Granlibakken facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Granlibakken |
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| Address | 725 Granlibakken Road Tahoe City, California 96145 |
| Location | One-half mile inland of northwestern shore of Lake Tahoe |
| Coordinates | 39°09′20″N 120°09′18″W / 39.1556°N 120.1551°W |
| Owner | Parson family |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Renovated | Most Recent - October 2007 |
| Enclosed space | |
| • Breakout/meeting | 16,000 square feet (1,500 m2) |
| Website | |
| www.granlibakken.com | |
Granlibakken is a special place in Tahoe City, California. It's a year-round resort with a conference center and a lodge. It has 190 rooms and a lot of meeting space. Granlibakken is famous for its history, especially its small ski hill, which might be the oldest one in the Lake Tahoe area!
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The History of Granlibakken
Granlibakken has a long and interesting past. It started as a popular spot for winter fun.
Early Days of Skiing
Around 1928, a hotel called Tahoe Tavern built a fun double toboggan slide here. Guests would ride horse-drawn sleighs to this spot, which was known as "Olympic Hill." Families from Tahoe City also loved to visit.
About the same time, a group of skiers from Norway came to the West. They put on amazing ski jumping shows. One of them was Lars Haugen, a seven-time national champion. The Tahoe Tavern hotel hired Lars Haugen to design a big ski jump at Olympic Hill. It took two years and a lot of money to build!
The Lake Tahoe Ski Club started in 1929. They helped organize events and shows at Olympic Hill through the 1930s. This included the United States Ski Championships in February 1932. But it wasn't until after World War II that a full ski resort was built here.
A New Owner and Name
Kjell “Rusty” Rustad was a retired sea captain and a former ski jumper. He moved to Lake Tahoe from San Francisco because it reminded him of his home in Norway. Rusty wanted to create a place where people in Tahoe City could ski easily.
He got permission from the U.S. Forest Service to use the land. He also bought 74 acres in the Olympic Hill valley. Rusty cleared an area for the ski slope. He put in a 450-foot rope tow to get skiers to the top. He also built three buildings for guests and a day lodge.
Rusty named the ski area Granlibakken. This is a Norwegian word that means “hillside sheltered by fir trees.” It was named after slopes he skied as a boy in Norway. In 1947, he even used a special boat from World War II to bring skiers from the road to his resort! Granlibakken kept attracting ski jumpers and downhill skiers. A smaller jump was built next to the main slope in 1952.
Growing Popularity
The ski area was protected from strong winds and too much sun. This meant it had a longer ski season, and its fame grew beyond the local area. In 1953, Rusty sold some land to the University of California (UC) Berkeley’s International House. Volunteers from the group built a lodge there.
In 1958, the UC Alumni association bought the lodge. It became a year-round center for learning and fun. It had a dining room, a swimming pool, and beds for 150 people. In 1968, a publisher named Hugh Miller bought the property. He changed the name to the Four Seasons at Lake Tahoe. He also built the first condos in the valley.
Granlibakken Today
Bill and Norma Parson bought the resort in 1978. They brought it back to life and gave it its original name, Granlibakken. The Parson family still runs Granlibakken today. They keep the ski hill open, as Bill Parson says, "I suppose for historic reasons."
