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California skiing began in the snowbound canyons and mining camps of the Sierra Nevada in 1854, where longboards ("Snowshoes") were used for daily transportation and weekend races. Enthusiastic members of the Auburn Ski Club, founded in 1929, cleared slopes, erected shelters and built California's largest jumping hill near Cisco; where some of the country's finest national jumping champions soared above thousands of awed spectators.
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That same year, California made an unsuccessful bid for the 1932 Olympics (awarded to Lake Placid). Recognizing the need for national representation, the California Ski Association (later, the Far West Ski Association) was created in 1930, with Auburn Ski Club's President, Wendell Robie as its leader. Auburn and Lake Tahoe Ski Clubs, along with clubs from Truckee, Nevada City, Reno, Los Angeles (Viking) and Yosemite were charter members of the CSA.
Auburn Ski Club had 1,000 members in 1931 when Lake Tahoe Ski Club sponsored its first race --- the first divisional cross country and jumping meet on "Olympic Hill" in Tahoe City. This tournament would determine our National Team for the 1932 Olympics.
Over the many years of its existence, LTSC members have skied to national and international fame. Jimmy Heuga, Eric and Sandra Poulsen, Greg Jones (present coach), and Bobby Ormsby were Olympic Ski Team members. Vickie Jones, Cheryl Bechdolt, Becky Simning, and many others were U.S. Ski Team members. More recently, North Tahoe continues to supply more top competitors to the US National Team than any other area in the United States: Hans Standteiner, Bill Hudson, Edith Thys, Julia Mancuso, Marco Sullivan and Kristin Clarke from Squaw Valley, Daron Rahlves from Sugar Bowl are recent members of our proud local history.
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In 1991, the Lake Tahoe Ski Club and the Alpine Meadows Ski Club, united as the Alpine Meadows/Lake Tahoe Ski Education Foundation (AM/LTSEF), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the continuing development of young skiers through a variety of ski competition programs, managed by Alpine Meadows Ski Corporation.
In 1998, Alpine Meadows Ski Corporation announced it no longer would administer the ski team program, and asked the Foundation to take over ski team operations. Auburn Ski Club agreed to oversee administrative activities, and the race program was re-designed, with J4/5s training at Boreal and J1, 2 and 3s training at Boreal and Alpine Meadows. Junior Development and Adventure Mice Programs remained under the management of Alpine Meadows Ski Area.
In 2002, the Board of Directors elected not to renew their contract with the Auburn Ski Club. After years of training at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, the Foundation found themselves back where they began: a local ski club who members and competitors represent the entire North Lake Tahoe ski community. The Board voted to re-instate the original name: The Lake Tahoe Ski Club Foundation.
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