lights for night skiing were installed.
A major blow to Northwest skiing came in
Small ski areas, often with a single rope tow, opened December 1949, when a $180,000 fire destroyed
around the state, most of which later closed.
the lodge and train depot at the Milwaukee Ski
In February, 1945, the Associated Students of Bowl, and the Milwaukee Road decided not to rethe University of Washington bought the Martin build the area in the fall of 1950. The Seattle Times
Ski Hut from Northern Pacific. The Husky Winter cancelled its ski school that operated since 1938,
Sports Club improved the lodge, installed rope tows, teaching more than 20,000 students the fundamenand offered ski lessons to students. From 1945 to tals of controlled skiing. This set back Alpine skiing
1949, when the lodge burned down, Martin was in Washington for a decade, and the loss of the Ski
used by the U.W. ski team for training and races, Bowl's Olympic caliber jumps was a major blow to
and by student skiers.
Northwest ski jumping.
The National Park Service hardened its policies
The Leavenworth Winter Sports Club conregarding winter activities within National Parks after tinued to host ski jumping tournaments until 1978,
the war. It would not allow Mt. Rainier to be used including national championship tournaments in
for sanctioned ski meets, permanent ski tows, or ski 1959, 1967, 1974, and 1978. Between 1965 and
carnivals or events that would attract large crowds of 1970, three North American distance records were
people. Portable tows could operate if they were re- set there, and the club hosted several try-outs for the
moved in the spring. This meant the end of Mount U.S. teams for the Olympic Games. In the early
Rainier as one of the state's major ski areas.
1960s, Leavenworth native Jim Brennan won the
The Mount Baker Ski Area planned to spend national jumping championships, equaled the na$500,000 to build a 100 room lodge and two chair tional distance record, and competed interlifts, and four rope tows would be in operation the nationally. In 1972, Leavenworth's Ron Steele was
winter of 1946.
on the U.S. Olympic team, and competed in
For the 1947 ski season, the Milwaukee Road Saporro, Japan.
resumed operations of its Ski Bowl. The first highThree Washington skiers were on the 1952
capacity ski lift on Snoqualmie Pass was installed, Olympic team that competed in Olso, Norway- Jack
the SkiBoggan. It was a surface lift, a " massive sled Nagel, Janette Burr (later Johnson), and Dorothy Surthat carries 32 snow riders a time up " , capable of carry- genor (who was also on the 1956 Olympic team). In
ing 1,440 skiers per hour.
1952, a poma lift was installed at Snoqualmie SumIn 1947, six jumpers were selected at the Mil- mit Ski Area, and in 1955, the first double chairlift
waukee Ski Bowl for the U.S. jumping team for on Snoqualmie Pass was installed there, the Thunthe1948 Olympic Games at St. Moritz, coached by derbird, along with the Thunderbird Lodge on the
Alf Engen. Gustav Raaum, who won Norway's jun- top of the area's highest hill.
ior Holmenkollen, stayed to attend the University
In 1954, " a hardy group of Norwegian ski jumpers " ,
of Washington, and lead its jumping team, becom- led by Olav Ulland, Gustav Raaum and others,
ing a mainstay of Northwest ski jumping. He was formed the Kongsberger Ski Club after the Seattle
the first of many Norwegians to study at local Ski Club lost interest in ski jumping. The club built
schools and jump for their college ski teams. a ski jump at Cabin Creek east of Snoqualmie Pass,
Raaum listed 56 Norwegian students who com- held competitions, gave jumping instructions, and
peted for Northwest schools, 41 in Washington.
assisted with jumping competitions at Olympic
The big skiing story of 1948 was the winter Games and international competitions. Ragnar UlOlympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the first held land, Olav's 17 year old nephew, was on the 1956
since 1936, and the first to feature a full array of Al- U.S. Olympic Jumping Team coached by Olav, but
pine events. Three Washington skiers were on the was hurt and did not compete. In 1958, Olav
U.S. Olympic team - Gretchen Fraser, Don Amick coached the U.S. team at the World Championships
and David Fairies. Tacoma native Gretchen Ku- in Finland, and Gustav Raaum was team manager.
nigk Fraser was the " unexpected heroine " , winning a In 1960, the Kongsbergers ran the jumping events
gold medal in the slalom and a silver in the Alpine at the Squaw Valley Olympics. At the 1980 Lake
Combined, narrowly losing to Trude Beiser of Aus- Placid Olympics, Raaum was Chief of Competitria by 37/100 of a point in the combined. She was tion and Olav Ulland and Magnus Bakke were
the country's first athlete to win an Olympic medal measurers.

In 1959, the Hyak Ski Area opened. In 1967,
Alpental opened as the fourth ski area on Snoqualmie Pass. Alpine skiing grew as Washington ski
areas expanded or were started in the 1950s and
1960s. Major investments were made at Stevens
Pass, Mount Baker, Hurricane Ridge (opened in
1957), Mission Ridge (opened in 1962), Crystal
Mountain (opened in 1962), White Pass, Mount Spokane, 40 Degrees North, Badger Mountain, Bluewood and elsewhere, as skiing became more
popular. In 1965, Crystal hosted the National Alpine Championships that attracted the world's top
skiers, including Jean Claude Killy, Jimmie Heuga,
and Billy Kidd.
Interest in ski jumping diminished in the
1960s, dropped further in the 1970s, and funding
for the sport dried up. The last Leavenworth tournament took place in 1978, (a National Championship).
In 1982, the New York Times said ski jumping's popularity had nosedived and the sport was struggling.
Washington ski resorts have changed ownership over the years. Ski Lifts, Inc., owned by the
Webb Moffett family, purchased the three other
Snoqualmie Pass ski areas, bringing all four under
single management (1980, Ski Acres; 1983, Alpental;
and 1992, Hyak). In 1997, Ski Lifts, Inc. was sold to
Booth Creek Holdings and the ski areas were renamed. In 2007, CNL Investment Properties
bought the properties, and Boyne USA managed
the four areas until 2018, when Boyne Mountain
Resorts purchased them. Mission Ridge was purchased in 2003, by Washington's Larry Schrivanich.
Crystal Mountain was sold to Boyne Mountain Resorts in 1997, then sold in 2018, to Altera Mountain
Company. Vail Resorts bought Stevens Pass Ski
Area in 2018, for $67 million. The Mt. Spokane
Ski Area is operated by a non-profit, Mt. Spokane
Ski & Snowboard Park.
The ski industry has long been an important
part of Washington's economy. By 1938, skiing was
a $3 million industry bringing 20,000 skiers to the
mountains every weekend. According to the Pacific
Northwest Ski Areas Association, from 2011 to
2014, there was an average of 2,102,488 annual
visits to Washington ski resorts. According to a 2015
report prepared for the Washington State Department of Recreation and Conservation Office, in
2013, expenditures for Alpine skiing in Washington
were $840,706,347, and $110,327,122 for crosscountry skiing, for a total of $951,033,346, spent by
1,956,469 participants.
Washington's ski industry is thriving today.
There are nine Alpine ski areas, six Community ski
areas, 24 Nordic Ski Centers, and one helicopter
and snowboarding center. Information about these
and Washington's 18 " Lost Ski Areas " , as well as, the
state's 39 Olympians (15 medalists), can be found at
the Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum
on Snoqualmie Pass (WSSM).
See www.wssm.org. n

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http://www.wssm.org

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
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2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover1
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover2
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2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover3
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - FWSACover4
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2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - Cover3
2020 - 2021 Far West Skier's Guide - Cover4
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