Historical Note
The Blue Mountian Ski Club was founded in 1938. Its members hailed
from southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon and included faculty and
administrators at Whitman College. The club first skied in Tollgate, Oregon
(1938-1946) and later moved to the Spout Springs Ski Area in the Umatilla
Forest. The club was a non-profit organization that sponsored ski competitions
from the 1950s to the 1970s and contributed to the construction of downhill ski
infrastructure, including a rope tow (1940s) and T-bar ski lift (1959) at Spout
Springs.
While club members were active throughout the 1960s and 1970s,
interest in the club dwindled by 1980. In 1983, members discussed the legal
dissolution of the Blue Mountain Ski Club and donation of its assets to Whitman
College to fund the Outdoor Program. On March 8, 1984, the organization was
dissolved.
Content Description
The collection consists largely of financial, membership, and
competition records. Financial records include federal tax returns from the
1960s and 1970s and handwritten annual financial statements from the same
period. Membership records include the names, addresses, and dues paid by
members from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s. The earlier of the two
membership books contains board meeting minutes from 1971. Competition records
include participant lists, time sheets, and results of Nordic and downhill ski
races held in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The remainder of the collection
includes an annual schedule of events for 1961-1962, records regarding the
dissolution of the club, promotional brochures for Spout Springs, and the 1973
Pacific Northwest Ski Association Articles and Bylaws.
