Sugar Bowl Ski Resort
Encyclopedia
Sugar Bowl is a ski
and snowboard
area in northern Placer County
near Norden, California
along the Donner Pass
of the Sierra Nevada, approximately 46 mi (74 km) west of Reno, Nevada
on Interstate 80
, that opened on December 15, 1939. Sugar Bowl is a medium sized ski area in the Lake Tahoe
region, and is well known for its long history, significant advanced terrain, high annual snowfall and being one of the closest ski areas to the San Francisco Bay Area
. Sugar Bowl's terrain is 17% Beginner, 45% Intermediate and 38% Advanced.
Sugar Bowl was founded by Hannès Schroll
and a group of individual investors and is one of the few remaining privately owned resorts in the Lake Tahoe area. Sugar Bowl was the first ski area in California
to install a chairlift
and the first on the west coast to install a gondola lift
.
called Roller Pass ran between Mt. Judah and Mt. Lincoln. It was one of the wagon trails through Donner Pass
that was used by settlers and prospectors
, on the Emigrant Trail
, coming from the eastern United States across the Sierra Nevada. Today the same pass can be reached by way of the Pacific Crest Trail
or a new trail created by Sugar Bowl ski resort, in 1994, called the Mt. Judah Loop trail.
The Central Pacific Railroad
first began train services to Donner Pass in 1868 after the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
across the United States. A new tunnel constructed two-miles (3 km) through virtually solid granite, dubbed "http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca2400/ca2413/photos&topImages=315585pr.jpg&topLinks=315585pv.jpg,315585pu.tif&title=5.%20%20East%20portal%20of%20Tunnel%2041,%20contextual%20view%20to%20west-northwest,%20135mm%20lens.%20Summit%20of%20Mount%20Judah,%20named%20for%20the%20visionary%20engineer%20who%20conceived%20and%20mapped%20the%20route%20of%20the%20first%20transcontinental%20railroad,%20rises%20above%20the%20tunnel.%3cbr%3eHAER%20CAL,31-DONPA,1-5&displayProfile=0The Big Hole]" tunnel #41, was later constructed through Mt. Judah in 1925, offering trains better protection from snow storms on the summit. These heavy snow storms and blizzards during the winters often made even train service difficult over the years through the pass, which for a period of time was known as the Overland Route
.
Historian Charles F. McGlashan believed the area's economy would greatly benefit by hosting a winter carnival and in 1894 he built the first hand crafted Ice Palace to draw in tourists from the passenger trains.
Soon after, the railroad began running "Snowball Specials" to Truckee
from the Oakland Pier
.
The area became more accessible to tourists in 1913 when the Lincoln Highway
, the first road across the United States opened over the Donner Pass. This road was later upgraded in 1926 to US Highway 40, all though snow plowing operations by the state of California didn't start until 1932, making travel to the area by car difficult in the winter. In 1924 Charlie Chaplin
filmed scenes, upon Mt. Lincoln for his silent movie classic The Gold Rush
. Six hundred men were brought in by train from Sacramento
to serve as extras for the comedy scene.
The land that Sugar Bowl ski resort is built on was originally purchased in 1923 by Stephen and Jennie Pilcher. They paid $10.00 for 700 acres (2.8 km²) to the Southern Pacific Railroad
, who by then had taken over for the Central Pacific Railroad by lease and acquired its operations by 1885. During the early 1930s, before Sugar Bowl installed the first chair lift, skiers who wanted to ski the Donner Pass mountain peaks, like Mt. Lincoln, would have to climb up to the peaks on foot in order to get the chance to ski. By the mid thirties there were several Rope Tow's
dotting the hill sides of the Donner Pass area.
In 1936, Austrian ski instructors Bill and Fred Klein opened the Klein ski school, serving the Sierra Club
out of the Clair Tappaan Lodge in the area and local skiers from Sacramento
and San Francisco. The Klein brothers and a few other instructors they had taught, were often teaching 100 to 150 students a weekend, taking the more advanced students up to the crest of Mt. Lincoln on foot. This was partly attributed to the fact that new skiers were just venturing into the mountains more and with an improved Highway made travel easier. The term "leisure
" was beginning to take hold in America
during this time, after the passage of the Wagner Act and other labor laws
of the 1930s. There was also an interest in skiing that can be attributed to the 1932 Winter Olympics
the first to be held in the US, held in Lake Placid, New York.
, a famous Austrian skiing champion and ski instructor he personally knew, who was working at Yosemite
at the time, about the sale of the land. Schroll, a colorful character who would always be found yodeling
when he would ski, visited the area and by March 1938 Schroll had made a deal with the Pilcher sisters for the purchase of the land for $6,740. But when Schroll tried to retrieve funds from his home in Austria, the war had just broken out and his funds had been taken. Schroll then had to borrow the funding to buy the property from Hamilton McGaughey a local realtor and ice-skating champion George Stiles. Schroll had also sent a wire
via Western Union
, to Walt Disney at the time while seeking funding to purchase the property, but Disney was out of town and did not receive the wire in time. Schroll then became president of the Sugar Bowl Corporation in 1938 with the help and support of Wellington Henderson, Sherman Chickering, and Donald Gregory. Shortly after Schroll began seeking other investors to help build a Slope side
Tyrolean style village and ski resort, he had dreamed of, modeled after those in his home town in Kitzbühel
Austria. Because they thought the fine, crystalline snow looked like sugar, Schroll and Klein decided on the name "Sugar Bowl" for the resort.
The Southern Pacific Railroad agreed to build a facility adjacent to the Norden
telegraph office to accommodate 600 people, to support the opening of Sugar Bowl. Walt Disney, who had taken ski lessons from Schroll at Yosemite was approached again for funding and became a stockholder, when he gave Schroll $2,500. Schroll then changed the name of "Hemlock Peak" to "Mt. Disney" to honor Disney's support and soon after others followed suit and Schroll was able to raise $75,000 by June 1939 to help start and build the resort. Schroll also used his connections from Hollywood to convince Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
to produce a film called "Snowbirds" during November 1938, before Sugar Bowl opened to the public.
Construction of the Sugar Bowl lodge and the first chairlift installed in California, began during the summer of 1939. The lodge was designed by William Wurster and was erected with a sloping roof, so that snow would slide off towards the back side. The chairlift was designed by Henry Howard and built by the Riblet Tramway Company. Moore Dry Dock Company
was hired to install the 13 towers, which were included in Howard's design, to span the 1,000 vertical feet up to the top of Mt. Disney. Miners were brought in from Nevada City and used shovels and picks and sometimes dynamite, to clear away trees and dig footings for the towers by hand. Lava formation in the mountain was encountered during construction and some of the footings had to be set with-in it. Sugar Bowl opened on December 15, 1939, but it hadn't snowed enough to go skiing yet, so a makeshift ice rink the size of a tennis court was quickly set up for everyone to enjoy. Two weeks later on January 4, 1940, a blizzard struck Sugar Bowl and the skiing at Sugar Bowl began, with train load after train load of skiers coming in unexpected numbers.
was the only competitor to win the race three different times and other notable winners included Alf Engen
, Tom Corcoran
, Buddy Werner
, Willy Favre
, Jean Saubert
, Barbara Cochran
, Jack Reddish
, Penny Pitou
, Anne Heggtveit
, Dick Buek
, Jill Kinmont
, Andrea Mead Lawrence, Gordon Wren
and Cynthia Nelson, who won the last event, which was held in 1975.
Because Sugar Bowl had the first chair lift in the Sierras, complete with full lodge accommodations, the resort quickly became a popular skiing destination for many notable guests and Hollywood movie stars. Storytelling, dancing on the open deck and wearing suit jackets to dinner was the norm during this colorful time. Guests such as King Vidor
who directed such movies as The Champ
, War and Peace
and the Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz
. Other guest included Robert Stack
, Norma Shearer
, Margaret Sullavan
, Jean Arthur
, James Bryant Conant
, Doris Duke
, Claudette Colbert
, Lowell Thomas
, Leland Hayward
, Errol Flynn
, Sterling Hayden
, Marilyn Monroe
and Walt Disney
. Robert Stack
who grew up in Lake Tahoe
could often be found skiing down with Schroll, who could also "yodel"
, was considered a local. Actress Janet Leigh
was actually discovered at Sugar Bowl ski resort by actress Norma Shearer
. Leigh's father, Fred Morrison, the front desk clerk, had his daughter's photo sitting at the front desk when the actress checked in at the lodge. Shearer took the photo back to Hollywood and MGM soon contacted Leigh to sign a contract. She went on to star in such films as Alfred Hitchcock's
1960 thriller Psycho
, The Manchurian Candidate
and the Civil War drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge
. Greta Garbo's
last film appearance was in the movie Two-Faced Woman
filmed at Sugar Bowl in the spring of 1941, along with co-star's Melvin Douglas, Constance Bennett
, Roland Young
and Ruth Gordon
. Sugar Bowl was also featured in the 1941 Disney cartoon The Art of Skiing
in which Goofy
goes to Sugar Bowl to learn how to ski. Schroll is noted for the yodel that goofy makes in the cartoon, that's known as the Goofy holler.
But just as quickly as it all started, it came to a temporary halt when the US became involved in World War II
. The resort had few guest and Schroll retired as president of Sugar Bowl in 1945 after the war and moved to San Francisco. Gone, too, were the "Snowball Specials", the Southern Pacific Railroad had decided to stop train passenger service to Donner Pass during and after the War and the Norden station became a place for storage of equipment.
, who invented the first metal skis, asked Klein to test his new laminate skis he was developing at the time and then offered Klein a one-fourth interest in his ski company. Klein declined the offer at the time and remained at Sugar Bowl, but later said he regretted the decision, after Head's
company became one of the leading ski manufacturers in the U.S.
The second chairlift to be installed at Sugar Bowl was in 1950, the new lift had a double chair and was installed going up Mt. Lincoln, opening up much needed new terrain for skiers, that for years had to be hiked up to on foot. Two years later in 1952 it was time to replace the original ski lift going up Mt. Disney and when Heron of Denver replaced the lift the state assigned the new lift with Permit #8. The original lift had been installed before permits were even assigned or it would have been issued permit #1 in 1939 when it was first constructed.
Due to the original design plans of Sugar Bowl, it was determined by Jerome Hill
and others that a Gondola
would be necessary to move people better into the resort. The following year in 1953 Heron of Denver installed "The Magic Carpet", the first aerial tramway
on the west coast. The Gondola has since been rebuilt and upgraded twice since the original installation, by CTEC
.
The Sixties
would usher in a whole new era in skiing in the Sierra Nevada and Sugar Bowl after the 1960 Winter Olympics
were held in near-by Squaw Valley. Disney
directed the Pageantry for the games, which today are better known as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies
. The story goes that Alex Cushing, who co-founded Squaw Valley, was on vacation at Sugar Bowl in 1946 when he met Wayne Poulsen, who then invited him to look into opening a ski resort together.
Skiing was becoming larger, more popular and better, with over 3 million skiers hitting the slopes each year and new equipment entering the market. Filmmaker Warren Miller
came to Sugar Bowl in 1963 to shoot scenes for his film "The Color Of Skiing", which were later added to his film "Fifty", which included scenes from 50 year's worth of ski footage, that was released in 1999. Junior Bounous
who was the ski school director at Sugar Bowl in 1958 and the first American born Ski School Director
in the US, was also featured in over 10 Warren Miller films. Bounous would later go on to be inducted into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
in 1996.
By 1964 Interstate 80 was constructed over the crest of Donner Pass to replace the older Historic U.S. 40, which today is named Donner Pass Road. Sugar Bowl became more family orientated for any skier with runs designed for every level of skill.
Another addition came in 1999 with the founding of the Sugar Bowl Academy (SBA), a college preparatory high school for competitive skiers. The Ski School Academy was co-founded by Jim Hudson, Barbara Sorba and Dr. Patricia "Tricia" Hellman Gibbs, former member of the U.S. Ski Team
and daughter of Warren Hellman
. "Tricia" grew up on the ski slopes of Sugar Bowl and co-founded with her husband the San Francisco Free Clinic, one of the most notable medical clinics in San Francisco, which sees thousands of people in need each year free
of charge. The most notable alumni graduate from the ski academy has been Katie Hitchcock who was selected to join and train with the U.S. Ski Team
.
A new ski race was added at Sugar Bowl in 2004, modeled after the Silver Belt races of the past that descends down the same slopes of Mt. Lincoln, called the Silver Belt Banzai. The race differ's from the traditional Silver Belt races that were held during the 1940s, in that 4 to 6 skiers or snowboarders race down the hill at the same time, known as a skier cross-style format. 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games competitor Daron Rahlves
and his sister Shannon, both won the event back to back in 2009 and 2010 for the men and women.
who was the railroad design engineer for the Central Pacific Railroad
, who surveyed and planned the route that the rail road tracks follow through Donner Pass
to Nevada.
Mt. Disney is named in honor of Walt Disney
an initial stockholder when Sugar Bowl was being constructed.
Rahlves Run is named in honor of Daron Rahlves
, Ambassador for the Sugar Bowl ski resort and the only second non-European to win the famed Hahnenkamm
downhill race in Kitzbühel, Austria, in 2003 (Buddy Werner
in 1959).
Klein’s Schuss is a run out area towards the bottom of Mt. Lincoln, named in honor of Bill Klein, once the ski school director and ski shop owner at Sugar Bowl ski resort. He went on the initial trip with Schroll in 1937 to look at the land and mountain peaks that would one day become the Sugar Bowl ski resort.
Jerome Hill is named after Sugar Bowl stockholder Jerome E. Hill
, who was responsible for paying for and installing the "The Magic Carpet" gondola at Sugar Bowl ski resort.
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and snowboard
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...
area in northern Placer County
Placer County, California
Placer County is a county located in both the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada regions of the U.S. state of California, in what is known as the Gold Country. It stretches from the suburbs of Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Nevada border. Because of the expansion of the Greater Sacramento,...
near Norden, California
Norden, California
Norden is a small unincorporated community in Nevada County, California, United States, about west of Truckee. The community is located on a former portion of U.S...
along the Donner Pass
Donner Pass
Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west....
of the Sierra Nevada, approximately 46 mi (74 km) west of Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
on Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
, that opened on December 15, 1939. Sugar Bowl is a medium sized ski area in the Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
region, and is well known for its long history, significant advanced terrain, high annual snowfall and being one of the closest ski areas to the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. Sugar Bowl's terrain is 17% Beginner, 45% Intermediate and 38% Advanced.
Sugar Bowl was founded by Hannès Schroll
Hannes Schroll
Hannes Schroll was an Austrian Alpine ski racer and founder of the Sugar Bowl ski resort in Norden, California.-Early years:...
and a group of individual investors and is one of the few remaining privately owned resorts in the Lake Tahoe area. Sugar Bowl was the first ski area in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to install a chairlift
Chairlift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...
and the first on the west coast to install a gondola lift
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
.
Site real estate
The mountain peaks of Mt. Judah and Mt. Lincoln, that eventually became the ski slopes of the Sugar Bowl ski resort, were a part of the American pioneers route, back in the 1800s. A part of the California wagon trailCalifornia Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
called Roller Pass ran between Mt. Judah and Mt. Lincoln. It was one of the wagon trails through Donner Pass
Donner Pass
Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west....
that was used by settlers and prospectors
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
, on the Emigrant Trail
Emigrant Trail
The Emigrant Trails were the northern networks of overland wagon trails throughout the American West, used by emigrants from the eastern United States to settle lands west of the Interior Plains during the overland migrations of the mid-19th century...
, coming from the eastern United States across the Sierra Nevada. Today the same pass can be reached by way of the Pacific Crest Trail
Pacific Crest Trail
The Pacific Crest Trail is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail on the Western Seaboard of the United States. The southern terminus is at the California border with Mexico...
or a new trail created by Sugar Bowl ski resort, in 1994, called the Mt. Judah Loop trail.
The Central Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
first began train services to Donner Pass in 1868 after the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
across the United States. A new tunnel constructed two-miles (3 km) through virtually solid granite, dubbed "http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca2400/ca2413/photos&topImages=315585pr.jpg&topLinks=315585pv.jpg,315585pu.tif&title=5.%20%20East%20portal%20of%20Tunnel%2041,%20contextual%20view%20to%20west-northwest,%20135mm%20lens.%20Summit%20of%20Mount%20Judah,%20named%20for%20the%20visionary%20engineer%20who%20conceived%20and%20mapped%20the%20route%20of%20the%20first%20transcontinental%20railroad,%20rises%20above%20the%20tunnel.%3cbr%3eHAER%20CAL,31-DONPA,1-5&displayProfile=0The Big Hole]" tunnel #41, was later constructed through Mt. Judah in 1925, offering trains better protection from snow storms on the summit. These heavy snow storms and blizzards during the winters often made even train service difficult over the years through the pass, which for a period of time was known as the Overland Route
Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)
The Overland Route was a train route operated jointly by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad / Southern Pacific Railroad, between Council Bluffs, Iowa / Omaha, Nebraska, and San Francisco, California over the grade of the First Transcontinental Railroad which had been...
.
Historian Charles F. McGlashan believed the area's economy would greatly benefit by hosting a winter carnival and in 1894 he built the first hand crafted Ice Palace to draw in tourists from the passenger trains.
Soon after, the railroad began running "Snowball Specials" to Truckee
Truckee, California
Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. The population was 16,180 at the 2010 census, up from 13,864 at the 2000 census.-Name:...
from the Oakland Pier
Oakland Long Wharf
The Oakland Long Wharf, later known as the Oakland Pier or the SP Mole was a massive railroad wharf and ferry pier in Oakland, California. It was located at the foot of Seventh Street....
.
The area became more accessible to tourists in 1913 when the Lincoln Highway
Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...
, the first road across the United States opened over the Donner Pass. This road was later upgraded in 1926 to US Highway 40, all though snow plowing operations by the state of California didn't start until 1932, making travel to the area by car difficult in the winter. In 1924 Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
filmed scenes, upon Mt. Lincoln for his silent movie classic The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush is a 1925 silent film comedy written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin in his Little Tramp role. The film also stars Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman, Malcolm Waite....
. Six hundred men were brought in by train from Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
to serve as extras for the comedy scene.
The land that Sugar Bowl ski resort is built on was originally purchased in 1923 by Stephen and Jennie Pilcher. They paid $10.00 for 700 acres (2.8 km²) to the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
, who by then had taken over for the Central Pacific Railroad by lease and acquired its operations by 1885. During the early 1930s, before Sugar Bowl installed the first chair lift, skiers who wanted to ski the Donner Pass mountain peaks, like Mt. Lincoln, would have to climb up to the peaks on foot in order to get the chance to ski. By the mid thirties there were several Rope Tow's
Ski tow
thumb|right|A rope tow or ski tow.A ski tow, also called rope tow or handle tow, is a mechanised system for pulling skiers and snowboarders uphill....
dotting the hill sides of the Donner Pass area.
In 1936, Austrian ski instructors Bill and Fred Klein opened the Klein ski school, serving the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
out of the Clair Tappaan Lodge in the area and local skiers from Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
and San Francisco. The Klein brothers and a few other instructors they had taught, were often teaching 100 to 150 students a weekend, taking the more advanced students up to the crest of Mt. Lincoln on foot. This was partly attributed to the fact that new skiers were just venturing into the mountains more and with an improved Highway made travel easier. The term "leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
" was beginning to take hold in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during this time, after the passage of the Wagner Act and other labor laws
Labor history of the United States
The labor history of the United States describes the history of organized labor, as well as the more general history of working people, in the United States. Pressures dictating the nature and power of organized labor have included the evolution and power of the corporation, efforts by employers...
of the 1930s. There was also an interest in skiing that can be attributed to the 1932 Winter Olympics
1932 Winter Olympics
The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It would be the first winter olympics held in the United...
the first to be held in the US, held in Lake Placid, New York.
Sugar Bowl
The following year in 1937, the 700 acres (2.8 km²) were put up for sale by the daughters of the Pilcher's, around Mt. Lincoln and Hemlock Peak. Bill Klein contacted Hannès SchrollHannes Schroll
Hannes Schroll was an Austrian Alpine ski racer and founder of the Sugar Bowl ski resort in Norden, California.-Early years:...
, a famous Austrian skiing champion and ski instructor he personally knew, who was working at Yosemite
Badger Pass Ski Area
Badger Pass Ski Area is a small ski area located within Yosemite National Park. Badger Pass is one of only three lift serviced ski areas operating in a US National Park...
at the time, about the sale of the land. Schroll, a colorful character who would always be found yodeling
Yodeling
Yodeling is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal or chest register to the falsetto/head register; making a high-low-high-low sound.The English word yodel is derived from a German word jodeln meaning "to...
when he would ski, visited the area and by March 1938 Schroll had made a deal with the Pilcher sisters for the purchase of the land for $6,740. But when Schroll tried to retrieve funds from his home in Austria, the war had just broken out and his funds had been taken. Schroll then had to borrow the funding to buy the property from Hamilton McGaughey a local realtor and ice-skating champion George Stiles. Schroll had also sent a wire
Teleprinter
A teleprinter is a electromechanical typewriter that can be used to communicate typed messages from point to point and point to multipoint over a variety of communication channels that range from a simple electrical connection, such as a pair of wires, to the use of radio and microwave as the...
via Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
, to Walt Disney at the time while seeking funding to purchase the property, but Disney was out of town and did not receive the wire in time. Schroll then became president of the Sugar Bowl Corporation in 1938 with the help and support of Wellington Henderson, Sherman Chickering, and Donald Gregory. Shortly after Schroll began seeking other investors to help build a Slope side
Slope side
Slope side is a term used in the North American ski lodging industry to describe any accommodation from which one can reasonably walk to the ski lifts. Such lodgings are usually at the bottom of, or right beside, the ski hill—hence the term slope side....
Tyrolean style village and ski resort, he had dreamed of, modeled after those in his home town in Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel
-Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer...
Austria. Because they thought the fine, crystalline snow looked like sugar, Schroll and Klein decided on the name "Sugar Bowl" for the resort.
The Southern Pacific Railroad agreed to build a facility adjacent to the Norden
Norden, California
Norden is a small unincorporated community in Nevada County, California, United States, about west of Truckee. The community is located on a former portion of U.S...
telegraph office to accommodate 600 people, to support the opening of Sugar Bowl. Walt Disney, who had taken ski lessons from Schroll at Yosemite was approached again for funding and became a stockholder, when he gave Schroll $2,500. Schroll then changed the name of "Hemlock Peak" to "Mt. Disney" to honor Disney's support and soon after others followed suit and Schroll was able to raise $75,000 by June 1939 to help start and build the resort. Schroll also used his connections from Hollywood to convince Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
to produce a film called "Snowbirds" during November 1938, before Sugar Bowl opened to the public.
Construction of the Sugar Bowl lodge and the first chairlift installed in California, began during the summer of 1939. The lodge was designed by William Wurster and was erected with a sloping roof, so that snow would slide off towards the back side. The chairlift was designed by Henry Howard and built by the Riblet Tramway Company. Moore Dry Dock Company
Moore Dry Dock Company
Moore Dry Dock Company was a ship repair and shipbuilding company in Oakland, California. It was started in San Francisco in 1905 as the Moore & Scott Iron Works, but was destroyed by fire in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It reopened soon and in 1909 purchased the Boole Shipyard in Oakland....
was hired to install the 13 towers, which were included in Howard's design, to span the 1,000 vertical feet up to the top of Mt. Disney. Miners were brought in from Nevada City and used shovels and picks and sometimes dynamite, to clear away trees and dig footings for the towers by hand. Lava formation in the mountain was encountered during construction and some of the footings had to be set with-in it. Sugar Bowl opened on December 15, 1939, but it hadn't snowed enough to go skiing yet, so a makeshift ice rink the size of a tennis court was quickly set up for everyone to enjoy. Two weeks later on January 4, 1940, a blizzard struck Sugar Bowl and the skiing at Sugar Bowl began, with train load after train load of skiers coming in unexpected numbers.
After Opening
Towards the end of the very first ski season at Sugar Bowl, Schroll held the inaugural Silver Belt race in April 1940. The race was won by Gretchen Frazer and Friedl Pfeifer. Prior to the international World Cup ski competition, the Silver Belt race was considered one of the most challenging of that era and often attracted the top European and American skiers. Jannette BurrJannette Burr
Jannette Weston Burr is a former American alpine skier from Sun Valley, Idaho. In 1970, she was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.-World championships:* 1954 World Championships in Åre, Sweden...
was the only competitor to win the race three different times and other notable winners included Alf Engen
Alf Engen
Alf Engen was a Norwegian-American skier and skiing school owner/teacher. Alf Engen set several ski jumping world records during the 1930s.-Background:...
, Tom Corcoran
Tom Corcoran (skier)
Thomas Corcoran, better known as Tom Corcoran, is a four-time United States national champion in alpine skiing and a two-time Olympian. In addition to seven years of international ski racing, Corcoran also raced competitively for Dartmouth College....
, Buddy Werner
Buddy Werner
Wallace "Buddy" Werner was an American ski racer in the 1950s and early 1960s. Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Werner and his siblings were accomplished skiers, and competed in both alpine and Nordic events on Howelsen Hill...
, Willy Favre
Willy Favre
Willy Favre is a Swiss former alpine skier and Olympic medalist. He was born in Les Diablerets. He received a silver medal in the giant slalom at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble.-References:...
, Jean Saubert
Jean Saubert
Jean Marlene Saubert was a competitive alpine skier from the United States. She won two medals in the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria. After graduating from college, Saubert become a teacher. She died in 2007.-Early life:Born in Roseburg, Oregon on May 1, 1942, Saubert grew up in...
, Barbara Cochran
Barbara Cochran
Barbara Ann Cochran is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist, who competed on the World Cup circuit for seven seasons. She retired from international competition following the 1974 season.Barbara Cochran is a member of the famous "Skiing Cochrans" family, which has operated a small...
, Jack Reddish
Jack Reddish
For the English footballer of the same name see Jack Reddish Jack Nichols Reddish was an American alpine skier who competed in the 1948 Winter Olympics and in the 1952 Winter Olympics....
, Penny Pitou
Penny Pitou
Penelope Theresa 'Penny' Pitou is a former United States Olympic alpine skier, who in 1960 became the first American skier to win a medal in the Olympic downhill event. In 2001, Pitou was inducted into the New England Women's Sports Hall of Fame.Penny Pitou moved with her family from New York to...
, Anne Heggtveit
Anne Heggtveit
Anne Heggtveit, CM is a Canadian alpine skier born in Ottawa, Ontario.- Biography :Her father, Halvor Heggtveit, a Canadian cross-country champion, encouraged her at a young age. A student at Lisgar Collegiate Institute in Ottawa, she learned to ski in the nearby Gatineau Hills of Quebec...
, Dick Buek
Dick Buek
Dick Buek , born Richard Buek, was an American downhill ski racer and later a daredevil stunt pilot. A fiance of champion snow skier Jill Kinmont, whose tragic life story was made into the inspirational hit Hollywood motion picture The Other Side of the Mountain , Dick died in a plane crash at the...
, Jill Kinmont
Jill Kinmont
Jill Kinmont Boothe is a former alpine ski racer, who competed in the mid-1950s.Jill Kinmont grew up in Bishop, California, skiing and racing at Mammoth Mountain. In early 1955, she was the reigning national champion in the slalom, and a top prospect for a medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics, a year...
, Andrea Mead Lawrence, Gordon Wren
Gordon Wren
Gordon Wren was an American ski jumper who competed in the 1940s. He finished fifth in the individual large hill event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. He died in Steamboat Springs, Colorado of cancer at age 80....
and Cynthia Nelson, who won the last event, which was held in 1975.
Because Sugar Bowl had the first chair lift in the Sierras, complete with full lodge accommodations, the resort quickly became a popular skiing destination for many notable guests and Hollywood movie stars. Storytelling, dancing on the open deck and wearing suit jackets to dinner was the norm during this colorful time. Guests such as King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
who directed such movies as The Champ
The Champ
The Champ is a 1931 American film written by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock, and directed by King Vidor. The movie stars Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper , and tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son.The...
, War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
and the Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. Other guest included Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
, Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Brooke Sullavan was an American stage and film actress. Sullavan started her career on the stage in 1929. In 1933 she caught the attention of movie director John M. Stahl and had her debut on the screen that same year in Only Yesterday...
, Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...
, James Bryant Conant
James Bryant Conant
James Bryant Conant was a chemist, educational administrator, and government official. As thePresident of Harvard University he reformed it as a research institution.-Biography :...
, Doris Duke
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
, Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
, Lowell Thomas
Lowell Thomas
Lowell Jackson Thomas was an American writer, broadcaster, and traveler, best known as the man who made Lawrence of Arabia famous...
, Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward was a Hollywood and Broadway agent and theatrical producer. He produced the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and The Sound of Music.-Early years:...
, Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
, Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
and Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
. Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
who grew up in Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
could often be found skiing down with Schroll, who could also "yodel"
Yodeling
Yodeling is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal or chest register to the falsetto/head register; making a high-low-high-low sound.The English word yodel is derived from a German word jodeln meaning "to...
, was considered a local. Actress Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
was actually discovered at Sugar Bowl ski resort by actress Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
. Leigh's father, Fred Morrison, the front desk clerk, had his daughter's photo sitting at the front desk when the actress checked in at the lodge. Shearer took the photo back to Hollywood and MGM soon contacted Leigh to sign a contract. She went on to star in such films as Alfred Hitchcock's
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
1960 thriller Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
, The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate , by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party....
and the Civil War drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
The Romance of Rosy Ridge is a 1947 drama film about a rural community still bitterly divided in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It stars Van Johnson, Thomas Mitchell, and Janet Leigh in her film debut...
. Greta Garbo's
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
last film appearance was in the movie Two-Faced Woman
Two-Faced Woman
Two-Faced Woman is a romantic comedy made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Greta Garbo, in her final film role, and Melvyn Douglas, with Constance Bennett, Roland Young and Ruth Gordon...
filmed at Sugar Bowl in the spring of 1941, along with co-star's Melvin Douglas, Constance Bennett
Constance Bennett
-Early life:She was born in New York City, the daughter of actor Richard Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison, whose father was the stage actor Lewis Morrison , a wealthy performer of English and Spanish ancestry...
, Roland Young
Roland Young
Roland Young was an English actor.-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne School, Dorset and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
and Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
. Sugar Bowl was also featured in the 1941 Disney cartoon The Art of Skiing
The Art of Skiing
The Art of Skiing is a Goofy cartoon made by Walt Disney Productions in 1941. It has historical significance as the first cartoon to use the goofy holler, as well as being the short that led to the "How To" series, beginning with How to Play Baseball and continuing with How to Hook Up Your Home...
in which Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
goes to Sugar Bowl to learn how to ski. Schroll is noted for the yodel that goofy makes in the cartoon, that's known as the Goofy holler.
But just as quickly as it all started, it came to a temporary halt when the US became involved in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The resort had few guest and Schroll retired as president of Sugar Bowl in 1945 after the war and moved to San Francisco. Gone, too, were the "Snowball Specials", the Southern Pacific Railroad had decided to stop train passenger service to Donner Pass during and after the War and the Norden station became a place for storage of equipment.
After the War
Klein returned to Sugar Bowl after the war, in 1946, as Sugar Bowl's ski school director and held the position until 1957. Klein believed skiing was a fashionable sport and started his own ski shop, out of the Sugar Bowl lodge, selling the latest ski equipment and clothing on the market. Howard HeadHoward Head
Howard Head was an aeronautical engineer who is credited with the invention of laminate skis and the over-sized tennis racket. He was the founder of Head Ski Company in 1950 and later became chairman of Prince Manufacturing Inc. The U.S...
, who invented the first metal skis, asked Klein to test his new laminate skis he was developing at the time and then offered Klein a one-fourth interest in his ski company. Klein declined the offer at the time and remained at Sugar Bowl, but later said he regretted the decision, after Head's
Head (company)
Head N.V. is a sports equipment and clothing company, known mainly for their alpine skis and tennis racquets. Founded as a ski company in Baltimore, Maryland, the company is currently headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Kennelbach, Austria...
company became one of the leading ski manufacturers in the U.S.
The second chairlift to be installed at Sugar Bowl was in 1950, the new lift had a double chair and was installed going up Mt. Lincoln, opening up much needed new terrain for skiers, that for years had to be hiked up to on foot. Two years later in 1952 it was time to replace the original ski lift going up Mt. Disney and when Heron of Denver replaced the lift the state assigned the new lift with Permit #8. The original lift had been installed before permits were even assigned or it would have been issued permit #1 in 1939 when it was first constructed.
Due to the original design plans of Sugar Bowl, it was determined by Jerome Hill
Jerome Hill
Jerome Hill was an American filmmaker and artist. He was born into the family of Louis W. and Maud Van Corlandt Hill, one of the prominent families of Saint Paul and heirs to the railroad fortune of James J. Hill, the famed “Empire Builder.”He attended St...
and others that a Gondola
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
would be necessary to move people better into the resort. The following year in 1953 Heron of Denver installed "The Magic Carpet", the first aerial tramway
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
on the west coast. The Gondola has since been rebuilt and upgraded twice since the original installation, by CTEC
CTEC
CTEC is globally known as Certified Technical Education Center, this term was introduced by Microsoft in early 1990s.The Microsoft Certified Technical Education Centre channel provides training for computer professions in the use of Microsoft products...
.
The Sixties
60s
-Significant people:* Boudicca, rebellious British queen* Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, Roman general* Julius Civilis, leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans...
would usher in a whole new era in skiing in the Sierra Nevada and Sugar Bowl after the 1960 Winter Olympics
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...
were held in near-by Squaw Valley. Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
directed the Pageantry for the games, which today are better known as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies
Olympic Games ceremony
Olympic Games ceremonies were an integral part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies harken back to the Ancient Games from which the Modern Olympics draw their ancestry. An example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies...
. The story goes that Alex Cushing, who co-founded Squaw Valley, was on vacation at Sugar Bowl in 1946 when he met Wayne Poulsen, who then invited him to look into opening a ski resort together.
Skiing was becoming larger, more popular and better, with over 3 million skiers hitting the slopes each year and new equipment entering the market. Filmmaker Warren Miller
Warren Miller (director)
Warren Miller is an American ski and snowboarding filmmaker. He is the founder of Warren Miller Entertainment and produced, directed and narrated his films until 1988. His credits include over 750 sports films, several books and hundreds of published non-fiction stories...
came to Sugar Bowl in 1963 to shoot scenes for his film "The Color Of Skiing", which were later added to his film "Fifty", which included scenes from 50 year's worth of ski footage, that was released in 1999. Junior Bounous
Junior Bounous
Junior Bounous has been known as a "Pioneer in the American Ski Industry" and has been skiing the Wasatch Mountains and elsewhere for over 70 years...
who was the ski school director at Sugar Bowl in 1958 and the first American born Ski School Director
Ski school
A ski school is an establishment that trains skiers. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and established these methods as teaching principles for all ski instructors at his school.In...
in the US, was also featured in over 10 Warren Miller films. Bounous would later go on to be inducted into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
National Ski Hall of Fame
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is located in the City of Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States...
in 1996.
By 1964 Interstate 80 was constructed over the crest of Donner Pass to replace the older Historic U.S. 40, which today is named Donner Pass Road. Sugar Bowl became more family orientated for any skier with runs designed for every level of skill.
Recent history
Sugar Bowl is one of the oldest and longest running ski resorts on the west coast, having been in operation for over 70 years. During the last several decades Sugar Bowl ski resort has replaced its older double chair lifts and added new quad lifts to open up new trails on its 4 mountain peaks, Mt. Judah, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Disney and the Crows Nest Peak. A 10 year expansion of the resort began in 1992, with addition of a new parking lot and a lodge at the base of Mt. Judah, a pedestrian village and more off-slope facilities.Another addition came in 1999 with the founding of the Sugar Bowl Academy (SBA), a college preparatory high school for competitive skiers. The Ski School Academy was co-founded by Jim Hudson, Barbara Sorba and Dr. Patricia "Tricia" Hellman Gibbs, former member of the U.S. Ski Team
United States Ski Team
The United States Ski Team, operated under the auspices of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association , develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, adaptive alpine, freestyle skiing, cross country, adaptive cross country, ski jumping, and nordic combined....
and daughter of Warren Hellman
Warren Hellman
F. Warren Hellman is a private equity investor and co-founder of Hellman & Friedman, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm...
. "Tricia" grew up on the ski slopes of Sugar Bowl and co-founded with her husband the San Francisco Free Clinic, one of the most notable medical clinics in San Francisco, which sees thousands of people in need each year free
Gratis
Gratis is the process of providing goods or services without compensation. It is often referred to in English as "free of charge" or "complimentary"...
of charge. The most notable alumni graduate from the ski academy has been Katie Hitchcock who was selected to join and train with the U.S. Ski Team
United States Ski Team
The United States Ski Team, operated under the auspices of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association , develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, adaptive alpine, freestyle skiing, cross country, adaptive cross country, ski jumping, and nordic combined....
.
A new ski race was added at Sugar Bowl in 2004, modeled after the Silver Belt races of the past that descends down the same slopes of Mt. Lincoln, called the Silver Belt Banzai. The race differ's from the traditional Silver Belt races that were held during the 1940s, in that 4 to 6 skiers or snowboarders race down the hill at the same time, known as a skier cross-style format. 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games competitor Daron Rahlves
Daron Rahlves
Daron Louis Rahlves is an American freestyle skier and a former alpine ski racer. Raised in northern California, he attended the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont and currently resides in Truckee, California...
and his sister Shannon, both won the event back to back in 2009 and 2010 for the men and women.
Ski trails
Mt. Judah is named after Theodore JudahTheodore Judah
Theodore Dehone Judah was an American railroad engineer who dreamed of the first Transcontinental Railroad. He found investors for what became the Central Pacific Railroad...
who was the railroad design engineer for the Central Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
, who surveyed and planned the route that the rail road tracks follow through Donner Pass
Donner Pass
Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west....
to Nevada.
Mt. Disney is named in honor of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
an initial stockholder when Sugar Bowl was being constructed.
Rahlves Run is named in honor of Daron Rahlves
Daron Rahlves
Daron Louis Rahlves is an American freestyle skier and a former alpine ski racer. Raised in northern California, he attended the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont and currently resides in Truckee, California...
, Ambassador for the Sugar Bowl ski resort and the only second non-European to win the famed Hahnenkamm
Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel
The Hahnenkamm is a mountain in Austria, directly south of Kitzbühel, in the Kitzbühel Alps. The elevation of its summit is above sea level.The Hahnenkamm is part of the ski resort of Kitzbühel, and hosts the annual World Cup alpine ski races, the Hahnenkammrennen...
downhill race in Kitzbühel, Austria, in 2003 (Buddy Werner
Buddy Werner
Wallace "Buddy" Werner was an American ski racer in the 1950s and early 1960s. Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Werner and his siblings were accomplished skiers, and competed in both alpine and Nordic events on Howelsen Hill...
in 1959).
Klein’s Schuss is a run out area towards the bottom of Mt. Lincoln, named in honor of Bill Klein, once the ski school director and ski shop owner at Sugar Bowl ski resort. He went on the initial trip with Schroll in 1937 to look at the land and mountain peaks that would one day become the Sugar Bowl ski resort.
Jerome Hill is named after Sugar Bowl stockholder Jerome E. Hill
Jerome Hill
Jerome Hill was an American filmmaker and artist. He was born into the family of Louis W. and Maud Van Corlandt Hill, one of the prominent families of Saint Paul and heirs to the railroad fortune of James J. Hill, the famed “Empire Builder.”He attended St...
, who was responsible for paying for and installing the "The Magic Carpet" gondola at Sugar Bowl ski resort.