Touring/Hiking Lost ski areas

<br>Does anyone else out there have any interest in exploring and checking some of these out? Touring would be fun, but I suspect that it might be hiking these days... Lowell, you seem to be an expert on history, etc., is there even much to see? <br><br> www.hyak.net/lost/

cheers

Drew

I was thinking of kicking around the sites of the old Alpental and Crystal ski areas. Come back in a couple years for Baker. ???

I was thinking of kicking around the sites of the old Alpental and Crystal ski areas.  Come back in a couple years for Baker. ???

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Let me know if you want to check out some and I'd be glad to come along. If you ever want to hike up the old Milwaukee Ski area and check out what is left of the ski jump and Tally-Ho Skiboggans I can show you where they are. <br><br>Jack

I have not sought out information on lost ski areas like Jack has. I've just documented what I've found in the course of my other historical research, which is very broadly oriented toward non-lift skiing. My website has information on proposed , developed , and lost ski areas in Washington. I also have some information on huts .<br><br>Although I find plenty to interest me just reading about old ski areas (which you can do by following the links on my website), I have also visited a few of them. I particularly recommend the following ones, if you've never been there:<br><br>Deer Park - The drive up alone is worth the trip. A great view spot and a real mind bender when you imagine a little ski area there in the 1930s and 40s. They even ran regional PNSA races there.<br><br>Kongsbergers ski area - I don't have any information about this on my website, but it is a sentimental place for me. The Kongsbergers were founded in 1954 primarily as a ski jumping club and my dad was a member. I remember (and we have home movies of) my dad jumping on the Kongsberger hill at the Cabin Creek exit off I-90. I believe the clearing is still somewhat visible. The Kongsbergers are still active as a cross-country ski racing club and they celebrated their 50th anniversary last summer.<br><br>Leavenworth - Check out the old Bakke jump hill and the new little hill constructed in the last couple of years.<br><br>Milwaukee Bowl - I recommend taking hyak.net up on his offer to see the remnants of the old jump and skiboggan. I don't know exactly where they were myself, though I have some hunches. The old ski jump was the largest in the Northwest when it was built and the national record was set there in the 1940s.<br><br>Mountaineers Meany Lodge - This is surely the most historic ski area in Washington when you consider that it has been in continuous operation since 1928. Everybody should make a pilgrimage there.<br><br>Mountaineers old Snoqualmie Lodge - The lodge (at Lodge Lake) burned down in the 1940s, but it's worthwhile to hike or ski up from Snoqualmie Summit past Beaver Lake (site of the old Seattle Ski Club jumping hill) to visit the site. I don't know exactly where the lodge was. There are still old-time Mountaineers around who remember it well.<br><br>Mt Pilchuck - This site is recent enough that you can still see some of the old ski area features, although the trees are growing fast. Pilchuck is a worthwhile backcountry skiing spot and the old ski area had the reputation of being the most challenging in the state.<br><br>Scenic - I don't know exactly where the Scenic Hot Springs hotel was, but this is a very historic spot, site of the first organized ski jumping tournament in the Cascades in 1917. Think about that when you drive up to Stevens Pass.<br><br>Yodelin - Like Pilchuck, this area is recent enough to have features still visible. It's especially interesting given the tragic history of the area. (It closed due to legal problems after a fatal avalanche in 1971. The development had a rather checkered history.)<br><br>I also am fascinated by ski areas that were proposed but never built. Some of them really make you pause to think how different things might have been. You may be happy or sad about how it turned out, depending on your point of view. Follow the links on my website for more...<br>

Lowell, I heard that the Kongsbergers jump was constructed using sections of the old Milwaukee Road jumps. Do you know if this is true? <br><br>A couple of the areas that are first on my list to visit are Yodelin, Pilchuck and the American River Ski Bowl. I was at the ARSB when I was in highschool and I had heard the ski lodge has been restored so that would be nice to see. <br><br>I had not heard about Scenic Hot Springs jumping in 1917, interesting....... BTW, if someone wants to find the remains of the skiboggans (there are 5 still up on the mtn) and the upper buildings hike up under the Dinosaur chair to chair 64 then cut through the trees to the south. You will run into a small trail which leads to the remains.....its right below the cliffs. The ski jumps were just a bit further south and down the hill about 100 yards..... FYI. <br><br>Those of us that are interested in WA ski history should get together sometime over a few beers....... I know a couple other 'ski history junkies' that would be into such a get together......? ?