WSSSM Grand Opening, Saturday, Oct 10, 2015, 3pm

The Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, October 10 at 3pm. The museum is located in the new Pass Life development at Snoqualmie Pass, across the road from the Summit Inn.

The photo above was taken today during a visit to the museum with Dave Moffett to fine-tune a few exhibits. I'm looking forward to the grand opening and want to thank the many folks who have contributed to the museum development so far.

Here's a story from last Sunday's Seattle Times:

Washington State ski and snowboard history comes to life in new museum

Hope to see you on October 10!

Lookin pretty slick, Lowell!

Can't make the party, but I look forward to checking it out soon.

This is GREAT news for Washington. There are also ski museums in CO, New England, VT, Maine, Mammoth and the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.  GREAT!

Looks neat. It will be interesting to get up there and see the new developments at the pass and the museum one of these years.

There's actually a ski museum in New Mexico too. It's at the base of the Sandia Peak tram.

Lookin pretty slick, Lowell!

Can't make the party, but I look forward to checking it out soon.

It's pretty nice...
Especially (for me) the touring part of the exhibit, some of the stuff is really cool and dates further back the one might expect.
-h- also played played a part in helping Dave M in the process of pulling the whole thing together.
Come on up and visit this Fall when you have time (bring your bike).

I was able to preview the WSSSM a couple of weeks ago. Very cool. Even a fun feature for the kids with the shortest attention spans. ;D Lots of awesome pieces that have been contributed to the exhibits.

I visited the museum today to make some final tweaks to the ski mountaineering exhibit.

More work was taking place and the museum is looking great.

I'll be curious to hear what people enjoy most during their visit.

One of my favorite artifacts is the genuine Silver Skis trophy on display. This is the trophy won by Seattle fireman Matt Broze in 1942, when he beat some of the most famous skiers in the country, members of what would become the 10th Mountain Division.

Here's a photo of the trophy on display. You can judge the size of the trophy by comparing it to the racing bib on the left. What this photo doesn't show is the amazing workmanship by silversmith Carl Zapffe of Seattle. Take a close look at the detail in the tiny bindings when you visit the museum.

Hope to see folks at Saturday's grand opening!

^^^
That trophy is even better in person, the level of detail is astounding.

Great turnout yesterday for the grand opening.

^^^
That trophy is even better in person, the level of detail is astounding.

Matt C. Broze (son of Matt V. Broze who won the 1942 trophy) says that every Silver Skis trophy was unique and that the ski design and bindings depicted by the trophies changed as real ski gear changed. Matt still has the skis that his father used in the 1942 race. Interestingly, those skis don't look like any of the Silver Skis trophies because Broze Sr. was always making custom modifications to his gear, and the bindings on his skis were one-of-a-kind.

Historical notes about the Silver Skis races can be found by following the links here:

alpenglow.org/ski-history/subjects/S-info.html#silver-skis

Alas life and travel had me too busy for the opening event, yet I truly look forward to enjoying the museum. Congrats and thank you to all that made it happen!!!