Posted by Curtis Fong on Dec 30, 2022
In the Fall of 1970, the Sacramento City College ski club had a membership party and 3 of my college buds were excited to go skiing… and, we decided “let’s go”… So, around midnight, I drove them home in my 1963 Covair to pick up their gear and set my roof ski rack and got loaded up for an adventure… The previous winter was huge and many snowfields were lingering on the mountain tops and we decided to drive up the Hwy 88 corridor to Carson Pass… Along the way, we stopped and admired the view of Kirkwood Meadows… on the fence there was a sign that read, “Future Home Of Kirkwood Meadows Ski Area”… Viewing the U shaped Valley with Thimble Peak and all the other geological volcanic plugs adorning the ridge line, I thought, what an absolutely beautiful place to build a ski area… Fast forward to January of 1972, the ski club put a trip together to ski the new Kirkwood Meadows ski area… We car pooled up for the day and hit it just right as fresh snow was falling as drove up Hwy 88 and chains were required… There was a new highway maintenance station at Peddler Hill and road was being plowed up to Kirkwood… When we arrived, there was a roadway plowed to Main Lodge and parking lot… There were maybe 3 condominium projects under construction coming in with Base Camp across the road from the lodge… It continued to snow, but no wind and the lifts were operating… That first year, lifts were old double chairs with Chair #1, Chair #2, Chair #3 and Chair #4, only… There were no lifts on the front side of the mountain… I had started learning to skiing at the age of 12 in 1962 with first turns at Peddler Hill, then Sierra Ski Ranch and Boreal Ridge, then eventually with the college ski club, skiing at Mt. Shasta, Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley, Mt. Rose – Slide Mtn. and Heavenly… But, I had never skied knee deep cold blower powder like that day off Chair 4 in 1972… Floating through the snow like it wasn’t there… Doing laps off Chair 4 convinced me that I needed to direct my life ambitions to figure out how I could get involved with the ski industry and live and work at Kirkwood.I was working at the California State...
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Posted by Curtis Fong on Dec 20, 2022
The Bull Wheel By: Curtis Fong “The Guy From Tahoe” December 2022 The start of Winter came early with a couple of early season storms that led to Mammoth, Mt. Rose, Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood opening before mid-November and perfect timing for Warren Miller’s 73rd film, DAYMAKER, that premiered at Harrah’s on November 12… Must have been my 30th year of emceeing the show, with Robbie Huntoon producing the annual Tahoe area premier for the past 40 years… Yes, “Winter Starts Now” and “If you don’t do It this year, you’ll be one year older, when you do.” It’s hard to believe that I will be as old as Warren Miller Productions has been making films…And this marks my 61st year as a skier… In my Ski Bum life, I recently tabulated skiing at over 120 different ski hills in U.S., Canada and in Europe… Funny – Not Funny… I have been solicited to be a contributing columnist for SeniorSkiing.com and don’t know if I should be honored or upset… LOL -Ha Ha… The Good news is that I now qualify for Senior Ski Passes… Okay, I’ll take that! By Thanksgiving weekend, Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw & Alpine Meadows), Sugar Bowl, Boreal, Donner Ski Ranch (weekends) also opened their slopes to skiing and riding… And, even though there hasn’t been another major storm, to date, they were all able to open more terrain… And, thankful that we not subjected to the usual Thanksgiving openings on machine made snow, aka… White Ribbons of Death. I made it out to Kirkwood for a couple of days of making turns on early season offerings as they are planning their 50thyear celebration to go off on December 17… I was there in the early -mid 70’s as the first on-hill photography concession and served as the Advertising and Public Relations Manager in the late 70’s – early 80’s… I will be attending this special day with lots of folks who also called Kirkwood their home in the day… So, skiing at DA Wood brings back so many great memories of fun with friends and helping to build the resort to what it is… And, Oh, Northstar will also be celebrating it’s 50th year… What’s new this year? Lot’s of improvements and investments at our local resorts coming out of post pandemic winter years…To start with there’s an updated Skier/Rider Responsibility Code… Now up to 10 points: On Slope...
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