Norwegian Snowshoes Started it All

Ski jumper on Norwegian snowshoes at Hot Sulphur Springs in early days of Colorado skiing. USFS photo.

The earliest skis in Colorado were long, wooden ones called Norwegian Snowshoes, which were impossible to turn. And so, skiers didn’t turn for the longest time; I mean, they just went straight downhill.

Folks also used the skis for ski jumping, which was the extreme sport of the day in many parts of the state, starting in 1911 in Hot Sulphur Springs, home of the earliest Winter Carnivals in Colorado. The town also had a newspaper—and a newspaper editor with a sense of humor.

He wrote an account of one wild ride downhill—fictionalized if not pure fiction—which appeared in The Middle Park Times on January 30, 1914 with the headline, “Judge Kennedy’s Wild Ride.” You can read the entire story in Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Front Range and Northern MountainsHere’s a little taste of it:

There are two rides in our nation’s history that are sacredly popular. One is “Paul Revere’s ride” and the other is “Washington’s boat ride across the Delaware” on that memorable Christmas night. Thus far, our nation’s historians have not taken cognizance of a third ride. But it happened this way. Last Sunday afternoon, every able-bodied man in town was called into service to erect the tower on the summit of the hill at the head of the ski course. Most of the men on the hill had skis on and it was suggested that they coast down the hill. Among others who were on skis was Judge Kennedy of the county court. Charley Free and Ed Chatfield suggested that the Judge coast down the hill. “I’m game,” said the Judge. Charley got the toes of the skis straight in the ski trail, while Ed attended the heels. Everybody in town had at least one eye on that hill. Finally Charley shouted, “All aboard! Let ‘er go!” Chatty yelled, “All ready, skiddo!” Zip—and the chief dignitary of the county court was on his way at a terrific and suffocating rate of speed…

Miners in the southern part of Colorado and ranchers in most of the state used Norwegian snowshoes to get around in winter. You can read about them in Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Southern and Central Mountains.

In Irwin, near Crested Butte, miners started sharing their skiing prowess early on. “About 1886 we had a ski club that attracted much attention all over the country. We gave exhibitions on the steep hillside just south of town. We gave the fastest runners first second and third prizes or real worth usually gold stick pins made to order. Had folks from Gunnison and other towns such as Montrose, Delta, Grand Junction, Salida and Denver come to the exhibitions at the Buttes…”

 

 

 

Olympians and CO’s Lost Areas

Colorado’s lost hills and ski areas launched the careers of athletes in the United States for the Winter Olympics.

A very early winter Olympian was ski jumper Anders Haugen. In 1919, he skied over Loveland Pass to the site of the Prestrud Jump at Dillon Reservoir—the hill is now under water—to take part in a competition. He set a world record of 213 feet. The next year he came back and set a new record of 214 feet. He was captain of the U.S. Olympic team at the first Winter Olympics in 1924 in Chamonix, France.

Some twenty years later, Robert L. “Barney” McLean skied the areas around Hot Sulphur Springs: Bungalow Hill, Mount Bross, and Snow King Valley. Grand County Museum Director B. Tim Nicklas said about him, “Barney McLean, many can argue, is the best skier to ever come out of Colorado. He has twelve national championships for both jumping and alpine, and he was captain of the 1948 Winter Olympic Team.”

Maggie Armstrong skied on Maggie’s Hill at Hot Sulphur Springs in the 1960s. She remembered a substitute teacher at her one-room schoolhouse in Parshall. Johnny R. Cress took the students skiing on Thursdays at the hill. He also skied Nordic Combined on the U.S. Ski Team at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics.