Did you hear?… 1960 Olympic Nordic trails to be restored

Although many are familiar with the 1960 Winter Olympics held at Squaw Valley, few remember that the 1960 Olympic Nordic events took place 17 miles down the road in Tahoma, Calif. on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore. Following the 1960 Winter Games, the Olympic Nordic trails were more or less abandoned, Mother Nature took over, and the facility faded into oblivion. Until a few years ago that is, when the vision to restore the trails was conceived. In 1999, after uncovering a portion of the trails in his Tahoma backyard, retired engineer and local resident David Antonucci began spearheading the effort to restore the Olympic trails and create a year-round public recreation facility in this area. Today, approximately 15 percent or 10 kilometers of the 65-kilometer trails are accessible. Restoration of the remainder of the trails is expected to be completed by 2005. The trails, located on both private and public land, are considered to be the first cross-country ski area in the United States, and were designed by former U.S. Olympian Wendall “Chummy” Broomhall and Dartmouth ski team coach Allison Merrill. On them was held the first-ever biathlon competition, a 20-kilometer ski and shoot racecourse looping through the terrain of Tahoma and Homewood, California. For more information, click to www.olympictrails.org.