2nd Meadow - from 1948 to 1951

1st Meadow - Base: ~400' / Top: ~500' / Vertical: ~100'

2nd Meadow - Base: ~600' / Top: ~700' / Vertical: ~100'

Dan Moller Ski Trail - Base: ~300' / Top: ~2500' / Vertical: ~2200'

After World War II Tom Stewart purchased a 1000-foot ski rope tow that off-duty soldiers had made in Seward.  For $50 he got the rope tow, which included an old Dodge truck engine and wooden pulleys, and then shipped the lift to Juneau.  This new rope tow was installed at the 2nd Meadow and served this area until the early 1950's.  Rope tows at these two areas were operated by the Juneau Ski Club.

In 1951 the Juneau Ski Club moved their rope tow operation up the valley to a site knows as the Douglas Ski Bowl.  Al Shaw then started a private rope tow operation at 2nd Meadow, known as the Ka-Wa-Ee Ski Area and it operated at 2nd Meadow with improvements made on the hill until Eaglecrest opened in the winter of 1975-76.

Eaglecrest Ski Area web site, Juneau Empire/Mac Metcalfe - article, Bob Janes - Juneau Ski Club history information, Trevor Davis; Dave Brann; Bevinne McCann Morse

Excerpt from Eaglecrest Ski Area web site history page:

Also in 1935, the Douglas Bridge was built and access to meadow areas on Douglas Island opened up via the Dan Moller Trail which was constructed by the U.S. Forest Service. The little portable tow was moved to these sites, called 1st Meadow and 2nd Meadow, about 1 1/2 miles up the trail. Forest Service shelters were built which became 1st Cabin and 2nd Cabin. Ten years later, after returning from the U.S. Ski Troops and the 10th Mountain Division, Judge Tom Stewart and others helped to get the Ski Club's first "heavy duty" rope tow going. This was powered by a 1945 Dodge truck engine purchased in Seward for $50, and was set up at the lower 2nd Cabin area.

Excerpt from a December 20, 2001 Juneau Empire article by Mac Metcalfe:

Skiing remained a minor recreational activity in Juneau until the Douglas Bridge was built in 1935, said [Tom] Stewart. The bridge and the construction of the Dan Moller Trail opened Kowee Creek Valley above West Juneau to skiing. With its continuous elevation gain and open meadow areas the valley offered a number of skiing opportunities and the Perseverance rope tow was hauled up to the first meadow and installed. The Forest Service built cabins at meadow areas. A bowl-shaped basin at the end of the valley with just the right elevation for snow accumulation offered further promise for skiing.

Another development that increased the popularity of skiing in Juneau was a revolutionary technique introduced by two European immigrants. Stewart said both men, one from Austria and the other from Germany, probably came to United States to escape Hitler and to Alaska to put some distance between themselves and U.S. immigration officials. The men had been invited to Juneau by two avid Juneau skiers, Kurt Shattuck and Norman Banfield, who had met them at Sun Valley, a ski resort.

The two Europeans taught Juneau skiers the Arlberg technique, where the skier bends forward, placing the body's weight on the balls of the feet.

"That's not a natural thing to do. The natural thing is to set back on your heels," Stewart said. The technique allows skiers to rotate their weight and steer the skis.

Following his return to Alaska after World War II, Stewart made a trip north where he spotted a 1,000-foot ski rope tow system outside the town of Seward. Off-duty soldiers looking for something to do had put the operation together, said Stewart, who purchased it as surplus from the Army for $50 and shipped it to Juneau. In addition to the rope, the assemblage included an old Dodge truck engine and wooden pulleys. The rope tow was installed at the second meadow and became the focus of skiing in Juneau until the early 1950s, said Stewart.