Continued - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

By Peggy Trego
Unionville, Via Imlay, Nevada
SQUAW VALLEY HAS THREE OLYMPIC SKI RUNS
FROM THE opening winter Olympic
ceremonies February 18 to the closing
rites February 28, Squaw Valley, California
(a Reno "suburb"), and the nearby
mountain and desert country will be geared
high to take care of housing, feeding and
entertaining thousands of visitors to one of
the world's greatest shows.
Squaw Valley is a spectacular natural
bowl in the High Sierra, seven miles west
of Lake Tahoe, 40 miles west of Reno.
While there are no overnight accommodations
for visitors at the Valley itself, most
of the hotels, motels and lodges in a 50mile
radius have been organized to provide
reserved space for Olympic guests. Reservations
are taken by the Olympics Housing
Director at 333 Market St., San Francisco;
Housing Office in Squaw Valley; and Reno
Chamber of Commerce.
It will probably be mandatory to get
tickets in advance for the day or days you
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want to attend the sports events; the San
Francisco address is the place to write for
them. They cost $7.50 per day—$60 or
$200 for the entire 11 days depending on
whether or not you want seats in the Ice
Arena. It is unlikely that tickets will be
on sale at the Squaw Valley gates during
the Games, officials say.
Ticket in hand, I hope to make advance
reservations in Carson City, Nevada's state
capital. This is a very small city with plenty
of scenic and historical charm.
I will leave Carson early in the morning
to fully enjoy the 47 beautiful miles to
Squaw Valley by way of Lake Tahoe. The
new four-lane Clear Creek Grade (U.S. 50)
just south of Carson passes through historic
country. Parts of the route follow
the main trail that led to the great "Washoe"
silver strike at Virginia City a century ago,
and the original Pony. Express route (normally
closed by snow this time of year)
parallels the highway to the north. This
is "Snowshoe" Thompson's country. He
was one of the first to traverse it on skis, [
carrying the mail across the Sierra from
1856 to 1876.
The Lakeshore Highway (Nevada's Route
28) leads northward around Lake Tahoe
from U.S. 50, and at Tahoe City, Califor- I
nia's Route 89 bends west to follow the i
Truckee River to Squaw Valley's entrance, j
Excitement at Squaw Valley is nothing
new. As you turn into the entrance, glance
at the east bank of the Truckee River—it
was here—in 1863—that the most promising
of six hopeful little "cities" was laid out
following a local silver "boom."
This town was Knoxville, and in the '
summer of '63 it had five provision stores,
two clothiers, a restaurant, meat market,
blacksmith shop, fruit stand, hay yard—
and a suburb, Clarevillc. To the northeast
was Elizabethtown, and scattered in between
were Neptune City, Centerville and
Modiosho.
Inside the Valley there's ample space for
12,000 cars. The Olympics Committee has
created a remarkable community here. Ski
runs and jumps, skating rinks and courses,
are the best possible and each has big
spectator areas. The Ice Arena alone seats
8000. A complete small village houses competing
athletes, with Olympic officials staying
at Squaw Valley Lodge. For you and
me, seeking fireside warmth, something to
eat and drink, and a soft seat by a big
window between events, there are two
"spectator centers," big nine-sided buildings
specially outfitted to pamper the public.
The best athletes in the world will be the
performers, and thousands of other persons
will be working to see that you and I enjoy
the show to the utmost. It will be a far
cry from the hard days of '63, when a
horde of silver-hungry miners shivered and
starved here, only to discover in the end
that the "lode" didn't exist.
There is other, older country near here
which you will want to visit. The town of
Truckee, 10 miles east, remembers when it
was Coburn's Station in '68, and the first
locomotive to cross the Sierra panted into
town. A very few miles west of Truckee
is Donner Lake, where the ill-fated Donner
Party spent the tragic winter of 1846-47.
Reno will be in a festive mood for the
games. Between Carson and Reno is the
Reno Bowl, which may be used February
19 for the Olympics skiing events if Squaw
Valley doesn't have enough snow. The
Bowl, high on Mt. Rose, and the scenic
drive to it are both worth visiting. From
the Bowl's eminence, look down into
Washoe Valley where a century ago the
thriving little cities of Galena, Washoe,
Ophir and Franktown hummed with industry.
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FEBRUARY, 1960 35