Books for the Skier in Your Life

Name: Lost Ski Areas of Southern California
Brand: Ingrid P. Wicken
SKU: 9781609493875
Price: 16.49 USD
Availability: InStock

Specific mountains and ski towns have unique characters that exercise their spell on lovers of the downhill sport. Our books on famous ski towns and regions share the hidden history of skiing from its earliest runs and crude tow ropes to vivid resorts of today, in words and rare photos. These chronicles capture iconic locales from Tahoe and Squaw Valley out West, to the slopes of Vermont and New Hampshire back East. A perfect gift for the end of day when the boots are unbuckled and the fire is lit.

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Lost Ski Areas of Southern California

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Lost Ski Areas of Tahoe and Donner

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Skiing at Lake Tahoe

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Skiing in Southern California

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Olympic Valley & Alpine Meadows

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Lost Ski Areas of Southern California

9781609493875

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

The snow-laden slopes of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains have beckoned Southland skiers since the 1930s. Many once-cherished ski areas have disappeared, yet their history remains. A short drive from the sun and sand, places like Rebel Ridge and Kratka Ridge offered snowy escapes. Thrilling races were held at the First International Pine Needle Ski Tournament in North Hollywood, while the San Diego Ski Club boasted Dorothy McClung Wullich, the first female member of the National Ski Patrol. Ingrid Wicken, ski historian and founder of the California Ski Library, chronicles Southern California's lost mountain getaways and the vanished ski areas that introduced everything from rope tows to artificial snow.

Lost Ski Areas of Tahoe and Donner

9781467140584

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Lake Tahoe and the Donner Summit region became California’s first developed winter sports areas. Plentiful snowfall and newly built highways opened up the summer playground for visitors year-round, and skiing flourished. The Sierra Ski Club formed in 1925, attracting members eager to experience everything the mountains had to offer. People flocked to the slopes, visiting places like Clair Tappaan Lodge in Soda Springs, boasting one of the summit’s earliest ski tows, and the Yuba Gap Lodge, a pioneer in night skiing. Join Ingrid P. Wicken, award-winning author and ski historian, as she recounts the fascinating beginnings of this celebrated ski hub.

Skiing at Lake Tahoe

9780738589060

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Organized ski racing in America started near Lake Tahoe in the 1860s when gold miners rode 15-foot boards that reached speeds near 100 miles per hour. By 1895, residents of Truckee had started the nation's first winter carnival west of the Rocky Mountains and soon built the largest ski jump in California. Today's Lake Tahoe, with significant annual snowfall, has become home to the largest concentration of ski resorts on the continent. Places like Mount Rose, Squaw Valley (home of the 1960 Winter Olympics), Sugar Bowl, Heavenly Valley, Homewood, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood, Diamond Peak, Donner Ski Ranch, Granlibakken, and Northstar-at-Tahoe have seen skiing styles, sports, and fashions churn through the decades, while now gone resorts, such as Edelweiss and White Hills Ski Resort, echo the memories of yesterday's skiers through the pines.

Skiing in Southern California

9780738555683

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Known for its sunshine and sandy beaches filled with bathing beauties and musclemen, Southern California is a Mediterranean-climate haven for winter-weary Americans from Michigan to Maine. But for those with a hankering for winter sports, one could scarcely ignore the snowcapped peaks of Mount Baldy and San Gorgonio shimmering in the bright California sunshine. By the 1930s, skiing was all the rage, with the towns of Big Pines, Lake Arrowhead, and Big Bear Lake evolving into popular snow-sport locales. Southern California was also home to many who made their mark in the world of American skiing: Walter Mosauer, the father of skiing in Southern California; Tyler Van Degrift, owner of Los Angeles's first ski shop; Clarita Heath Bright, talented member of the first U.S. Women's Olympic ski team; Dorothy McClung Wullich, first woman member of the National Ski Patrol; and Sepp Benedikter and Tommi Tyndall, both leading the way with ski schools and instruction. These and many others are documented here in this collection of rare and vintage images of Southern California skiing.

Olympic Valley & Alpine Meadows

9781467159586

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Since the 1930s, two valleys nestled amid California’s High Sierra peaks have enraptured explorers, skiers and winter sport enthusiasts worldwide.

Olympic Valley made a name for itself as the host of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, just over a high ridge, Alpine Meadows was developed by devoted local skiers and Bay Area families. In spite of avalanches, fires, floods, public opinion and the whims of mountain weather, determined entrepreneurs Wayne Poulsen, John Reily and Alex Cushing persevered to lay the foundation for two ski resorts, now known collectively as Palisades Tahoe.

In this updated edition, local award-winning author and ski historian Eddy Ancinas shares tales of the colorful characters whose exploits and imagination contributed to the unique history of these two valleys.