Touring/Hiking Lost ski areas

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>I don't know, but it seems quite likely. The Kongsbergers were founded largely by former Seattle Ski Club members who became dissilusioned because the SSC lost interest in jumping. The Kongsbergers were hard cores, and the guiding light was Olaf Ulland, co-founder of the Osborn and Ulland stores, who died in his nineties just last year. Olaf was unofficially the first man in history to jump more than 100 meters on skis, in the 1930s. He grew up, incidentally, in Kongsberg Norway, home of the Ruud brothers and other top jumpers. So Seattle's Kongsbergers club had some really top-flight people in it. Gus Raaum was another key member and he is still around. (He's also a very funny dinner speaker, sort of a Norwegian version of Victor Borge.) I bet Gus would know all about the origins of the Kongsberger jump.<br><br>The old Milwaukee Bowl lodge burned down in 1949. The ski area went kaput after that until 1960. So, the notion that the jump was dismantled and used to build the newer (much smaller) Kongsberger jump around 1954 sounds quite likely.<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......? ?

<br><br>Yeah, that could be fun. Make mine a root beer. <br>

I stayed at the American River Ski Lodge a couple weeks ago.  You have to carry everything in during the winter, but you can drive up to it in the summer.  The "ski area" is pretty grown over now, but a couple runs are still showing.   When we snowshoed up the ridge it looked like there would be some pretty good ski terrain around the area if there was more snow.

Old ski run, I think there was a ski jump there.  Back in the day the whole shoulder was cleared out for skiing.  There is a second cleared area that you can't see from this picture, it was good for sledding if you go with a big group of non-skiers.

The lodge from the top of the ski hill:

20 man vault crapper:

I was a camp counselor up at the American River lodge in the late 70's, then used to go sledding in the early 80's (the lodge in those days was open all the time for anyone who came up). I seem to remember ski runs running from the summit to the left (looking down from the top to lodge) and turning back to the lodge.....but not sure. Back in those days I wasn't thinking of ski history, just out having fun with friends. I really need to make a trip up soon and snap photo's..... Thanks for adding your pics.