; Continued from page 5 The town speedily rebuilt into a modern town with a wumber of good hotels and business houses, including a good number of houses of ill repute and saloons. { Both the CPR Railway and fhe Grand Trunk Railway Built roads into Sandon to éompete for the freight busi- tess. There is a story of the Grand Trunk Railway train érew threwinga cable around © fhe CRP station and pulling it § half-mile up the Gulch from where it belonged. Compe- fition was apparently keen but the Grand Trunk pulled gut and left the railroad business to the CPR. } To those of you who do not know Sandon, the town was built on two sides of the gulch fora mite and covered over to make the main street of the fown. The bulk of the popu- lation was made up of Mon- fana miners and they hated Ghinese labor. 2 One of the hotels hired a Chinaman who came to town on the evening train, Next imorning he was found at the Jower end of the flume, By On Red and Granite Moun- tains, you will find some of the most fortunate skiers in North America. Here, within minutes of their homes, the skiers of the West Kootenays have one of the finest ski areas in Can- ada; and all of it owned and pperated by themselves. Why are they so fortunate and how did they acquire all gf this? = It is a long and interesting §tory ... a story of what enthusiasm, perseverance &nd co-operation can do to fake advantage of superb Ratural opportunities, The following is an attempt to tell what we have and, to some axtent, how we got it. So tany people participated in the development of the club facilities that it is impossible fo name them all; therefore, fo names are mentioned. = There was an organized ski club in Rossland in the mid 1890's which is probably only redated by the Revelstoke lub founded in 1891. The first Rossland ski club lasted Gntil about 1907 and was fol- fowed by the Trail-Rossland 9ki Club in the 1920's, which, although becoming separate frail and Rossland Clubs in the 1930's, reunited to be- gome the Red Mountain Ski lub in 1947. = This club built the first chairlift in Western Canada dnd put Red Mountain again in the front ranks of Can- adian skiing. : The summit of Red Moun- tain was the start of the first so-called downhill race ever Mining was Sandon’s life the way, the station was at the upper end of the same flume. From that day until Sandon died a bad death there was never another Chinaman in the town, Johnny Harris was one of the real oldtimers and it is rumored that he built the firat electric light and power plant in the interior of British Columbia. That plant ran continuously by water power until just a few years ago, ‘The depression of 1922, the drop in metal prices and the ‘One Big Union," closed the whole of the Slocan down and it never recovered. Then the bad flood of recent years took the flume and main street out, leaving most of the houses leaning over the banks of the creek, Then the heavy snows caving in the uncared-for buildings leaves Uttle to be seen at Sandon now, + Idoubt if very many of you ever heard of the Q.B. Union. They were respon- sible for closing all the Crows Nest Mines down,\all the Slo- ‘can district and all the large sawmills that operated in the ‘interior at that time, by strike. I mention this fact, I am not condemning or sup- porting their actions, I am merely stating a fact that few, ifany, newcomers to the district know anything about. The CPR railroad ran from Kaslo to Sandon and New Denver and eventually to Nakusp. A large passenger boat ran passengers from the south end of the lake at Slocan City to Silverton, New Denver and Rosebery, The CPR had a railroad from South Slocan to Slocan City. The boat also pushed car barges up and down the lake. The CRP also had a round- Sandon in 1898 just before 1899 fire Rossland Ski Club has origin in 1890s held in Canada and, some 60 years later, in 1958, the same Starting point was used for the Dominion Junior Cham- pionship Downhill Race. That . first race on March 6, 1897 ‘was won by Olaf Jeldness, a noted mining engineer and sportsman. He made the run down Red Mountain from the summit.to the Black Bear Compressor House in five minutes. , The races, as held in those rugged days, were not ex- actly up to the present CASA standards. The course was from the summit of Red Mountain down to one of the main streets of Rossland, probably more or less straight down the southeast slope to the Black Bear area. Spectators watched from the main street. There was no nicely flagged and packed course and no ski patrol to pick up the casualties, The racers all started together; their skiis were longer than today, loosely attached and check- ing was by a single long pole which was dragged and part- ly sat upon to dig into the snow. Another historic event on Red Mountain was Jeldness's famous banquet. In those days, every big mining deal was the occasion for a tremendous banquet, cach one trying to out do the other. When it came to Jeldness's turn, he had all the traditional Norwegian foods (and drinks) served on the top of Red Mountain and then sent his guests down the mountain on skiis, The result- | ing carnage was the talk of the town ‘for years. * Another unique event in local Canadian skiing touched Red Mountain in the early 1940's. This was the Grey Mountain Grind; a 80-minute, .. six-mile combination of 3,000 vertical feet of downhill fol- lowed by two miles of cross- country. house at Rosebery‘for the upkeep of their engines and cars and a shipyard at Rose- bery as well. oe Se New Denver, Silverton and Stocan City were thriv- ing communities in those days. One of the carly and well-known | landmarks of New Denver, the old New Market Hotel burned down recently, As the names of well-known oldtimers (who have passed on) would mean nothing to you I omitted pur- posely referring to them individually. I must admit that there is a tremendous amount ‘of the human element that I have- omitted; the heartbreaks, the suffering of not only the men but their families, the hard times, and a lot of other things, but I somehow feel that it was the experience of * these trying times that made for a better race of people, a hardier type of people, more - sense of self reliance. Somehow I feel that our present generation is losing is same sense of reliance and depending too’ much on help from other sources to maintain themselves, A major expansion pro- gram for the Terra Nova Motor Inn of Trail is ex- pected to be announced soon, The hotel, -which has served the West Kootenay region for 16 years, is now finalizing plans for modern- izing all its facilities. Included.in the plans are a racquet and health club which will be made available for the uso of area residents ag well as to hotel guests. Besides plans for signi- ficant changes to its cocktail lounge, plans call for redec- orating all hotel rooms with new beds, wall finishings and new bathrooms,’ Jezebel’s Discoteque, a° popular six- nights-a-week nightspot, will, be completely remodelled as “a modern club.” Other popular features of the downtown hotel are its Smelter Pub, where local people can enjoy an atmos- phere reminiscent of Trail's. yesteryears, and the Pepper- corn Restaurant, which of- fers a varied menu at reason- able prices seven days a. week, Owned and operated by; erat scinrh tpn pacts e 2 twee | : ‘Major expansion for Trail hotel © Boom town.to ghost town the Geno LeRose family, . intent of the family is to maintain the friendly atmos- phere in the expanded hotel . for which the Kootenays, and the Terra Nova, are well known, maw for 7 years! Commercial Printing Rubber Stamp Mfg. Office Supplies Business Machines Office Furniture and service. Crossroads Pri , Gaye 1013 - 2nd St. TERRA THE LARGEST FULL SERVICE HOTEL ' IN KOOTENAY COUNTRY. Itstarted on the summit of | Grey Mountain above Squaw Basin in the higher area west of Red and Granite Moun- tains and, on its way to the finish in the City of Rossland, it followed the Red Mountain trail and passed just below where the No. 5 towers on both chairlifts are now. Ideas for providing a ski lift and other facilities worthy of Rossland’s wonder- ful snow conditions had been brewing in a few heads for some time. In the spring of 1947, the whole thing came to - life and the results were really staggering. Converts “were made with some high pressure salesmanship and Many meetings were held. The existing clubs amal- gamated to become the Red Mountain Ski Club, which was then incorporated as a legal. society. A small Jift was first suggested and the’ suggestion adopted. Money was needed so a debenture: sale was planned. Optimism - over-ruled all objections; di ficulties were pushed aside;: their enthusiasm knew no bounds! Every kind of publi- city was used to sell the idea. More on page 8 Lt From concept to finished product, we assure top workmanship on your. eqmnplepe] printing requirements. "JHE PRINT. PROFESSIONALS (l. to's.) Owner’ Mike Vetchio With daughter Connie, John White, Rene Brodman and Joyce aloft. NTing « Stationers Ltd.| Castlegar, B.C. * Phone 365-2167 NOVA MOTOR INN in Trai PEPPERCORN RESTAURANT © JEZEBEL’S NIGHT CLUB © SMELTER PUB COCKTAIL LOUNGE © COFFEE GARDENS © BANQUET ROOMS Telex 041-4416 1001 Rossland Ave., Trial, B.C. ee eemse mmr SITE MURAL GOIN crags. 94.