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| Lowell Whiteman School |
By Bill Fetcher
Years of operation: c. 1959 to the present.
Another non-"lost resort," this hill is still in use though hasn't had rope tow
service for at least 15 years. The school had its beginnings in 1946 as a
summer camp for boys and in 1957 was organized as a private school.
The ski hill was cleared shortly after and a rope tow installed, electric
motor drive at the top. The hill passes over Woodchuck Ditch, which
must be roofed over with boards and panels. This is a private hill for use
by the school. Until a few LWS students come forward with stories of
skiing/riding on the school's hill, I'll submit one of my own.
The Beginnings of Snowboarding
The beginnings of skiing can be traced back many centuries when it was
less a sport and more a means of getting about on snow. Only toward the
end of the 19th century did its sporting aspect surface. Snowboarding is
much younger, however its beginnings go back farther than one might
think. The first snowboarder was the person who attempted riding down a
hill while standing surfboard fashion on a toboggan or Flexible Flyer sled,
holding on to its towline. Who this was or when it occurred has been lost
to history. It would take the surfing mania of the early ‘60s to give the
fledgling sport a shot in the arm (or slam on the face, if you prefer).
Visitors to Strawberry Park Hot Springs, * seven miles north of
Steamboat Springs are perhaps aware of the Lowell Whiteman School, a
co-ed, private, college-prep school with an enrollment of about 100
students. In 1963-64 I took my junior high school year there. The summer
of ‘63 saw the country riding the crest of a nation-wide surfing craze, most
likely brought on by new, improved surfboards of lightweight plastics and
fiberglass replacing the heavy mahogany boards, thus bringing the sport
within reach of more people. Even those living miles from a seacoast were
affected as thousands of youngsters took up the fashions and jargon.
Songs like “Surf City,” “Catch a Wave” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.” by Jan &
Dean, the Beach Boys and others hit the charts. Among my classmates at
LWS were a few die-hard California surfer boys who, starved for some
action, nailed a few long boards together in the shape of a surfboard and
attempted death-defying descents on the school’s rope tow hill. The
standing-on-a-toboggan stunt was also tried. Both methods were hard to
control, with predictable results. We called this sport “snurfing,” coined
from snow and surf.
About 2 years later a certain Sherman Poppen invented, guess what? the
“Snurfer." Made of wood, it resembled a broad ski tip about 2 feet long
fitted with treads to stand sideways on and a towline to hold on to.
Through the ‘70s Poppen’s Snurfer competed in joint competitions with
Mr. Jake Burton Carpenter’s newfangled snowboard. Anyone who’s
been to a ski area lately knows which version won out. Over the past
couple of decades snowboarding has overcome its growing pains and has
been taken up by thousands of never-evers, or as a replacement or
alternative to skiing. Only a handful of resorts restrict snowboards usually
because there is the choice of another area nearby.
*Strawberry Park Hot Springs is actually three miles beyond the park,
which ends roughly with Soda Creek on the northern boundary. The name
comes from the road signs that once read:
Years of operation: c. 1959 to the present.
Another non-"lost resort," this hill is still in use though hasn't had rope tow
service for at least 15 years. The school had its beginnings in 1946 as a
summer camp for boys and in 1957 was organized as a private school.
The ski hill was cleared shortly after and a rope tow installed, electric
motor drive at the top. The hill passes over Woodchuck Ditch, which
must be roofed over with boards and panels. This is a private hill for use
by the school. Until a few LWS students come forward with stories of
skiing/riding on the school's hill, I'll submit one of my own.
The Beginnings of Snowboarding
The beginnings of skiing can be traced back many centuries when it was
less a sport and more a means of getting about on snow. Only toward the
end of the 19th century did its sporting aspect surface. Snowboarding is
much younger, however its beginnings go back farther than one might
think. The first snowboarder was the person who attempted riding down a
hill while standing surfboard fashion on a toboggan or Flexible Flyer sled,
holding on to its towline. Who this was or when it occurred has been lost
to history. It would take the surfing mania of the early ‘60s to give the
fledgling sport a shot in the arm (or slam on the face, if you prefer).
Visitors to Strawberry Park Hot Springs, * seven miles north of
Steamboat Springs are perhaps aware of the Lowell Whiteman School, a
co-ed, private, college-prep school with an enrollment of about 100
students. In 1963-64 I took my junior high school year there. The summer
of ‘63 saw the country riding the crest of a nation-wide surfing craze, most
likely brought on by new, improved surfboards of lightweight plastics and
fiberglass replacing the heavy mahogany boards, thus bringing the sport
within reach of more people. Even those living miles from a seacoast were
affected as thousands of youngsters took up the fashions and jargon.
Songs like “Surf City,” “Catch a Wave” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.” by Jan &
Dean, the Beach Boys and others hit the charts. Among my classmates at
LWS were a few die-hard California surfer boys who, starved for some
action, nailed a few long boards together in the shape of a surfboard and
attempted death-defying descents on the school’s rope tow hill. The
standing-on-a-toboggan stunt was also tried. Both methods were hard to
control, with predictable results. We called this sport “snurfing,” coined
from snow and surf.
About 2 years later a certain Sherman Poppen invented, guess what? the
“Snurfer." Made of wood, it resembled a broad ski tip about 2 feet long
fitted with treads to stand sideways on and a towline to hold on to.
Through the ‘70s Poppen’s Snurfer competed in joint competitions with
Mr. Jake Burton Carpenter’s newfangled snowboard. Anyone who’s
been to a ski area lately knows which version won out. Over the past
couple of decades snowboarding has overcome its growing pains and has
been taken up by thousands of never-evers, or as a replacement or
alternative to skiing. Only a handful of resorts restrict snowboards usually
because there is the choice of another area nearby.
*Strawberry Park Hot Springs is actually three miles beyond the park,
which ends roughly with Soda Creek on the northern boundary. The name
comes from the road signs that once read:
- Buffalo Pass
- Strawberry Park
- Hot Springs
| Area Pictures: |
| Have you ever skied at this area? If so, contact us with your memories! Memories: |
| Copyright © coloradoskihistory.com All Rights Reserved. Pictures thanks to Bill F. |
| "I spent all four years of high school at LWS and remember the hill well. There was some discussion among the students about getting the lift running again, but alas, nothing ever came of it. I remember hearing somewhere that the Tramway Board had shut it down, but I really can't really be sure. Students still use the hill for various snow-sliding sports (hiking up, of course)... when I was there, there were even a few rails and a bench set up. The old lift was still mostly intact, too. There is a large sheave at the bottom that is anchored to the gym wall with some sort of ratcheting mechanism and there are several "towers" made from old utility poles with automobile wheels acting as sheaves. The drive system at the top is an electric motor attached to an old car transmission and is housed in a little shed." -Hennie K. |
