Lost ski areaWashingtonCascade RangePacific Northwest
American Ridge Skibowl
Ran 1935–1959. A rope tow ski bowl on the American River, 19 miles east of Chinook Pass, that ran from the 1930s until 1959 and whose day lodge still stands.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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In the 1930s the Yakima Valley Ski Club worked with the Forest Service to plan the American River Ski Bowl, one of Washington's first downhill ski areas, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built it among its projects in the forest between 1933 and 1942. Wikipedia gives its years as 1935 to 1959.1,2,3
Read the whole historyTodayThe restored day lodge and outhouse are a Forest Service rental, American Ridge Lodge, off Highway 410 on the Bumping River Road.2,4
Timeline
5 events · swipe
Photos
Memories
Skied American Ridge Skibowl, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near American Ridge Skibowl
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1969–1974 · 55 mi away · WashingtonA ski area and cabin village on the east side of Stevens Pass that opened in 1969, suffered a deadly avalanche in 1971, and lasted a few seasons.
- 1956–1978 · 81.6 mi away · WashingtonA ski area in Mount Pilchuck State Park, east of Granite Falls, Washington, that opened in the mid-1950s and had its last season in 1977–78.
- Years not yet collected · 168.6 mi away · OregonThe Blue Mountain Ski Club's early rope-tow hill on Lookingglass Creek, about half a mile from Tollgate, used in the years before the club moved to Spout Springs.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 4 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
In the 1930s the Yakima Valley Ski Club worked with the Forest Service to plan the American River Ski Bowl, one of Washington's first downhill ski areas, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built it among its projects in the forest between 1933 and 1942. Wikipedia gives its years as 1935 to 1959. HistoryLink tells of the Yakima Winter Sports Club celebrating the opening of its Yakima Ski Bowl, 40 miles from Yakima on the American River near Chinook Pass, on January 16 and 17, 1937, apparently this same area; 33 racers from Seattle and Tacoma came, and more than 5,000 people watched.1,2,3
Two rope tows served slopes from a 3,100-foot base to a 3,600-foot top. The area's twenty-seat outhouse, called the largest in the world, drew more notice than the tows. By the late 1950s White Pass offered deeper snow, a longer season and steeper slopes, and the American River bowl could not compete and stood empty for years.1,2,4
TodayThe restored day lodge and outhouse are a Forest Service rental, American Ridge Lodge, off Highway 410 on the Bumping River Road.2,4
Timeline
- 1935Ski bowl begins operating, by Wikipedia's dates1
- 1937Yakima Ski Bowl opening celebrated with races on January 16–173
- c. 1950White Pass is built by the late 1950s and draws skiers away2
- 1959Last year of operation, by Wikipedia's dates1
- 1984Restored day lodge and outhouse open to the public as rentals2
Sources for this history (4)
- 1Wikipedia · American River Ski Bowl
- 2USDA Forest Service · Recreation Site - American Ridge Lodge — Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
- 3HistoryLink.org · Skiing in the Washington Cascades, Part 1: 1913-1937 (John W. Lundin and Stephen J. Lundin, 2013)
- 4Seattle Met · A Short History of Washington's Bygone Ski Hills (Christina Ausley, December 18, 2018)
Photos
No photographs of American Ridge Skibowl we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of American Ridge Skibowl, in their own words.
Facts
Location
46.9723° N · 121.1728° W · Washington · Cascade Range
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1935–1959
Closed after the 1959 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 4all 4, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain