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12/10//08
HELLO ALL SKI PATROLLERS: On September 10, 2008,
the ALSAP Update Log carried an announcement that there was
going to be a new section added to the overall ALSAP project.
It was to be called :Alaska Lost Ski Patrols. When I proposed
the idea to Tim Kelley and Dave Brann they gave me their
blessing and said, “go ahead”!…….So here I am., the contact
person for anyone to reach (rjanes@gci.net),
if there’s anything to report. I’m hoping that some interesting
related history will be added to the sport that we all love so
much!
In submitting the following account
of what was going on here in southeast Alaska, I focused in on
the Juneau Ski Club which was organized in 1935. At that time
the ”rope-tow-heaven” era was just beginning throughout the
country. I was a teen-ager from Southern California, and I cut
my teeth (and a few other places) with the Eastern Sierra Ski
Club’s rope tows in the Bishop Owens Valley area that would
ultimately turn into the great Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort that
exists today.. The National Ski Patrol System was founded in
1938, so in the beginning many ski areas operated with volunteer
patrols, often related to safety committees that were part of a
ski club’s operation. So it was with the Juneau Ski Club. When I
transferred to Juneau in 1965 I had been a Forest Service
employee for twenty years in California. The winter sports scene
was going strong here in Juneau – right up my alley! I began to
meet some great skiing enthusiasts, one of them, Dean Williams,
a close friend who I have known for 43 years. Dean grew up here
in Juneau, and his specialty as a downhill skier is the slalom.
Here’s a photo of him “on course” earlier this year, at a 3rd
Cabin Reunion celebration. Believe it or not, Dean took First
Place in the Age 90 and over category!
Since I knew that Dean headed up
the Safety Committee for the Juneau Ski Club back in 1935, I
asked if he would share a few of his patroller memories with
us. The National Ski Patrol System began to officially
operate at 2nd and 3rd Cabin areas on Douglas Island in
1954. Here’s what Dean gave me:
JUNEAU SKI CLUB
Dean Williams organized the first patrol in the year of
1939, by having four members at the very first year
consisting of himself, Leon and Bill Alexander, and Joe
Werner. Our equipment consisted of one toboggan and one
litter basket plus a various assortment of splints and
bandages.
This activity was taking place at the Dan Moller Ski Trail
on Douglas Island. This little group was very dedicated and
had to handle some accidents requiring using just the litter
basket when snow conditions were insufficient on the lower
portion of the trail. One such incident was when a 220 pound
Swedish skier broke his leg at the Upper Ski Bowl (3d Cabin)
and snow was not available below the Treadwell Ditch, about
1 ½ miles from the trailhead. His name was Nels Anderson and
he felt so sorry for us that he wanted to get off and try
walking, which of course we would not permit.
By the year of 1943 we had four more skiers join our group,
including Tom Stewart and Axel Neilson. The U.S. Forest
Service purchased more equipment which was badly needed and
we were able to position some on various locations on the
trail. After an accident the patrollers always had the task
of taking equipment back up the trail, which was quite a
task by itself. This all took lots of dedication by the
patrol members.
One of the worst days was when a downhill race was held on
the Crookes Trail located above the 2nd Cabin and Tom
Stewart and I were the only two patrollers to handle two
broken legs off the icy slopes on this trail. We actually
had planned to race ourselves, but canceled out when
observing the bad conditions.
A rather interesting situation took place several times at
an accident scene, when Doctor Joseph Rude would be on hand
and announced that he would ski down ahead and get to the
St. Ann’s Hospital and get organized to handle the surgery.
In most cases he was not the family Doctor for the victim,
but it worked out OK. Another interesting event was when
young Peter Wood broke his leg and Bill Alexander and I took
him to St. Ann’s Hospital. The Catholic Sisters asked whose
little boy he was, and I said it was Peter Wood, Senior, who
had a very bad credit rating at that time and the Sisters
hesitated on his admission. I just said, “if there is any
problem I will take care of it”. However, it all turned out
OK.
The coming of OOLA, the Tucker Snow Cat, was a welcome
addition in the mid 1950’s, and now at our new ski area,
Eaglecrest which opened in 1975, all ski patrol operations
are first class!
More from Bob Janes on Dean Williams:
"From 1935 until 1975 three rope tow areas and Jump Hill on
Douglas Island operated. See our ALSAP listing. We lost
them when Eaglecrest replaced them in 1975. Dean Williams
was truly one of the first pioneers of alpine skiing in the
Juneau locality. He was just a few months old when his
parents came to Junea in 1918. Dean's Dad was Jay P.
Williams, a Forest Service man who worked with Dan Moller
and the CCC's in 1933, building the Dan Moller Ski Trail and
Jump Hill. Dean began to ski there when he was a teenager
in the Juneau-Douglas High School. At 2nd Cabin he had his
own Dean Williams Ski School going strong in the early
1940's. He loved to race, and the slalom was his
specialty. It was natural in those days to be active in
both the Juneau Ski Club and the Juneau Skli Patrol at the
same time.
During the early
1980's the Juneau Ski Club started having "Old Timers" or
"Pioneer" commemoration events at Eaglecrest. This most
recent one, called the "3rd Cabin Reunion" on April 12 was
about the 4th one to date. The Platter-pull Slalom was a
dedication to all "Cabin skiers" and their families in years
gone by, along with honoring Dean on his 90th Birthday!
There were well over 100 skiers who attended the Day Lodge
festivities, and 53 racers in the slalom. We had age
categories for both men (Dudes) and women (Chicks) . The
youngest skier was an 8-year old Chick., Ella Rohweder.l The
oldest Tough Dude was Dean Williams, age 90! I'm sure this
great comradely spirit will continue in the years ahead ,
and Event #5 will be on the drawing board eventually!
For more information on the lost ski areas mentioned above, see
the following ALSAP web pages:
The Dan Moller
Trail, 1st Meadow and 2nd Meadow Ski Areas
Douglas Ski Bowl
West
Juneau Jump Hill |
