"A Midsummer Ski Tournament"

Eight years ago a group of TAY skiers converged at Paradise to commemorate the birth of recreational skiing on Mount Rainier. You can read about it in this trip report . Later I wrote about the original 1909 event in the first chapter of my book, Written in the Snows .

Here's a photo from that day:



2017 is the centennial of another historic event in Mount Rainier skiing, the first ski tournament ever held on the mountain. The 1917 tournament was scheduled around the time that the newly constructed Paradise Inn opened to guests.

The 1917 ski tournament was won by a 24-year-old Norwegian woman named Olga Bolstad, who beat all the men. Here's a photo of Miss Bolstad that appeared in a Tacoma paper shortly before the tournament.



I'm planning to commemorate Miss Bolstad's victory with an old-time picnic on Saturday, June 24. A few friends and I will be heading up there, and I'm planning to dress for the occasion:



The 233cm jumping skis in this picture belonged to my late friend Wolf Bauer. I have another, shorter pair of wood skis (less historic) that I'll probably take to Paradise that day. I'm hoping for sunny weather and I'm thinking I'll give jumping on those skis a try.

Since there are party size limitations in Rainier National Park, I'm not intending to organize a formal event. But if you happen to be heading up the mountain that day, feel free to swing by. If the weather's nice, you could even wear a dress. The original event was held on the east slope of Alta Vista, and that's where I'm planning to go with my old skis.

Here's a cool old print that appeared in the Tacoma paper after the 1917 tournament:



And here's the flavor of the contest, which became an annual event, in 1919:

Looks like Miss Bolstad might be sporting an early pair of rockered skis..   

Awesome- hope to see you up there!

Lowell, do you plan to revive the old massed-start downhill race, from Muir to Paradise? One of the Seattle papers sponsored that crazy race which, I think, was cancelled after a fatality. The race times, Muir to Paradise, were VERY impressive! The race revival of course should be contested only on wood skis! Now to see how many pair of such skis I can find in my garage!

Lowell, do you plan to revive the old massed-start downhill race, from Muir to Paradise?  One of the Seattle papers sponsored that crazy race which, I think, was cancelled after a fatality.  The race times, Muir to Paradise, were VERY impressive!  The race revival of course should be contested only on wood skis!  Now to see how many pair of such skis I can find in my garage!

A group of us reenacted the original Silver Skis race in 2005. You can read about it here:

alpenglow.org/skiing/silver-skis-2005/index.html

That page includes links to more history of the Silver Skis, as well as impressions of the skiers who participated in the reenactment in 2005.

I found an old ski trophy in the Mountaineers archives that has never been used.

I'm thinking it could be used to celebrate the centennial of Miss Bolstad's ski jump victory on Saturday, June 24.



The Mountaineers should hang onto this trophy, but we could have the face plate engraved somehow to commemorate the centennial.

Maybe title it "A Midsummer Ski Tournament" and commemorate some noteworthy accomplishment(s), such as:

* Longest jump
* Shortest jump
* Best crash
* Most authentic old costume
* Best man dressed as a woman
* Best woman dressed as a man

Your ideas?