Tag: lost ski areas of colorado’s central and southern mountains

Centennial to Celebrate:

Ski Jump at Dillon

Spectators watch Anders Haugen make a jump at the Prestrud Jump, also called Haugen's Hill, at Dillon in 1919 or 1920.

On the road to the Dillon dam look up near the spillway at the rock cut above from which ‘ski riders’ once launched onto a steep takeoff ramp to fly off a ski jump.

You can’t see where riders landed because that is now under the water of the reservoir. The jump came to be called Prestrud Jump for Peter Prestrud who created the hill in 1919. It was also called Haugen’s Hill for Anders Haugen who set the World Record there twice in 1919 and 1920 at 213 feet and 214 feet, respectively. (To see great photos of the ski riders, including Haugen, courtesy of the Summit County Historical Society, look at Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Central and Southern Mountains, our second book for The History Press.) This photo shows the jump with Haugen flying from it and spectators watching. This photo was not of high enough quality to be included in the book, but it is an historic photo created by LC Anderson for the US Forest Service, and it shows Haugen making a jump of 195 feet.

The rest of the story

One hundred years ago come next January, will be the centennial anniversary of when Anders Haugen led a US team to the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first winter games, in Chamonix, France, and he competed in ski jumping. Unfortunately, he did not win a medal because he leaned forward over his skis instead of standing up straight, so he was marked down on style points.

The actual length of the jump wasn’t good enough for a medal either. But hold on a minute, it was longer, by three feet! According to John Hafner, author of Strange But True, “Fifty years later, a Norwegian sports historian stumbled upon an apparent scoring error. To his amazement, the scores didn’t add up. Upon further checking, the Norwegian Olympic Committee confirmed that the American was the rightful owner of the bronze medal.”

More of the rest of the story

The committee invited Haugen to Oslo, Norway, in 1974. The now eighty-six-year-old Haugen received the bronze medal with the blessing of Anne Marie Magnussen, who wanted her father’s medal to be turned over to Haugen. He still stands as the only American to win an Olympic medal in ski jumping.

Spring is sprung. Skiing is done.

A snowstorm that comes after spring has arrived reminds us of the great things about the last winter, including the beauty of snow falling. Some of the lost areas have hung around to one degree or another for years, also reminding skiers of the joys of winter and past ski seasons.

One example is Arapahoe East, which haunted skiers as they drove through Mount Vernon Canyon going to, or returning from, the mountains. By 1984, only the lift towers remained.

Arapahoe East sat atop a hill on the south side of I-70 (north slope of Mt. Liniger) a couple of miles west of the exit to Golden and Morrison. The idea was that of Larry Jump, who owned Arapahoe Basin early on.

One unique thing about the area, which opened in 1972, was that you paid by the ride with tokens, which were .25 cents each. One token was required for the Poma lift and two for the chairlift.

You can read all about Arapahoe East — kind of a sad story — in Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Front Range and Northern Mountains. If you buy through this website, we’ll sign the book and get it out to you right away.

Hat tip to coloradoskihistory.com for letting us use their image of the AE brochure.

2022–2023 Ski Season Opens

Hope it’s a safe and snowy one for all

The Denver Gazette reported in the week before Thanksgiving that seven resorts were opening to skiers, adding to the nine that were already open.

It’s a different world than the one early skiers in Colorado knew, largely because of snowmaking. For many years skiing happened when there was enough snow naturally and when there was no snow, there was no skiing.

The lives of the early skiers were focused on raising families and making a living through the trades, mining, and ranching. They barely had time to think about skiing, but when snow came, they made the time to go out and have a little fun sliding on it. Also, they made skiing happen for the kids, and the sport grew and spread.

You can read all about it in Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Front Range and Northern Mountains and Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Central and Southern Mountains. If you buy through this website, we’ll sign the books and get them out to you right away. By the way, they make great gifts.

Anyway, here’s to a wonderful ski season! Enjoy!

A New Conversation on “Colorado Matters”

Hot Sulphur skiers at winter carnival. USFS photo.

Listen to a new conversation on early Colorado Skiing, which was broadcast on CPR’s “Colorado Matters” February 1, 2022. Many thanks to CPR!

Come Hear the Authors: Golden History Museum, Wednesday, February 16, 6 PM

One hundred years ago, Municipal Facts Monthly, a Denver magazine, published these images of “The Lariat Trail” on Lookout Mountain in snow.

In our research we learned that Colorado Mountain Club members went up the mountain to Rilliet Hill by horse and sleigh early on, and then by car, to practice telemarking on the ski down, but we never found the exact location of the hill. If you know where it was, please let the authors know. We hope to see you at the Golden History Museum! For tickets go to: Special events and programs at Golden History Museum & Park.

2021–2022 Ski Season Begins

Historic photo showing historic snowfall that got Denver hooked on skiing.
Martha (R), Mary Louise (L) and Sylvia Springsteen in the aftermath of the Big Snow of 1913.

In 1913, Denver received a massive amount of snow, which shut down the city for everyone except for one man: Carl Howelsen. He went skiing around and inspired George Cranmer to ask for lessons in how to ski. That was the beginning of the thirst for skiing in Denver.

Howelsen became the “Johnny Appleseed” of skiing in Colorado and, with friends, ignited the extreme snow sport of the day, ski jumping. You can read all about it in “Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Front Range and Northern Mountains.”

The photo above shows the author Caryn’s grandmother Martha and her sisters walking after the storms in northwest Denver, which is now Highlands.

We had a beautiful, but dry, autumn in 2021. However, some of the ski areas have opened with manmade snow and limited runs.

Think snow.

Summer Visit: Red Mountain

Looking south from Red Mountain. Peter Boddie photo.

Glenwood Springs residents skied the big mountain on the west side of town for years before WWII, and they skied Lookout Mountain to the east of town too. Later, they skied at the top of Red Mountain at Glenwood Mountain Park. You can read about how they constructed the “ski courses” and Glenwood Mountain Park in Lost Ski Areas of Colorado’s Central and Southern Mountains.

The Red Mountain run was long, narrow and pretty steep. The Glenwood Mountain Park runs were at the top of the Red Mountain run and more gentle, but you had to brave the drive to get there.

Red Mountain is a place you can easily hike during the warm months. Unlike many lost areas, you do not have to ask permission to go there; in fact, an established trail exists. It’s a moderately difficult hike and you may see pieces of the last chairlift that existed (orange metal). You will get to see nice views and a few wildflowers. For directions to the trailhead go to: Red Mountain Trailhead | COTREX (colorado.gov).

A write up about the trail says the ski hill started in 1941. Our research indicated it started in the late 1930s.

2019–2020 Ski Season Shuts Down

Colorado skiers have been sans powder for a month due to COVID-19.

Governor Jared Polis said in early March that he would not shut down ski areas, but he encouraged skiers to social distance because of the new coronavirus. Then, as the resorts closed voluntarily, he issued an executive order suspending skiing for one week. That was mid March. On March 19th he extended the ban. Also, he discouraged people from traveling to the high country.

Most skiers left the resorts as they shut down, but backcountry enthusiasts just kept skiing. TV news reports showed that the parking lot at Berthoud Pass was packed. In mid-April the reports were that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) blocked parking areas on Loveland Pass with snow to end parking along the mountain road.

Current generations of skiers are not the first to experience a loss of the “healthful sport” in their lives. World War II brought almost a complete shutdown of small ski areas and hills all over Colorado as the USA mobilized to fight overseas. The winter carnival in Hot Sulphur Springs shut down in 1940. When the war ended things would be different in Colorado; large resorts and alpine skiing eclipsed the little hills and Nordic skiing. Read more about this in the lost ski area books.

What will the changes be to skiing after this pandemic has passed? Perhaps Nordic skiing will become more popular because it lends itself to more social distance between skiers. Or, maybe skiers will have to ride two to a gondola unless they’re family members. Whatever happens, we know Coloradans will keep their chins up, be part of the national effort to defeat this virus, and find a way to ski after the emergency is over.

Come for a Fun Evening in the Town of Frisco

USFS Ski Poster
The US Forest Service was actively involved with early Colorado skiing.

Come hear the Boddies share about the lost ski areas of Colorado at the Museum in the Town of Frisco (120 Main Street) in Summit County, on Friday, November 8, at 4 p.m. It’s opening day of the 2019–2020 Season at Copper Mountain!

Come hear the story beneath the story of the Colorado Ski Industry. Come learn who brought the ski culture here initially. Come find out about the only American to win a medal in Olympic ski jumping and how he is connected to Summit County. 

The evening will be lots of fun and historic photos will be involved, plus you can buy copies of the lost ski area books and have the authors sign them. (They make great Christmas gifts!)

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 Mountains. Here’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…”