Pine Needle Skiing
Pine needle skiing was introduced in the 1930s in an attempt to make skiing a year-round activity. I don't think it survived long past the 30s. This account of the sport, written by Newton F. Tolman for The Atlantic (Feb 1957 issue), explains why:
The video shows a pine needle ski jump in New Hampshire, 1935:
The images show people skiing at the Pine Needle Ski Slope which opened in Los Angeles in 1939:
Skiers just couldn't wait for next winter to come, and some misguided fanatic had discovered pine needles were slippery. Being in the ski business, we felt obliged to go along with the idea. As I remember it, a couple of us outstripped the field, having cheated by gluing celluloid to our ski bottoms.
All known technique was useless. The only way to turn was to jump. You had to fend off the pine trees with your poles. We ended up not only bleeding and bruised, but completely black. Dives into pine needles encrusted everything but our eyeballs with dirt, pitch, and sweat. It really combined two sports - skiing and tar-and-feathering.
All known technique was useless. The only way to turn was to jump. You had to fend off the pine trees with your poles. We ended up not only bleeding and bruised, but completely black. Dives into pine needles encrusted everything but our eyeballs with dirt, pitch, and sweat. It really combined two sports - skiing and tar-and-feathering.
The video shows a pine needle ski jump in New Hampshire, 1935:
The images show people skiing at the Pine Needle Ski Slope which opened in Los Angeles in 1939:
source: LA Public Library
source: Vintage LA
Comments
We used to do this kind of thing at the end of the ski season. We called it "getting out the rock skis" since we used a pair that way on its way to the trash bin.
Posted by KDP on 10/05/21 at 08:54 AM
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Category: Sports | 1930s