The Donner Summit Historical Society and group of dedicated homeowners decided it was time to get an original Sugar Bowl Ski Resort gondola cabin out of the woods and back home to one of the oldest ski resorts in California.
The Magic Carpet was installed at Sugar Bowl in 1952 replacing tractor drawn sled rides which took 30 minutes. The new “Toaster” designed gondola cabins reduced the ride time to 7 minutes and could shuttle 280 people per hour. When the old cars were replaced, they found a new life at other ski hills as warming huts.
Until recently one of these toaster cabins sat at the top of the old ski run above The Rainbow Lodge. A few weeks ago that the cabin was airlifted and returned to Sugar Bowl where it is being restored to its original glory. With the addition of the toaster cabin Sugar Bowl now has a complete set (one gondola car from every era of the Village Gondola).
It remains a mystery how the cabin ended up in the woods.
Sugar Bowl, Proudly Independent for Over 80 Years:
One of the oldest ski resorts in California, Sugar Bowl has a storied past with ties to Austrian ski culture, Hollywood and Walt Disney. This special place helped bring skiing to “sunny California,” was home to the state’s first chairlift, and the west’s first ski gondola. Today, Sugar Bowl continues to attract adventurous winter sports enthusiasts who are drawn to the authentic, community-based experience only offered here.
The Disney lift was constructed and completed in time for the resort’s planned December 15, 1939 opening. It marked the first chairlift to be installed in California. Designed by Henry Howard, the lift was 3,200 feet long, had a 1,000-foot vertical rise, and consisted of 13 steel towers and terminals that could be raised as needed to compensate for the snow depth. The cost was $0.25 for a ride up or $2.00 if you wanted to ski down.
images from Donner Summit Historical Society
