Sugar Bowl Ski Resort facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sugar Bowl Resort |
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 Sugar Bowl Resort
Location in California
Sugar Bowl Resort
Location in the United States
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| Location | 629 Sugar Bowl Rd, Norden, CA 95724 |
| Nearest city | Norden, California |
| Coordinates | 39°18′16″N 120°20′09″W / 39.30444°N 120.33583°W |
| Top elevation | 8,383 ft (2,555 m) |
| Base elevation | 6,883 ft (2,098 m) |
| Skiable area | 1,650 acres (670 ha) |
| Runs | 103 total 17% beginner 45% intermediate 38% advanced |
| Longest run | 3 mi (4.8 km) |
| Lift system | 13 lifts (5 high speed quads, 3 quads, 2 double chairs, 1 gondola, 2 surface lifts |
| Lift capacity | 21,740 passengers/hr |
| Snowfall | 500 in (1,300 cm) |
| Website | www.sugarbowl.com |
Sugar Bowl is a popular place for skiing and snowboarding in northern Placer County, California. It's located near Norden, California in the Sierra Nevada mountains, close to Donner Pass. The resort opened a long time ago, on December 15, 1939.
Sugar Bowl is known for its interesting history and lots of snow. It has many challenging slopes for advanced skiers. It's also one of the closest ski areas to the San Francisco Bay Area. About 17% of its slopes are for beginners, 45% are for intermediate skiers, and 38% are for advanced skiers.
A famous skier named Hannes Schroll and some other people started Sugar Bowl. It is one of the few ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area that is still privately owned. Sugar Bowl was the first ski area in California to have a chairlift. It was also the first on the West Coast to install a gondola lift.
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The Story of Sugar Bowl
How Sugar Bowl's Land Was Used
The mountains where Sugar Bowl is now, like Mt. Judah and Mt. Lincoln, were once part of an important route. This route was used by pioneers in the 1800s. A part of the California Trail for wagons, called Roller Pass, went between Mt. Judah and Mt. Lincoln. Settlers and gold seekers used this trail to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains. Today, you can still visit this pass by walking on the Pacific Crest Trail. Sugar Bowl also created a new trail in 1994 called the Mt. Judah Loop trail.
The Central Pacific Railroad started train service to Donner Pass in 1868. This happened after the First Transcontinental Railroad was finished. Later, in 1925, a new tunnel called The Big Hole tunnel was built through Mt. Judah. This two-mile (3 km) tunnel helped protect trains from heavy snowstorms. Even with the tunnel, snowstorms often made train travel difficult.
A historian named Charles F. McGlashan thought that holding a winter carnival would help the local economy. In 1894, he built an Ice Palace to attract tourists. Soon, the railroad started running "Snowball Specials." These special trains took people from Oakland to Truckee to enjoy the snow.
Travel to the area became easier in 1913 when the Lincoln Highway opened. This was the first road to cross the entire United States. It went over the Donner Pass. In 1926, this road was improved and became U.S. Route 40. However, the state of California did not start plowing snow until 1932. This made it hard to drive to the area in winter. In 1924, the famous actor Charlie Chaplin filmed parts of his silent movie The Gold Rush on Mt. Lincoln. Six hundred men were brought by train from Sacramento to be extras in the movie.
The land where Sugar Bowl is built was bought in 1923 by Stephen and Jennie Pilcher. They paid $10 for about 700 acres (2.8 km²) to the Southern Pacific Railroad. Before Sugar Bowl built its first chairlift, skiers had to climb up the mountain peaks by foot. By the mid-1930s, there were several rope tows in the Donner Pass area.
In 1936, Austrian ski instructors Bill and Fred Klein opened a ski school. They taught skiers from the Sierra Club and nearby cities like Sacramento and San Francisco. The Klein brothers often taught many students each weekend. They would take advanced students up Mt. Lincoln on foot. More people were getting interested in skiing. Also, the improved highway made it easier to travel. People in America were starting to have more free time. This was partly due to new labor laws in the 1930s. The 1932 Winter Olympics in New York also made skiing more popular.
How Sugar Bowl Began
In 1937, the Pilcher family's daughters decided to sell their 700 acres (2.8 km²) of land. This land was around Mt. Lincoln and Hemlock Peak. Bill Klein contacted Hannes Schroll, a famous Austrian ski champion and instructor. Schroll was working at Yosemite at the time. Schroll, who was known for yodeling while he skied, visited the area. He and Klein were amazed by the steep, rocky slopes. They couldn't believe it would all be covered in snow in winter.
By March 1938, Schroll agreed to buy the land from the Pilcher sisters for $6,740. However, he couldn't get his money from Austria because a war had started. So, Schroll had to borrow money from a local realtor, Hamilton McGaughey, and an ice-skating champion, George Stiles. Schroll also tried to contact Walt Disney for funding, but Disney was out of town.
Schroll became the president of the Sugar Bowl Corporation in 1938. He had help from Wellington Henderson, Sherman Chickering, and Donald Gregory. Schroll then looked for other investors. He wanted to build a ski-in/ski-out village and ski resort. He dreamed of a village like those in his hometown of Kitzbühel, Austria. Schroll and Klein decided to name the resort "Sugar Bowl." They thought the fine, sparkly snow looked like sugar.
The Southern Pacific Railroad agreed to build a facility next to the Norden telegraph office. This facility would hold 600 people for Sugar Bowl's opening. Walt Disney, who had taken ski lessons from Schroll, was asked for money again. He became a stockholder by giving Schroll $2,500. Schroll then changed the name of "Hemlock Peak" to "Mt. Disney" to honor Disney's help. Soon, others also invested. By June 1939, Schroll had raised $75,000 to start building the resort. Schroll also used his Hollywood connections. He convinced Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to make a film called "Snowbirds" in November 1938, before Sugar Bowl opened.
Building the Sugar Bowl lodge and California's first chairlift began in the summer of 1939. The lodge was designed with a sloped roof to let snow slide off. The chairlift was designed by Henry Howard and built by the Riblet Tramway Company. Miners from Nevada City were hired to clear trees and dig holes for the 13 towers. They used shovels, picks, and sometimes dynamite.
Sugar Bowl opened on December 15, 1939. But there wasn't enough snow for skiing yet. So, a temporary ice rink was quickly set up for everyone to enjoy. Two weeks later, on January 4, 1940, a big snowstorm hit Sugar Bowl. Skiing officially began, and many skiers arrived by train.
After the Grand Opening
Near the end of Sugar Bowl's first ski season, Schroll held the first Silver Belt race in April 1940. Gretchen Fraser and Friedl Pfeifer won the race. Before the international World Cup ski competition, the Silver Belt race was considered very challenging. It often attracted the best skiers from Europe and America. Many famous skiers won this race over the years. The last Silver Belt race was held in 1975.
Sugar Bowl quickly became a popular ski spot for famous people and Hollywood stars. This was because it had the first chairlift in the Sierras and a full lodge. Guests enjoyed storytelling, dancing, and dressing up for dinner. Many famous actors and directors visited, including Walt Disney himself.
Actress Janet Leigh was discovered at Sugar Bowl. Her father, Fred Morrison, worked at the front desk. He had his daughter's photo there. Actress Norma Shearer saw the photo when she checked in. Shearer took the photo to Hollywood, and MGM soon contacted Leigh. She went on to star in famous movies like Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
Greta Garbo filmed her last movie, Two-Faced Woman, at Sugar Bowl in 1941. Sugar Bowl was also shown in the 1941 Disney cartoon The Art of Skiing. In this cartoon, Goofy goes to Sugar Bowl to learn how to ski. Schroll is even known for the yodel that Goofy makes in the cartoon, called the Goofy holler.
However, everything slowed down when the US joined World War II. The resort had few guests. Schroll retired as president of Sugar Bowl in 1945 after the war. The "Snowball Specials" also stopped. The Southern Pacific Railroad stopped passenger train service to Donner Pass.
After the War
Bill Klein returned to Sugar Bowl in 1946. He became the ski school director until 1957. Klein thought skiing was a stylish sport. He opened his own ski shop in the lodge, selling the newest ski gear. Howard Head, who invented the first metal skis, asked Klein to test his new skis. Head even offered Klein a share in his company. Klein said no at the time, but later regretted it when Head's company became very successful.
The second chairlift at Sugar Bowl was installed in 1950. This new double chairlift went up Mt. Lincoln. It opened up many new areas for skiers. Two years later, in 1952, the original ski lift on Mt. Disney was replaced. The state gave this new lift Permit #8. The first lift was built before permits were even given out.
Because of Sugar Bowl's original design, it was decided that a gondola was needed to move people into the resort better. In 1953, "The Magic Carpet" gondola was installed. This was the first aerial tramway on the West Coast. The Gondola has been rebuilt and improved twice since then. It takes people from a parking lot, over the train tracks, and into the main village.
The 1960s brought big changes to skiing in the Sierra Nevada. This was especially true after the 1960 Winter Olympics were held nearby in Squaw Valley. Walt Disney helped direct the opening and closing ceremonies for the games.
Skiing became much more popular. Over 3 million skiers were hitting the slopes each year. New equipment was also coming out. Filmmaker Warren Miller came to Sugar Bowl in 1963. He filmed scenes for his movie "The Color Of Skiing." Junior Bounous, who was Sugar Bowl's ski school director in 1958, was in over 10 Warren Miller films. Bounous was later added to the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1996.
By 1964, Interstate 80 was built over Donner Pass. This new highway replaced the older Historic U.S. 40, which is now called Donner Pass Road.
Sugar Bowl Today
Sugar Bowl is one of the oldest ski resorts on the West Coast. It has been open for over 70 years. In recent decades, Sugar Bowl has replaced its older chairlifts with new, faster ones. They have also added new trails on its four mountain peaks: Mt. Judah, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Disney, and Crows Nest Peak. In 1992, a 10-year plan to expand the resort began. This included a new parking lot, a lodge at the base of Mt. Judah, and a village for people to walk around in.
Another important addition came in 1999. This was the Sugar Bowl Academy (SBA). It's a high school for competitive skiers who also want to prepare for college. The school was started by Jim Hudson, Barbara Sorba, and Dr. Patricia "Tricia" Hellman Gibbs. Dr. Gibbs was a former member of the United States Ski Team. The Sugar Bowl Academy recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Some famous graduates from the ski academy include Katie Hitchcock, Luke Winters, and Hannah Halvorsen. They have all been members of the United States Ski Team.
A new ski race was added at Sugar Bowl in 2004. It's called the Silver Belt Banzai. This race is similar to the old Silver Belt races and goes down the same slopes of Mt. Lincoln. However, in this race, 4 to 6 skiers or snowboarders race down the hill at the same time. This is known as a skier cross-style format. 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games competitor Daron Rahlves and his sister Shannon both won this event in 2009 and 2010.
Ski Trails and Their Names
The mountain peaks and ski trails at Sugar Bowl have interesting names.
- Mt. Judah is named after Theodore Judah. He was the engineer who designed the route for the Central Pacific Railroad through Donner Pass.
- Mt. Disney is named to honor Walt Disney. He was one of the first people to invest in Sugar Bowl when it was being built.
- Bill Klein’s Schuss is a moderately steep blue trail on Mt. Lincoln. It is named after Bill Klein. He was the ski school director and ski shop owner at Sugar Bowl. He was with Hannes Schroll when they first looked at the land for the resort.
- Jerome Hill is named after Jerome E. Hill. He was a Sugar Bowl investor who paid for and installed "The Magic Carpet" gondola.
Many other trails and places on the mountain are named after streets and famous spots in San Francisco. Some examples are Nob Hill, Market Street, and Montgomery.
Images for kids
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Panorama taken off-trail near Century Club or Roller Pass
