I just stumbled upon this great article, Daredevils soar on Squaw’s slopes, from Jan. 16, 2009 which can be found in the Reno Gazette-Journal.
“The atmosphere at Squaw Valley has always been a penchant for risk. It is matter of fact,” the late Norm Simmons, who became known in the ’60s for his epic leaps off KT’s Eagle’s Nest, once explained. “As a result you had a lot of top skiers, climbers and adventurers hanging out, people like speed skier Steve McKinney, Bev Johnson — one of the first really good women climbers — Rick Sylvester, Dick Dorworth, Kim Schmitz and Eric Beck, who was the first to solo Half-Dome. There has always been a lot of free spirits.”
The sport of speed skiing, pioneered by Dorworth, McKinney and Franz Weber, was popularized more on Squaw’s slopes than anywhere else. Skiers such as Scot Schmidt, Griff Davis, Kevin Andrews, Tom Day, Robby Huntoon, Eric and Rob DesLauriers, Kent Kreitler, Robb and Scott Gaffney and Brad Holmes; and snowboarders Chuck Patterson, Damien Sanders and Jim Zellers have become today’s state-of-the art daredevils.
Here are some events that helped propagate the Squaw Valley legend.
You can and Should read the full article here: www.rgj.com
