Northern California Ski Party
Anxiety to get on skis spread until on Friday, January 26, it was discovered that three automobile loads of San Francisco alumni were starting for the Sierra Ski Club located at the summit of the High Sierra as guests of Selden C. Smith '97. Squeaks says: "Five o'clock from Berkeley, at the summit at 10 o'clock. Picture that moonlight evening trip. Ascending at constant grade in high gear through snow ranging from zero to 50 inches in depth, over highways scraped clear to the pavement permitting safe driving without chains.
"Near the summit (Norden, 7013 feet elevation) we found a guiding lantern which attracted our attention up the slope to the Sierra Ski Club with a light in the window—Selden had gone up earlier to open up and roll a log on the fire. Oh, boy! That fire chewing at a four-foot pine log was greeting enough. But to go further, look around—all the comforts of home. Modern cooking facilities, hot showers, beds. Camping de luxe!"
At the first smell of bacon and coffee (Gibson Paul, second cook), there was a grand rush Saturday morning. "To the skis, men! Surprising how much you never forget about Hanover winter sports. The old boys actually got by with a few jumps. The master, George Stoddard '18, seemed to preserve his form best of all. Tommy Tomfohrde '15 could compete for good, steady, conservative skiing. Abe Winslow '20 took the maximum all-direction flop. Web Evans 'OB took the biggest spill before getting a hundred yards from camp. He had never been on skis and promptly returned for a pair of snowshoes. Ingenious Guy Wallick '21 and our Washington friend (Gibson Paul) and Jim Townsend's ('94) two boys (Jack and Bob) made a study out of this skiing business by inveigling a member of a neighboring party to give them some lessons. The teacher happened to be Otis Marston, a Sierra Ski Clubber from Berkeley and a mighty fine ski man. The rest of us had eyes on Professor Joel Hildebrand from the University of California, the expert on the opposite slope, giving pointers to a band of 25 Berkeley enthusiasts.
"Our skiing was not complete until Bill Nagel, the Club's 'Best Man,' had led us off on a cross-country run o£ two miles to the summit where we could look down on old Donner Lake and muse over what had happened there in the year 1846. This trip was perfect and the man who enjoyed it most was not on skis. Jim Townsend '94 rounded out the entire venture on snowshoes and felt fine for it.
"Pictures tell the rest. They tell of Selden's 'great slide.' They tell of camp manoeuvers, snow-sun-bathing, and the 'Nude-eel.'
"The party was a great success. Thanks to Club Member Smith for donating the party. His motion that the Dartmouth Association of Northern California and Nevada establish the Far Western Outpost of Dartmouth's Alumni Outing Club has been seconded and passed with a big 'aye.' A committee is working on the problem and soon we shall have an announcement. It will be a long walk from the cabins at Moosilauke and in the Ozarks, but have hopes, as was said in that poker game, 'You can sometimes fill out a straight if you've got the ends'."
Secretary.
