REPORT On the VIIIth Olympic Winter Games at Squaw Valley 1960

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Carol Atkinson
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1 REPORT On the VIIIth Olympic Winter Games at Squaw Valley 1960 (Special News Release October 1956) We are pleased to-report that the Organizing Committee for the VIII Olympic Winter Games to be held at Squaw Valley, California is moving ahead rapidly on plans for the staging of these Games in As has been reported, the California Legislature appropriated $5,000,000 and little time has been wasted in utilizing these funds. The Organizing Committee engaged the services of one of America s leading architectural firms, Corlett, Spackman, Kitchen & Hunt, to complete final details of construction plans. These will be presented as part of a progress report to be made to the International Olympic Committee in Melbourne next November. 39

2 The United States Olympic Committee has approved the appointment of several prominent business leaders as members of the Organizing Committee. Mr. Prentis C. Hale, executive of a major California department store organization, is presented, and Alan E. Bartholemy has been elected general secretary and executive director. Construction work actually has been under way for three months at Squaw Valley and the Downhill and Slalom ski courses. both for men and women. have been completed and will be used in March 1957 for the North American Ski Championships. Many European skiers are expected to enter this international competition. The construction of the ski courses included the installation of a revolutionary new concent of snow fencing, which consists of steel posts set in solid rock with steel landing-field matting as fence material. The Organizing Committee retained the services of an outstanding authority in snow control before undertaking work on this phase of construction. In addition to snow fencing, construction crews have finished removing obstacles, measuring the course, felling trees, and have carried out general bulldozing operations in earth grading to further improve the courses. Telephone lines for communication between the start and finish of these courses are being laid in underground conduits, and the overall length of this wiring is in excess of 10,000 metres. The Organizing Committee s work on the ski course facilities has been carried out under the direction of Willi Schaeffler who has been named technical advisor for the ski events. Schaeffler, who had assisted in the preparation of the Garmisch ski courses for the 1936 Winter Games, also was technical advisor and chief of course for the 1950 world ski championships staged by the International Ski Federation at Aspen, Colorado. Cross-country courses for the Nordic events will be in charge of Mr. Wendall Broomhall of Rumford, Maine. The laying out of these courses is being done this month and will be ready for review by International Ski Federation cross-country representatives in late October. In keeping with the plans reviewed with the International Olympic Committee last January at Cortina, the Organizing Committee has conducted extensive surveys to determine the most practical location of the athletic facilities on the Valley floor. These facilities will include the ice arena, additional skating rinks, Olympic Village, press center and press accommodations, official s housing, public shelters and restaurants, and bus stations. Work on these facilities is scheduled to start in May of The locations for the ski lifts and ski jumps have been determined so that construction can be started in the Spring of Three new double-chair ski lifts are planned to augment the two ski lifts already in use at Squaw Valley. With these new added ski lifts and ski courses, Squaw Valley will be the largest ski center in the Western Hemisphere. One accident in August marred the preparations being undertaken at Squaw Valley when the restaurant and cocktail lounge, operated as part of the Squaw Valley Lodge by Mr. Alex Cushing, was destroyed in a fire. However, the housing area of the Lodge was spared and a new restaurant building will be ready for occupancy on December 15, The Organizing Committee s executive offices have been established in San Francisco, California at 465 California Street. San Francisco is only one hour by plane from Squaw Valley, and will serve as the permanent headquarters for the organizing of the 1960 Winter Games. During the period of construction, a subsidiary office will be established at Squaw Valley. However, all mail should be addressed to San Francisco. 40

3 The Construction-Work at Squaw Valley are in Progress in View of the VIIIth. Olympic Winter Games, (See our photos)

4 SQUAW VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Heavy compresser was mounted on toboggan and winched to summit by work crews. SQUAW VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Mr. Walter Kœnig (pointing), Secretary, German National Olympic Committee on a recent visit to Squaw Valley observed construction work in progress on the downhill ski course with Willy Schaeffler, technical advisor to the Organizing Committee. Shown in the picture also in a unicycle measuring device presented to the 1960 Winter Games Organizing Committee by the German Olympic Committee. Snow fencing shown in the background is of revolutionary new all steel galvanized type design and was erected this summer by work crews on the summit of Squaw Peak for snow control purposes. Approximately 40 of these sections have already been built.

5 SQUAW VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Organizing Committee construction crews shown moving heavy equiptment up to the summit of Squaw Peak. Note snow remaining in mid-july.

6 SQUAW VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Terrain in some areas necessitated carrying of all steel, cement, water, cable, and other materials by hand. Early preparation work of this type will enable the Organizing Committee to have all Olympic ski courses ready for competition this coming winter ( ) when the North American Ski Championships will be held at Squaw Valley.

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