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Arctic Valley Ski Bowl

1941 to 2003

Name of Ski Area: Arctic Valley Ski Bowl, Fort Richardson Ski Bowl, Arctic Valley (Military) Ski Area, The Military Side of the Alpenglow Ski Area
Location: Anchorage, on Fort Richardson, near the end of the Arctic Valley Road, to the south of the current Alpenglow Ski Area
Type of Area: Ski Hill, Ski Jump
Dates of Operation: 1941 to 2003 (The military ski lodge was razed, and the chairlift was decommissioned in the summer of 2003).
Who Built It?: U.S. Army Special Services
Base/Top/ Vertical Drop:

Base: ~2350' / Top: ~3350' / Vert: ~984' (Note: Add the vertical serviced by the lower Poma lift that ran in the 60's below the lodge and it would be closer to 2000').

Lifts: Up to 3 rope tows at one time on this military ski area. Eventually the rope tows were upgraded to a Poma platter lift and then a double chair lift.  Also, during the 1960's and early 1970's there was a Poma lift serving terrain BELOW the lodge and parking lot (see site photos below).
Facilities: Ski Lodge, shared skiing with Alpenglow during later years

A ski jump was built in the 1950's, designed by Paul Crews Sr., just to the right of the base of Alpenglow Ski Area's Thompson Lift.

History: Here is an excerpt from Elizabeth Tower's book "Skiing In Alaska" that tells the history of the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl.

"Back in 1941, Col. M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston arrived in the Anchorage area as a U.S. Air Force major with special services in charge of recreation.  His mandate was to "do something for the morale of GIs in Alaska."

Before Marston arrived, Russell Dow, a former Dartmouth College skier, had been training Army ski troops on the City Ski Bowl slopes.  Muktuk and his staff - which included Bob Thompson, a member of the elite Alaska scouts known as "Castner's Cutthroats" - searched the country for a hundred miles around Anchorage for a better ski training area and selected the Arctic Valley site in the Chugach Mountains overlooking Anchorage.

The new ski area was developed and operated jointly by the military and Anchorage Ski Club members until the late 1940s.  When civilian skiers became so numerous that there wasn't enough room in the military warm-up building, the Anchorage Ski Club moved up the valley and built its own lodge and rope tows.  Bob Thompson, who had settled in Anchorage and became a leader in the development of the ski facilities, was killed during a summer work party in 1954 [Tim Kelley/Jim Renkert: 1955 actually].  The hill above the lodge has been named in his honor."

Sources of Information:

Elizabeth Tower - "Skiing in Alaska"; Jim Renkert; Rodney Crews; Stuart Grenier; Tim Kelley; Phillip Ruminski; Peter Porco; Jeral Sexton; Duane Ludke; Mike Hayward; Barbara McIlrath; Owen Wozniak; Fred Gray; Milt West; Ed Corey; Sandy Spitzer; Dawn Lowery; Ernest Gollan; Roy Nordyke

Photos: Does anyone have old pictures of skiing at the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl that they would like to contribute to ALSAP ?

~  PHOTOS  ~

(Click on any photo below to enlarge it)

AMHA_ArcticValley_1941_sign.jpg (136251 bytes)

(1941-1945)  [Left] View of the original entrance to the new Fort Richardson Ski Bowl

[Photo credit:  Anchorage Museum of History and Art] 

(1945)  [Right] View of buildings and the rope tow at the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl

[Photo credit:  Anchorage Museum of History and Art]

 

AMHA_ArcticValley_1945_ropetow.jpg (262272 bytes)

(1950 - Feb. 26) Skiers and buildings at Arctic Valley (the 3 pictures below)

[Photo credit:  Anchorage Museum of History and Art]

AMHA_ArcticValley_1950_skiers.jpg (255250 bytes)

AMHA_ArcticValley_1950_lodge.jpg (252381 bytes)

AMHA_ArcticValley_1950_quonset.jpg (73489 bytes)

AMHA_ArcticValley_1953-1954_sign.jpg (150336 bytes)

(1953-1954) [Left] Sign at ski area entrance  says: "Arctic Valley Ski Bowl".

[Photo credit:  Anchorage Museum of History and Art]
 

(1941) [Right] Skiers were always safe at the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl - thanks to the well trained Denali Ski Patrol.

[Photo credit:  Russell Dow Archives, University of Alaska Anchorage]

 

Anchorage Ski Club patch

[Photo credit:  University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives]

(1940s) Greeters at an Anchorage Ski Club meeting / party.

[Photo credit:  Russell Dow Archives, University of Alaska Anchorage]

Anchorage Ski Club patch

[Photo credit:  University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives]

Spring 1945
[Photo credit: Parisi Collection / UAA Archives]

Beulah Marrs Parisi, Spring 1945
[Photo credit: Parisi Collection / UAA Archives]

Spring 1945
[Photo credit: Parisi Collection / UAA Archives]

(1941) Right - The base structures at the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl.

[Photo credit:  Jack Edward McIlrach / Barbara McIlrath]

(1952) Far Right - An August view of the ski hill, lift and buildings.

[Photo credit:  UAA Archives]

Right - Vintage (assumed WWII era) Military "Arctic Valley Ski Club" patch

 

 
 
 

1st Lieutenant Edith A. Spitzer, Army Nurse Corps (1943)
Photos courtesy of Sanferd "Sandy" Spitzer

 

Arctic Valley Skiing Photos Courteously of Veteran Skier, Ski Patroller and Anchorage Ski Club Member Harvey Turner 

[Photo credits:  Harvey Turner]

Arctic Valley rope tow in 1950

Harvey Turner running slalom in 1952

GI ski racer at Arctic Valley, 1952

[Above] Arctic Valley torchlight (road flares) parade in the 1970's.  [Below] ASC membership card.

 

 

 

1960 Photos of the Construction of the Arctic Valley Ski Lodge
Photos courtesy of Roy Nordyke
Arctic Valley Road (1) "Timber!" ... start of ski lodge (2) Log peeling (3) Moose checks out log peelers (4) Then decides not to help (5)
Nielsen, Wilson, Keopke, planning (6) Foundation and substructure (7) Wrecker used to move logs to building (9) Walls half way up.  Working 12 hour days (10) Baca, Evans and Pryor placing log on side (11)
Window view towards Anchorage (12) Window view towards Ship Creek Canyon (13) Start of kitchen (14) Evans, Baca and Fullser setting beams in the rain (15) Roof structure complete (17)
Oct. 10th, roof on, kitchen done.  Grand opening in Nov.! (20) More materials being delivered (21) "We're too busy to make a latrine!  Have signal corps do it!" (22) Ceiling of lodge Getting the windows and doors in
Centerpiece fireplace Inside of lodge "Kilroy was here" Overlooking valley, Oct. 1960 Lodge with 1st snow, day of dedication
Front entrance Entrance off limits until the dedication tonight! Grand opening night Inside entrance
Lighting the first fire Looking out at first snow of the season Grand opening, Keopke's Ski lodge grand opening
General MaCalius Plaque and lodge Ski slope winter 1960-61 Fort Richardson sign


My name is Roy Nordyke and my wife made me an album of my Army time. This brought memories of the Artic Valley ski lodge.  I looked on the internet and found your group and also found you were looking for pictures.  I was attached to Headquarters & Headquarters USARAL Headquarters command and our small group (platoon, squad, ragtag band, or whatever fits) built the ski lodge in 1960.  As near as I remember there were mainly 12 of us but  4 or 5 others helped at different times.  We were given a lot of time off during the winter for the 12 hour days we put in during the summer for General McCalius(sp).  I wish I could remember some of the guys names to give them their due, but its been so long I can't.  My wife scanned the slides that I took of the lodge going up and I put them in  order as I remember.

1. The Artic Valley road looking towards Anchorage.  As you can see the road was not paved and it was a very dusty drive, especially for the troops in back of a duce and a half.
2.  Cutting "TIMBER" for the the lodge.  As I remember the cutting area was 6 to 10 miles out on the Richardson Highway not to far off the road.
3.  We peeled the bark off the logs before we took them to the lodge.
4-5.  As we were cutting and peeling I got the feeling someone was watching and I turned slowly because I thought it was one of the company's pranksters but it was a cow moose.  I ask if she wanted to help but you can see her answer.
6.  Spec 4 Neilson, Spec 5 Wilson (second in charge) and Master Sgt. Keopke (in charge) and if you didn't think so you might be talking to General McCalius no matter your rank.  It must have been a staff meeting on what to do with all the logs.
7-8.  Foundation and sub structure.  We started digging the foundation but all we hit was solid rock.  We decided to get the base engineers out to see how deep the rock structure was.  They decided we hit a granite boulder that took up a large portion of the mountain and all we had to do was set forms, drill holes in the rock and install rebar and pour concrete.  Sometimes you wonder about engineers but the building was still standing after one mighty earthquake and 125 mph. winds. 
9.  The motor pool wreaker was used to move the logs to the walls of the lodge as needed.
10.  Half way, 12 hour days, and November coming fast.
11.  Baca, Evans, and Pryor(sp), placing logs on the wall.  The log first got a V cut out of it the long ways with chain saws.  Then the log went to the wall and using hatchets and draw knives the bottom of the log was shaped to fit over the log below it.  The V was then filled with insulation and holes were drilled in the log and steel stakes were pounded into place.  No one came close to keeping up with this crew and with hatchets and draw knives one kept your hands in your pocket.
12.  Rough opening of view looking towards Anchorage. 
13.  Rough opening of view looking towards Ship Creek canyon.
14.  Getting ready for attached kitchen.
15-16.  Evans, Baca, and Fuller setting roof beams (logs) and if you are going to work on a roof, it doesn't matter the season, you will get rained on and it will continue to rain.  This part of the operation was very dangerous with everything being wet and then add the slimy logs.  Same crew Baca and Evans, these guys could get it done.
17-18-19.  Finishing touches on the roof structure and notice only cloudy. All beams set and no rain in sight.  Roof and kitchen finished and looking good.
20-21.  October 10th and the grand opening is in November, you have to be kidding.  Keep those trucks moving we need more material.
22.  Someone told Sgt. Keopke that a latrine was an oversight and there had to be a latrine.  He told them no way, we are touch and go to get the lodge finished on time.  Give the Signal Core something to do.

The balance of the pictures are pretty self explanatory with the captions below the pictures.  I thought you would like to here about some of the things that went on when we were building the lodge and some of how it was put together.  Our crew had a great time building the lodge and it was as if we had been working together for years.  If something couldn't be done one of us would figure out a way to do it.  As you noticed the photographer does not get his picture taken.

I hope this will be of some use to you and thank you again for the site.  If you get any response from anyone that worked on the building please have them contact me at (photojock2@minetfiber.com).

I had to bust out laughing when I read the Ed Cory article about the NOTORIOUS BATHROOM and the big hole in the ground which he didn't want to know anything about.  I never stepped foot in that bathroom (latrine) and all I can say is what can you expect from the Signal Core.  As you can tell we had a thing going with the Signal Core, and it wasn't nice, but fun.

Thanks again
Roy

 

Ed Corey Pictures and a great description of skiing at the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl in 1961-1963

[Photo credits: Ed Corey]

The Bear Paws Lodge View from the top of the T-100 lift

[Ed Corey - 11 and 12 September 2007 emails]   Here's a photo of the Bear's Paw Lodge. In its time it was a pretty nice place. You can see a chimney in the middle of the lodge on the photo. There was a HUGE open fireplace inside with tables and chairs arranged all around it on all sides. Hidden behind the man in the bomber jacket was a row of double pane picture windows where you could park yourself with a cup of hot coffee or chocolate and watch everyone on the slopes while you regained your body temperature.

If you look up to the top of the T-100 pomalift you can see a little house at the top of the mountain. This was just a place to get in out of the weather and warm up a little, usually very little. The house you described at the bottom of the B-20 was for the same purpose. The B-20 poma was notorious for breaking down. When it was working, the B-20 trails were the best thing since sliced bread. When it broke down, it was quite a struggle through incredibly deep snow to get back up to the lodge area. If you didn't or couldn't climb back to the top, you had to wait and when the wind was blowing, it was very frigid. The house was there to provide a little shelter, very little.

See all those poles on the mountain? Every one of those poles had a street light on it. This place was open until 9 PM every night except Sunday when they closed at 5 PM. When it wasn't snowing you could see every little bump on the snow at night and go around it (or over it).
The B-20 trails weren't lit so we had to ski on the T-100 slopes but that was good enough. This place was great for kids like me and my friends. We got out of school, ran home and changed, dashed over to the Enlisted Men's Club and caught the next shuttle. We could get in an hour so of time on the mountain, take the shuttle back down and still have time to do homework. Had it not been for Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara, I probably would have been a professional ski bum.

If you look above and to the right of the opening to the lodge there is a line of snow fencing poles at regular intervals. This was a snow fence put in place to hold the snow. This area was called Sunny Ridge.
The B-20 pomalift let off its riders there, although lower and hidden behind the lodge. I nearly became a soprano on one of those poles during a fall. I'll never forget that.

In the center of this photo is the rope tow engine housing for the bunny hill. It looks high up on the mountain but it wasn't. There seems to be a lack of perspective here. From the lodge, you had to skate over to the rope tow, ride it up, then slide down to the T-100 pomalift. You can barely make out the T-100 towers in this photo, they are to the left of the rope tow. You can see the return tower on top of the mountain, the other towers are in line with it.

Here's a photo from the top of the T-100. You can see the street lights going up the mountain in this photo. If you look at the guy in the lower left corner, behind him you can see the snow fence running across Sunny Ridge above the B-20 return tower. That tower is to the right of the fence. The B-20 trails started right behind the parking lot at the bottom of the hill. They were sometimes a little hard to get to because of this. The guys who ran the snow plows probably didn't ski and didn't care so they would bank up huge piles of snow, dirt, rocks and whatever they plowed up over the B-20 entrances. Typical Army. Those trails skirted around the side of the mountain for about a mile and all culminated at the pomalift station. If you were lucky you could find your way by following someone else's tracks in the snow. If there was fresh snow and you were the first one on the trail, well, you sure had to know where you were going. I was wrapped around a tree one day and buried in a creek on another while exploring new trails after a night of heavy snow.

Then, there was the notorious bathroom. That was the building to the left of the quonset huts in the center of the picture. Inside, there was only a toilet seat mounted on a big steel pipe that seemed to be bottomless. I have no idea where that pipe went nor do I want to know.

I have oomlahs of these old Arctic Valley lift tickets from 1961-1963.  [see below]  They cost $.50 back in those days. Would you rather have them individually scanned? How many do you want to see?. I'm working on getting some old photographs scanned, they're a little faded after all these years.

I was a teen-ager in the sixties and I practically lived at Arctic Valley for six months out of the year. I knew the place inside out.  The pomalift to the top of the mountain and it's associated ski area down to the lodge was called the T-100. The six trails skirting around the side of the lower half of the mountain were known as the B-20.  These trails weren't marked anywhere so we were somewhat on our own finding our way to the pomalift at the bottom. This pomalift was also called the B-20. I can tell you much more, what mysteries are there?

Ed Corey

 

Arctic Valley Pictures Courtesy of Milt West, who was stationed at Nike Site Summit during 1965-1965

[Photo credits:  Milt West]

 

Locating the Site of a Tragic 1955 Ski Area Accident

In 1955 Bob Thompson was tragically killed when a truck carrying John Goetz and him rolled down the mountain on which the Arctic Valley Ski area is located.  Bob was a member of the Castner's Cutthroats Army Scouts and one of the founders of the Arctic Valley Ski Area.  At the time Bob was driving a 6-wheel "deuce and a half" (2 1/2 ton) military truck loaded with fuel for the lift power plant at the top of the ridge.  The truck apparently started sliding and then began rolling down the mountain.  Goetz was hurt badly, but lived through the accident.  In May 2005, 50 years after this accident, Jim Renkert, Stuart Grenier and Tim Kelley located the truck and Tim photographed the remains.

Chair 1 at Arctic Valley, built in 1971 by the Anchorage Ski Club, is named the Thompson Lift after Bob Thompson. The chairlift has not been operable for several years but the Anchorage Ski Club is working hard to hire contractors and start a fundraising campaign to renovate its use. There is also the 'Thompson Trophy' that the ski club gives to its most dedicated volunteer every year.

[Photo credits:  Tim Kelley]

[Left] Note - the chains are still on the tires.

[Right] Jim Renkert heard that the truck was carrying 55 gallon drums of fuel.  But this large fuel tank is directly downhill from the truck wreckage.  Possibly this tank was on the truck instead of the drums?  More research is needed.

 

 

 

Grace and Bob Thompson, circa 1955

[Photo credit:  Grace Thompson]

 

 

Closing the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl - for Missile Firing Practice

In 1960, according to an August 1960 Anchorage Times article entitled "Closing of Ski Bowl", it was mentioned that the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl would be closed that coming March for the test firing of missiles.  Nike Hercules missiles were launched close to straight up from the missile batteries of Site Summit on a neighboring hilltop.  After 4 seconds the main missile would separate from the first stage booster and continue on towards Mt. Witherspoon in the Chugach Mountain Range.  The spent first stage booster would then coast to 45,000 feet of altitude before plummeting to the ground near the ski area.  Judging by the pictures below, and the size of the booster segments - it was a wise decision to keep skiers out of the area !!

[Photo credits:  Tim Kelley, except where otherwise credited]

[Above] Early 1960's launch from Site Summit B-Battery.  This photo was taken by the U.S. Army, courtesy of Mike Hayward, and can also be seen on Jeral Sexton's great Site Summit web site - click here to visit his site.  Sign his guestbook and help fight to preserve the last Nike missile site in Alaska.
Old Nike missile first stage booster segments grace the entrance to the Alpenglow Ski Area. Anchorage Ski Club member Duane Ludke found these Nike Hercules booster segments in the area in the late 1970's. You can see the Site Summit missile battery on the hilltop in the distance. Another perfectly intact booster segment is mounted just north of the parking lot.
Remains of Nike Hercules first stage boosters can be found in the area around the old Arctic Valley Ski Area.  This cluster remained together as hit slammed into the hillside.  The fins on this booster were obliterated.
    November is a good time to find missile fragments in the area ... like these.

 

Sleuthing the little known Arctic Valley Ski Jump - November 2005
(Click any photo to enlarge it)

[Photo Credits: Tim Kelley]

Though it's very overgrown by alders, you can still make out the old Arctic Valley ski jump site.  This jump was made by shaping the inrun and outrun with a bulldozer, likely in the 1950's.

This flat section is the lip of the jump, from which the jumpers would take flight.

This a view down a section of the in-run. You can just barely make out the takeoff lip from this photo taken in the dense alders that cover the starting platform at the top of the jump. A view from the above shows the layout of the old Arctic Valley ski jump.

 

The Search for the (Almost) Forgotten Arctic Valley Ski Area Poma Lift

In May 2005 Stuart Grenier led Jim Renkert and Tim Kelley on a search for remnants of the almost forgotten Poma lift that once served slopes BELOW the ski lodge and parking lot site.  What was found is documented below.  This was a sizeable Poma lift, the vertical it serviced was almost 1000 feet.  Stuart quoted Norm Pitchler as saying the slopes the Poma lift served back in the 1960's were very windswept and eventually the lift was abandoned due to the prevailing southeast Ship Creek Valley winds.

[Photo credits:  Tim Kelley]

The base tower was the only tower we found. Here is the mounting plate on the base of the tower. The bottom tower pedestal of the lift was found. Various treasures, that were rolled down the mountain in the old days, were also found.
More treasure finds. Near the location of the former military ski lodge the Poma lift cable can be found lying on the ground. The cable points the direction of the Poma lift.  If seems that the lift did not quite follow the fall line.  

Above tree-line a couple of the old Poma lift tower pedestals can be found.  The one in the far right picture was apparently the top tower's base.

Good luck finding these lift remnants when the leaves and grass come out.  As you can see, we made the search just after the snow mostly cleared from the area.

 

 

Late Summer and Fall 2005 Shots of the Arctic Valley Ski Area Site

[Photo credits:  Tim Kelley]

There are still a few signs of the old military ski hill operations.  The hill was once bulldozed - so this area of disturbed tundra allows alders to flourish. This is a shot of snow fence remains on the south side of the ski area.  The clearing where the lodge once existed can be seen below. There are remains of an old lift tower base on the ridge top.  
  The views from the top of the old Arctic Valley ski area looking east haven't changed.  They remain timeless.

November 2005 shots from the Arctic Valley Ski Area: tower base on the left, highbush cranberries on the right (VERY tasty after the first freeze!).

November 2005 panoramic shot from the top of the Arctic Valley Ski Area site.
(click on this image to expand it)

~  Maps  ~

This 1985 topo map shows the location of the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl relative to Fort Richardson and Anchorage.

(click on this map to expand it)

topo_arcticvalley.jpg (268388 bytes)

This 1960 topo map shows the military side of the now merged Alpenglow ski area.  Noted on this map is the location of the old Poma lift that served slopes below the lodge.

(click on this map to expand it)

 

Research Correspondence 

[Excerpt from Elizabeth Tower's "Skiing in Alaska"] 

Back in 1941, Col. M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston arrived in the Anchorage area as a U.S. Air Force major with special services in charge of recreation.  His mandate was to "do something for the morale of GIs in Alaska."

Before Marston arrived, Russell Dow, a former Dartmouth College skier, had been training Army ski troops on the City Ski Bowl slopes.  Muktuk and his staff - which included Bob Thompson, a member of the elite Alaska scouts known as "Castner's Cutthroats" - searched the country for a hundred miles around Anchorage for a better ski training area and selected the Arctic Valley site in the Chugach Mountains overlooking Anchorage.

The new ski area was developed and operated jointly by the military and Anchorage Ski Club members until the late 1940s.  When civilian skiers became so numerous that there wasn't enough room in the military warm-up building, the Anchorage Ski Club moved up the valley and built its own lodge and rope tows.  Bob Thompson, who had settled in Anchorage and became a leader in the development of the ski facilities, was killed during a summer work party in 1954.  The hill above the lodge has been named in his honor.

[Rodney Crews - excerpt from 14 November 2004 email] 

Army Arctic Valley lodge, poma and chair torn down in summer '02 or '03 (they could never get a contractor for a 3-yr. lease that allowed only military and civil service).

[Phillip Ruminski - 19 May 2005 email] 

Great to see your site! I was a 6th grader growing up on Ft. Rich and learned to ski at Artic Valley from 1969 to 1971. If I recall, the old slope below the lodge was called the B-29. I remember looking over the edge from the top of that slope and thinking "boy is that steep"! I also recall "the trail" which was a nice diversion from the treeless slopes.

[Jim Renkert - 01 November 2005 email excerpt] 

There's an old jump site at Arctic Valley just to the right of the base of the Thompson lift. The inrun, outrun and runout are all real visible although overgrown. Paul Crews Sr. designed it. I have no idea if it was ever used much. Probably built in the late 50s, early 60s. I don't remember them nordic jumping when I was a kid up there in the mid 60s.

[Peter Porco - 04 November 2005 email to him from Duane Ludke, excerpt] 

DUANE LUDKE, Anchorage ski club, read article with interest. I've been playing w/ some of those Nike site relics for many years. Jim Lavrakas photo in Saturday's paper [10.29.05], B section, Page 2, photo of Alpenglow and 2 of the Nike boosters in the lower center section of the paper. I discovered these on the back side of Arctic Valley in 1977 or '78 ... usually crushed ... when fell back to earth ... They delineate road that leads up to entrance to the lodge ... fine front door to the lodge!

[Owen Wozniak - 22 June 2006 email] 
 

Hello, it was a real pleasure to discover your website on lost ski areas! I grew up in Anchorage in the 80s and skied and snowboarded for many years at the military’s Arctic Valley ski area. I moved away from Anchorage in 1993 and was sad to learn more recently that the military has closed the area. I had been under the impression they were going to give/sell it to the Anchorage Ski Club to make it part of Alpenglow. I see from your website that instead they’ve torn everything down.

I taught myself to snowboard at Arctic Valley, in 1987. I was probably one of the first half dozen or so people to take a snowboard up there; back then we had to get special permission from the manager to use our snowboards. The management was actually more open to snowboarders than were the people at Alyeska, Hilltop, or Alpenglow. I remember talking with the manager and asking him to build a halfpipe. The following winter (1988? 1989?) the guys who groomed the hill did a little work to build a halfpipe to the left of the chairlift (looking uphill). It wasn’t a very good halfpipe, but we were grateful for their efforts. I spent several afternoons out there in the early winter with a shovel, trying to improve on the groomers’ work!

I’m fascinated to learn from your site that the location of our halfpipe was actually the old inrun and outrun of the Artic Valley ski jump. I always used to wonder why the ground had such a peculiar shape in that spot – it seemed like it had been partially hollowed out. That peculiar shape is what prompted me (and others, I assume) to ask the manager to build a halfpipe there. I never had any inkling that it had once been a ski jump.

So…in case you didn’t already know, I can tell you that old ski jump had a brief afterlife as Anchorage’s first (I believe) attempt at a snowboard halfpipe, thanks to the good people who ran the Arctic Valley Ski Bowl.

Thanks again for all your research.
Regards,
Owen Wozniak

[Fred Gray - 19 February 2007 email] 
 

Hello, my happiest days of youth were 71-74,i was a 7th-9th grader at fort rich.the military supplied duece and a quarters (troop transport trucks) to artic valley,i can still here the sound of the chains.we could buy season lift tickets for 15 dollars.living at the front gate where arctic valley rd. started i often would hitch hike,people liked the added weight.they even let us out of school on wednesdays for half days of skiing.we had the bunny slope which ran parallel to the parking lot and ski rental building.the intermediate tow was next to the lodge,(the awful sight of someone being dragged up by their long hair stuck to the rope)there was another tow rope that ran pretty close to the poma lift,(cant remember what we called the slope between the poma and the cilvillian chair lift) My friends and i were early dare devils,anytime you made a jump the ski patrol destroyed it.the ski jump in your pictures are most memorable to me,they always had bamboo poles blocking the jump, but close to closing time we would remove the poles hit the jump ski to the right side of the bowl (big,deep,round hole)then over the top of the bunny slope.
 
It was about a ten foot rise at the top of the bunny slope.This made a nice smooth jump and landing.  The 73/74 ski season we spent most of  our aerial jump adventures on the FIVE MILE TRAIL which was pretty cool.Artic valley was one cool place and i want to personally thank you for your time and effort on your web site,i just wish you could understand what artic valley meant to me.In the next two or three years i will take my family up the alcan highway and to the arctic valley site. thanks again.

[Dawn Lowery - 20 December 2007 email] 
 

I have been very excited to see all of the pictures.  I learned how to ski there in 1975. A season's pass was always under the tree at Christmas.  We took the deuce and 1/2 up listening to the chains, we hitchhiked from the bottom, we skied down five mile trail and picked up rides.  I spent my senior year of high school up there every day it was open.  I ended up as a pro-patrol for Fred Murdo in 1981 for a few years.  Fred's ski report always started with "skiing is good" even if it was marginal.  The space  between the chairs was referred to as "No man's land" at that time.
 
We used to sit at the top of the "new" double chair and watch the sunset and the mirage of the mountains off the water, we got to watch the Fur Rondy fireworks from up there as well. The views were always awesome.  Funny to see the old buildings were the buildings we were in in the 80's.  Sorry to hear it's gone but it looks like a lot of memories were created with that space.  It was a good time.
Dawn Lowery 
 
"The snow will fall, the sun will shine, the lifts will run, and isn't that enough?" -Warren Miller

"Dream big and dare to fail." - Dr. Norman Vaughan

[Ernest Gollan - 26 January 2008 email] 
 

Tim,  I really got a kick out of your site with Arctic Valley Ski Area!  I was there in 1974 and 1975 for the Skiing and found my passion of Hot-Dogging on the slopes with my two Younger Cousins, Tom and Scott.  I used to take them with me every night that we could go skiing and would hit the "Valley" or else ski "Hillburg Ski area" that was in behind the Elmendorf A.F. Base.  I had my first ever REAL wipe-out going off the ski jump at Arctic Valley, but being only 18 I was able to bounce back and go at it the next day..admittedly with a bit more respect for Gravity though!  I used to drive as many as would fit into my older Mercury Marauder and we would hit the slopes for the best skiing around.  I have found that Alyeska and Arctic Valley to be the most fun areas I had ever...well ever HAVE ever skied at.  The free days that were sponsored by the local Ski Shop...[Gary] KING'S I believe...were the best times at the start of the season...everybody rode up the second chair lift at Alyeska and would start in earnest to "Boot Pack" the snow.  Oh we had good intentions of packing it down with our boots until finally somebody would just say "Forget this, let's ski!" and everybody doing the packing would snap in and go through the best and deepest powder around!  Nothing but great times are remembered from there!  Also. the fact that a Military Lift Pass was only $10.00 really helped out!
 
Ernest Gollan, Now from Burlington, NC

 

 

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