Heading: (California - Winter Sports)
Author:
Title: California Snow Sports - Southern Pacific
Place Published: San Francisco
Publisher:Southern Pacific Railroad Co.
Date Published: 1932
Description:

Folding brochure. Illustrated from photographs. Sheet size 38.3x41 cm (15x16?"), folding to 22.8x10.4 cm (9x4").

Important and very rare promotional brochure for travel to the National Ski Association's first annual championship tournament at Lake Tahoe City's Olympic Hill in February 1932, the first such competition held west of the Rocky Mountains. It drew 120 professional and amateur skiers from around the country. Word soon spread that that California had excellent skiing at Lake Tahoe. Other events in the 1932 Winter Sports Program, in Truckee, Reno, Mt. Shasta, Yosemite and other locations are also on the schedule. There is recreation for non-competitors as well, and sound advice ("For skiing, well-oiled, heavy shoes with low heels will do. Never wear low Oxford's nor French heels"). The captivating photographs capture skiing, tobogganing, ski-joring (being pulled on skis by a horse), ice skating, and a spectacular view of a ski-jumper in flight. There is a schedule of fares from San Francisco and Sacramento, and rates for hotel accommodations. No copies are listed in OCLC.

During winter months, Southern Pacific provided transportation from the transcontinental line in Truckee to Tahoe City. In 1926, SP purchased the Tahoe Tavern, a 223-room European-style luxury hotel near Tahoe City. To accommodate winter tourists, the new management opened the facility from December to March. The ski jumping competition at the Winter Sports Grounds near Tahoe City quickly grew in popularity. In 1929, the United States was chosen to host the 1932 Winter Olympics. Tahoe City made a bid for the games, but California delegates chose Yosemite to represent the state. During the bidding process, the Tahoe Tavern's Winter Sports Grounds area was optimistically renamed Olympic Hill. The National Ski Association held its annual championship tournament at Lake Tahoe City's Olympic Hill in February 1932. The jump near Tahoe City was graded in the side of a hill at a cost of $10,000. Despite the effort, the winter Olyimpics were awarded to Lake Placid in New York. The lot is accompanied by a copy of M. McLaughlin's "Skiing at Lake Tahoe".

Fine condition.