A century of Idaho ski areas

MCCALL –– Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, which is celebrating its 90th ski season this winter, may be the state's oldest ski area in operation, but it wasn't the first. That distinction belongs to Blackwell's Jump, created for the inaugural McCall Winter Carnival on Jan. 24, 1924, and maintained and operated through 1937, according to "Ski the Great Potato: Idaho Ski Areas Past and Present" by Margaret Fuller, Doug Fuller and Jerry Painter.

"For the first McCall Winter Carnival in 1924, the city built a ski jump on logged land belonging to Clem Blackwell, a rancher and saloon keeper," the book, which documents 93 Idaho ski areas, reports.

"In an oral history interview, Kenneth Johnson said the carnival and clearing a hill for a ski jump was his dad's idea and his dad persuaded other businessmen to hold the first carnival. He also brought a ski jumper, Oly Olson, from Cascade up to McCall to teach his boys and others ski jumping and to show people how to clear the hill for the jump. Kenneth remembered having to ski a mile and a half each way from the town to the hill on Saturdays to practice jumping.

"For the carnival, a trainload of spectators came from Boise and stayed overnight on the train. They came out to watch the jumpers in logging sleds pulled by draft horses. The sleds and horses belonged to Carl Brown's logging company, Brown Tie and Lumber. Jumpers had to walk up the hill, carrying their skis over their shoulders. Competitors included jumpers from both the U.S. and Canada. As an exhibition, a McCall baker, I.O. Prout, went over the ski jump in a toboggan. Kenneth's little brother, Loyd Johnson, remembers walking up a path beside the jump at age seven, carrying his heavy, homemade skis. He won in the 10 and younger boys category that year. They didn't have a trophy for him, so the spectators took up a collection and he got $60."

"Loyd's father, Ben, volunteered him to jump," Marlee Wilcomb, a Central Idaho Historical Museum board member and volunteer archivist who interviewed Johnson about the event 20 years ago, said. "Loyd said he was a bit frightened, but added, 'When a big Norwegian tells you to yump, you yump!'"

Blackwell's Jump was located on Timber Ridge, 2 miles east of McCall on the south side of Lick Creek Road near what is today the McCall Golf Club. It had a base elevation of 5,040 feet and the jump length was about 30 meters, or 98.4 feet. (In all official competitions, ski jump distances are measured in meters.)

"Ski Idaho invites resident and visiting skiers and snowboarders alike to celebrate this epic milestone with us," Silver Mountain Resort GM and Idaho Ski Areas Association Board President Jeff Colburn said. "Over the last century, the sport of skiing has helped transform many Idaho communities into vibrant, world-class tourism destinations, and the economic impact is no small potatoes. Tourism is Idaho's third-largest industry, and the ski industry accounts for nearly 10% of that while providing important seasonal balance to our summer-dominated travel sector."

The sport of ski jumping originated in Norway in the late 19th century and spread throughout Europe and North America in the early 20th century. The Winter Olympics have featured ski jumping ever since its debut in 1924 in Chamonix, France.

• • •

Founded in 1982, the Idaho Ski Areas Association, a.k.a. Ski Idaho, is a nonprofit association funded in part by the Idaho Travel Council via the state's 2 percent lodging tax paid by travelers and collected by hotel, motel, private campground, and vacation rentals owners.