THE HISTORY OF FAR WEST
While working on compiling a history of Far West Nordic I came across this trivia quiz from 10 years ago. I thought it would be fun to review.
AUTUMN 1999 FAR WEST NORDIC TRIVIA QUIZ by Mark Nadell
The Far West Autumn 1999 Newsletter contained our first annual Trivia Quiz, featuring questions about Far West Nordic skiing and its illustrious history. The following is a reprint of those questions and answers, along with some interesting tidbits for those history buffs in the group.
1) What place did Far West Nordic Assistant Junior Coach Nancy Fiddler finish in the first leg of the relay at the 1992 Olympics?
Nancy Fiddler replies," I finished in 5th place in the first leg of the1992 Olympic relay, only one second behind fourth and seven seconds behind third. The conditions were new snow, temps approaching freezing. It was a hard wax condition, in the tricky, near 320 range. I believe we were testing hairies, so it must have been snowing. I stayed in the pack near the back of the top nine or ten racers, and then was able to pass a few people in the last kilometer or so. It was fun to pass Marje-Lise Kirvesniemi on the last uphill! I felt it was a very good race for me, as I was so close to third place, and only 35 or so seconds behind the leader, Elena Valbe. The bad news is that the U.S. dropped the ball on the second leg to come in last or second to last place.
2) What was Far West Head Coach Glenn Jobe's best finish in a World Cup Biathlon race? Bonus points question: What brand of skis was he on for that race?
14th in 1979. Bonus Question: Karhu
3) What year were all races at U.S. Nationals skating only? Bonus question: Where were they held?
The 1986 U.S. Nationals, held at Royal Gorge, were all skating events. This National Championships occured right at the time when classic skiing was nearly dropped in international skiing. In 1984 and 1985, skiers were using whatever technique got them around the course, and in 1983 and 84, for some skiers, it was a combination of skating and classic skiing. In the 1986-87 season, international events were separated into classsic and skating events. The U.S. Nationals followed suit in 1987. Conditions at the 1986 Championships were spring-like, and all events began at 8:00 am in order to take advantage of the frozen snow. The long events and the relays were started down at the lake, and the two other events were started up at the Summit Station lodge.
4) What does CNISF stand for?
California Nevada Interscholastic Skiing Federation.
5) The very first Great Ski Race in 1976 had to be cancelled due to lack of snow. Who were the three sponsoring cross-country ski areas?
Tahoe Nordic, Squaw Valley Nordic and Big Chief Ski Touring Area. While skiing from Tahoe City to Truckee in the winter of 1975, Jim Schwartzman (late director of the first XC ski school in Tahoe City 1971-74 at Paige Meadows), Barry Dow (director of Squaw Valley Nordic in 1977-78) and Skip Reedy (director of Tahoe Nordic) discussed having a race some day to see who could get to Truckee first. So the following year (1976) Skip set up the race with Squaw Valley Nordic, Tahoe Nordic, and Big Chief Ski Touring (on Highway 89 just north of Squaw Valley), only to have to cancel it due to lack of snow. The first couple of races were stupidly scheduled at the end of March until they realized that the first weekend was really the best time, and for about 17 years the first Sunday in March had the best snow and best weather of all the weekends in March. The first course was set by snowmobile and Thiokol by Doug Read, Larry Sevison and Billy Dutton, among many other volunteers. The first couple of years the race profits went to the High School Nordic race teams but as most of the work was done by Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team members, the race turned the profits over to them starting in 1979. Jan Bjorkheim and Melissa Duffy won the first race on classic skis in times of 1 hour 44 min and 3 hours 5 minutes, respectively. Note the extreme difference between man and woman which has been reduced to somewhere around 9 minutes nowdays!
6) The highest point of the Great Ski Race is named after what early Tahoe skier and why?
Starratt Pass 7,500 feet was name after Jack Starratt who skied the future race course in the 1930's and several times carried US Mail packets when the road was closed. Starratt grew up in Tahoe City and skied for the local nordic ski teams in the 1930's and 40's. Jim Schwartzman suggested to Tahoe Nordic's Skip Reedy a year or so before Jack died to memorialize him by naming something after him at Tahoe Nordic. It seemed appropriate to name the pass after him where he skied the mail over to Tahoe City and Truckee.
7) Who had their skis chopped off for jumping the gun at the start of the Great Ski Race but still finished the race with a set of cowhorns on his head?
"Cowman" Jim Shirk. There lived a mountain of a man at Tahoe during the 70's and 80's who eccentrically wore a set of cowhorns in all his races (Why? Nobody ever really knew). He ran marathons, rode and ran in the Ride and Ties, competed in the local Tahoe Triathlon, and XC ski raced always wearing his horns and mooing his support to all the racers at the hardest parts. He never won any races but was always up there at the finish line. He entered the Boston Marathon, Levi Ride and Ties, Western States 100, and Hawaii Triathlon always wearing his horns. Without this helmet he could have probably placed much higher. He now lives in Kona Hawaii still entering every year the Western States 100 from Tahoe to Auburn. As for the chopping incident, Skip Reedy writes, "I had been having trouble every year with people jumping the gun at the Great Ski Race, so I pre-arranged with Cowman to wear an old pair of skis and a friend to hide in the trees half way up the starting hill with a big double bladed ax. So when I started the countdown for race start, Cowman began skiing up the hill with a few other skiers shuffling behind him. Out of the woods jumped the ax wielder and proceeded to chop off Cowman's skis. All the ski racers froze. It took me several attempts to restart the race after that but everybody started at the same time. Cowman pulled his race skis out of the woods and finished the race in the top percentages and I never had any problems with racers jumping the gun again."
8) How many Snow Cats does Royal Gorge currently operate?
10. John Slouber says that the first cat he purchased came from Squaw Valley. He had to get financial approval from Alex himself for the credit to have Squaw Valley finance the sale. John didn't have any money, and no one would lend a "cross country guy" money for a machine. Before that they used snowmobiles. It would take two guysone to drive the machine, and one to ride on the tracksetter. If the machine got stuck, the guy on the tracksetter would have to jump off, start tugging on the front of the snowmobile, and let it half drive over them to get started, and then get up and jump back on the track setter as it went by. The hardest trails to groom were Palisade and Telegraph. The first track setter he owned was a Cushman Tracksterwhich ended up in lake Van Norden on a blustery day, as a groomer got too close to the edge of the lake (probably why there are no trails across the lake), and they were able to catch it before it floated too far down the creek. The first brand of snowcat at RG was a LMC Thiokol. They currently run Pisten Bulley's, LMC's, and Bombardier. It takes 60 man hours to groom the track system from scratch.
9) In what year did Kirkwood Cross Country begin operation?
1973. According to founder Glenn Jobe, Kirkwood also started its operation in the equestrian stables at the resort. (see question #14)
10) Harry Johannson was the first person to ski around Lake Tahoe in the early 1900's. Who was the second and what was the difference in their routes?
Johannson skied 72 miles around at lake level. He skied from Tahoe City to South Shore on the unplowed roads and decided to continue around the East Shore on the way back the next day. (75 miles). Doug Read skied in the spring of 1982 around the rim of Lake Tahoe, about 200 miles, taking 5 days using Epoke lightweight touring skis. Doug writes, "I left home early one morning in April and skied up to Brockway Pass (Highway 267), and to Martis Peak, Baldy, Mt. Rose Knob, then Mt. Rose Highway, then crossed over to a ridge above Incline, and on to Marlette Peak, then to Marlette Lake and down Snow Canyon to Spooner Summit. Hitch-hiked home. I Got John Percival to go the next day from Spooner to Dagget Pass (Kingsbury Grade). On Day Three we went up over Monument Peak, around Heavenly Ski Area, down below Freel Peak, over a pass, then to Armstrong Pass and over Luther Pass. Then we skied down through Christmas Valley and up a lost trail called Glen Pauly Grade to Echo Summit (a long day.) Day Four we got Bo Lindstrom and Chris Burnett to go along. We skied Echo Summit, Echo Lakes, Lake Aloha, Mosquito Pass, Rockbound Valley, then up to Miller Lake, and finally down Blackwood Canyon in the dark. Day Five was back to John and I, scooting around from Blackwood north along the West Shore to Paige Meadows and down into Tahoe City, up to Tahoe Nordic Center and home. I guess it was 140-150 miles.
11) What was the name of the nordic center that was briefly in operation on the east side of Mt. Rose in the early 1990's?
Atoma. A few of you listed Galena, which was proposed but not ever in official operation.
12) What Far West XC Junior skier won the CNISF High School State Championships 4 years in a row?
Jenny Rassuchine, 1995-1998
13) In 1976 there was a race that started in Squaw Valley, went to Tahoe City and finished at the River Ranch. It was the very first race of its kind to be named a word that became famous in world-wide racing. What was the race called and what was the event(s). Bonus: Who won the first event in '76?
The Tahoe Triathlon was arguably the first race to ever use the name "Triathlon." It consisted of Cross Country Skiing, Bicycling and Kayaking. 1976 Winner: Gunter Hammersbach. There are those who believe that the word "Triathlon" was used previously to that event, notably the Clear Lake Triathlon (Rick Sylvester) or at Eppie's Great Race (Jeff Schloss). The Tahoe Triathlon 1976 started in Squaw Valley on cross country skis over the ridge to Alpine Meadows and down to River Ranch, Bicycling River Ranch to Tahoe City, kayaking down the Truckee River to River Ranch. Skip Reedy states, "I got this idea one day after I had bicycled to work at the Squaw Valley Nordic Center and was skiing with Carl Toeppner and discussing an afternoon of whitewater kayaking. The conversation turned naturally to who would be the fastest person in all three. So we organized a race, expecting some local to win, but Gunter Hemmersbeck from Oakland showed up with a new downriver racing kayak and beat all the local hotshot skiers and bikers. Whether this was the first 3 way race to be called a Triathlon is debatable. There were earlier 3 way races for sure, but when I was coming up with a name I could find no use of Triathlon nor whether to call it Triathalon or not. Choosing to eliminate the extra "a" I chose the shorter name. Nancy Molitor wrote a column in Spring 1987 Cross Country Skier magazine about the history of Triathlon asking if anybody knew of an earlier use. Never heard of any."
14) What Far West cross country ski area used a horse stall as its base for the first two years of operation?
Tahoe Donner Cross Country (extra points if you said Kirkwood XC as well.)
15) What Great Race winner also designed the logo that has been on every Great Ski Race t-shirt?
Wink Luskin worked for Tahoe Nordic 1977-79 and had artistic talents that were put to use designing logos and trail maps in between teaching lessons and renting skis. The organizers wanted to show the nature around Tahoe Nordic and include a little of Lake Tahoe. After the demise of Tahoe Nordic, Skip Reedy allowed its use on the T-shirts of the Great Ski Race. Wink won the Great Ski Race in 1979 and 1980. She worked as manager of Patagonia in San Francisco for several years and last heard was working in management at Patagonia.
16) Why were the ski trails given the names of colors at the original Tahoe Nordic XC resort in Tahoe City?
Tahoe Nordic trails were given the names of wax and klister colors because they were easy to remember and mark on the signs and trail map. Extra and special meant that they were outside or inside the loops of the primary colors. Gold andSilver wax was a two part waxing system made for beginners by Swix, above and below freezing. Tahoe XC will be renaming their trails after Tahoe Nordic's color scheme. (Most skiers called them by their original names anyway.)
17) What year did the Wilderness Lodge at Royal Gorge first open?
1973. The Royal Gorge Wilderness Lodge was born of a guiding service that did trips to Yosemite, Yellowstone, Canada, Norway, New Zealand and Wilderness Lodge on Donner Summit. This was all related to John Slouber's mountain hut experience as a ski guide in Europe. After a few years of super human efforts in getting beginning skiers and their gear into the lodge, the motorized sleighs were a good solution.
18) Who was the only North Tahoe High School graduate to win the Great Ski Race?
Dan Mainka, 1987 & 1988
19) In 1976, one person was the director of 5 different cross country ski areas in the Tahoe Area. Who was it, and what were the areas?
Skip Reedy was director of Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Granlibakken, Clair Tappaan Lodge, and Tahoe Nordic. Skip actually had a partner in 1976, Jerry Smeltzer, and both ran the 5 different areas. Actually, another Nordic Ski School was run by them at that time out of Alpenglow Truckee.
20) What is the oldest race still on the Far West Schedule, and what year was it started?
Yosemite Nordic Holiday race. This year is 27th annual, with Yosemite missing a year in 1997 due to the floods of '97. The inaugural year was 1972.
