Squaw Valley Celebrates 50 Years
When Alex Cushing of Squaw Valley bid for the 1960 games, many individuals in the Olympic Movement told him that a Winter Olympics in California seemed like a good joke.
Undaunted, the Wall Street Lawyer used his charm and a 3,000-pound scale model to sway voters in his direction. On June 17, 1955 in Paris, the IOC decided to bring the Winter Olympics to the California ski resort that was just five years old. Squaw Valley edged Innsbruck, Austria 32-30 in the final vote. In February of 1960, 665 athletes from 30 countries participated in 11 days of glory in Squaw Valley.
"It catapulted the Lake Tahoe region into international stardom. It firmly placed Squaw Valley as a high-quality, high-class destination ski resort," David Antonucci, author of the book Snowball's Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games, Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe tells Around the Rings. Antonucci added the Games jump started the ski industry in the region.
"It delivered a second economy to the Lake Tahoe area, which prior to that had a pretty strong summer economy," said Antonucci, who sits on the Olympic Heritage Celebration Committee.
Lake Tahoe and Reno, Nevada have expressed interest in bringing another Olympics to the region, perhaps in 2022. The 50th anniversary of the Squaw Valley Games could build enthusiasm for another Olympics even though the OHCC is not affiliated with any bid.
Squaw Valley will commemorate 50 years since hosting the Games with festivities starting Jan. 8 and concluding on Jan. 17. Activities include opening and closing ceremonies, a commemorative torch relay, movies, tours of the ski course by 1960 Olympians and a tribute to U.S. men's hockey team that took gold.
The highlight of the celebration is the Olympian Gala dinner and silent-auction on Jan. 16, says Linda Williams, the executive producer for OHCC. The gala kicks off fundraising for a proposed Squaw Valley Olympic Museum and Winter Sports Heritage Center.
The museum will chronicle the history of the region from early settlers to the modern era with the Olympics as the centerpiece. The museum would could span between 5,000 to 20,000 square feet and cost $20 million to build.
"The Olympic Heritage Celebration is really an opportunity to build awareness and enthusiasm in the community for our Olympic heritage," Williams tells ATR.
The gold medal hockey match is considered the climax of the 1960 Games. The U.S. won gold by beating Czechoslovakia 9-4 after4-3 after two periods. The so-called "Team of Destiny" beat Canada and the Soviet Union to reach the finals. Many call the episode the first "Miracle on Ice."
Squaw Valley will honor the team with a dinner on Jan. 14. Players Dick Meredith and Weldy Olson will attend. Oslen scored one goal and Meredith notched an assist during the run.
Anniversary organizers expect to see a temporary surge of population during the anniversary festivities.
"We have a lot of ski traffic in January anyway, especially during the Martin Luther King Day period but I think there is a group of people who are going to come up who are interested by the Olympic heritage site and not just pure sports enthusiasts," Williams said.
"We were cautiously thinking that during the 10-day period that we would draw 40-50,000 visitors to the area. That may be aggressive. Forecasting something like this is kind of difficult but we certainly generating a lot of interest."
The weather is cooperating with event organizers unlike in 1960. A record amount of snowfall fell on the area last month. In 1960, snow did not fall until a few days before the Games.
"We have great snow this year. Mother Nature looked favorably upon us," said Williams. "We had a fabulous before Christmas snow. We have snowpack so that's not an issue. Not like the year of the Olympics when snow was very scary in terms of lack and it just dumped at the opening ceremony."
See the Around the Rings Photo Gallery on the Squaw Valley Olympics, here. For more information and a complete schedule of activities visit http://www.squawvalley1960celebration.com
Lake Placid Celebrates
The town that celebrated the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" will relight its Olympic cauldron to mark 30 years since hosting the Winter Olympics. Anniversary festivities will run concurrent with the Vancouver Olympics from Feb. 12 to the 28.
The Olympic cauldron will be lit on Feb. 13 at 6 pm EST, one day after the start of the Vancouver Games. The Rev. J. Bernard Fell Olympic Torch will remain lit until Feb. 15.
Other activities include an Olympic challenge where families compete for medals. Some events in the challenge include bobsleigh, target shooting, curling, speed skating, alpine skiing and hockey skills competition.
Visitors will have an opportunity to watch the 1980 hockey semifinal between the U.S and Russia and the final game between the U.S. and Finland.
Although 30 years removed from hosting the Olympics, the legacy of the Games and its venues are visible to any visitor in Lake Placid. The city is still a hotbed for winter sports and regularly hosts figure skating and sleigh competitions in conjunction with various Olympic legacy groups.
Lake Placid officials say they would be interested in considering a bid for the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games. Lake Placid also the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics
For more information visit http://www.whiteface.com
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Written by Sam Steinberg.
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