Tincup Mountain Ski Area, 1938–1994

Items in this set

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  Reunion Night: twenty-five years since the last chair

  Event · March 23, 2019

  Lena Ruiz started Reunion Night in 2004 for former staff and skiers. The twenty-fifth-anniversary reunion filled the Harlow Grange Hall, and the oral history project recorded interviews there. Reunion Night is held each March on the Saturday nearest the anniversary of the last day.
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  Last day of skiing at Tincup Mountain

  Event · March 27, 1994

  The lifts stopped at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 27, 1994, after fifty-six seasons. Ray Albright rode the last chair down the Silver Spoon, and season pass holders gathered at the lodge for a farewell party.
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  First night of night skiing

  Event · December 26, 1969

  Forty lamps on Lindqvist Run and Spoonful were lit for the first time the day after Christmas 1969. Night skiing ran four nights a week until the ski area closed.
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  Dedication of the Silver Spoon chair

  Event · December 14, 1963

  The Silver Spoon double chair opened with a ribbon on the loading ramp and the high school band playing in the snow. It took skiers 3,400 feet to the top of Tincup Peak in nine minutes, and it ran until the last day in 1994.
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  First Tincup Cup race

  Event · February 15, 1958

  The first Tincup Cup slalom was set on Big Dipper. The race ran every winter until 1992, thirty-five times in all, and drew racers from three states.
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  The Big Snow of January 1949

  Event · 1949-01-07/1949-01-14

  Nine feet of snow fell in a week, closing the road to Harlow. The ski club ran the rope tow every day of the storm for skiers who arrived on the lumber company's train, and the warming hut stayed open around the clock.
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  Opening day of the rope tow

  Event · December 18, 1938

  The Harlow Ski Club ran its rope tow for the first time on Sunday, December 18, 1938: 1,100 feet of manila rope driven by the engine of a Model A Ford. About sixty people came up the logging road, and the tow stopped twice to thaw the carburetor.
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  Oral history interview with Lena Ruiz, 2019

  Oral History · March 23, 2019

  At the twenty-fifth anniversary Reunion Night, Lena Ruiz talks about racing the Tincup Cup, joining the ski patrol at nineteen, patrolling the Tincup Chute, and why she started the reunions in 2004.
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  Oral history interview with Ray Albright, 2009

  Oral History · March 14, 2009

  Recorded in the empty lodge, Ray Albright describes loading the first chair on the Silver Spoon in 1963, keeping it running through the Big Winter of 1984–85, and turning the key on the last day in 1994.
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  Oral history interview with Dorothy “Dot” Kimura, 2004

  Oral History · February 11, 2004

  Dot Kimura recalls learning to ski on the rope tow in 1940, teaching in the warming hut years, running the ski school from 1962 to 1989, and the Thursday-night lessons she started for workers coming off the mill shift.
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  “I Skied the Tincup Chute” button, 1983

  Physical Object · 1983

  Pin-back button sold at the ticket window for a dollar after the Tincup Chute, the hill's only double-black trail, was cut from North Knob in 1971.
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  Prospector Grill menu, 1987

  Physical Object · 1987

  Menu from the Prospector Grill, the lodge's renamed cafeteria, with nachos, the Tincup Burger and Ingrid Lindqvist's cinnamon roll, "since 1952".
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  Warming Hut chalkboard menu, 1967

  Physical Object · 1967

  Chalkboard from the warming hut at the top of the Silver Spoon, rescued when the hut was torn down in 1995. The 1967 prices are still legible, including hot Tang for fifteen cents.
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  Tincup Lodge bill of fare, opening season 1952–53

  Physical Object · December 1952

  The lodge's first menu: chili, soups and sandwiches from Ingrid Lindqvist's kitchen, cinnamon rolls at fifteen cents and bottomless coffee for a nickel.
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  Racing bib no. 1, the final Tincup Cup, 1992

  Physical Object · 1992

  Forerunner's bib from the thirty-fifth and last Tincup Cup. Thin snow cancelled the 1993 race, and there was no race in 1994.
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  Racing bib no. 23, Tincup Cup giant slalom, 1974

  Physical Object · 1974

  Bib from the seventeenth Tincup Cup, sponsored by Harlow Feed & Supply, whose name was on every bib from 1966 to 1985.
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  Racing bib no. 7, first Tincup Cup, 1958

  Physical Object · February 15, 1958

  Cotton bib from the first Tincup Cup slalom, February 15, 1958, set on Big Dipper. Forty-one racers from Harlow and two neighboring towns started; number 7 finished second.
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  Tincup Ski Patrol patch, 1979

  Physical Object · 1979

  Patrol patch issued in 1979, the year Lena Ruiz won her second Tincup Cup and her third season on patrol.
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  Certified Instructor patch, 1966

  Physical Object · 1966

  Shield patch worn on the sleeve by instructors who passed the ski school's certification, introduced by Dot Kimura in her fourth season as director.
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  Tincup Ski School patch, 1949

  Physical Object · 1949

  Felt patch awarded to children who finished the ski school's beginner course. Dot Kimura kept a box of them in the warming hut and later in the lodge; this design was used until 1962.
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  Family season pass, 1990–91 (Ruiz family)

  Physical Object · 1990

  Plastic family pass for four members of the Ruiz family, from the years when Lena Ruiz was on the ski patrol.
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  Staff season pass, 1968–69 (Ray Albright)

  Physical Object · 1968

  Laminated staff pass for Ray Albright, lift operations, valid on all lifts and for night skiing. The signature box is signed in blue ballpoint.
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  Season pass no. 112, 1951–52 (Margaret Ellis)

  Physical Object · 1951

  Season pass from the last winter before the lodge opened, good on the rope tow and the T-bar under construction. Issued to Margaret Ellis, a Harlow schoolteacher who skied every season the hill was open.
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  Final-season day ticket, stamped “Last Day”, 1994

  Physical Object · March 27, 1994

  Adult full-day ticket from the 1993–94 season, the first with a barcode, stamped LAST DAY 3·27·94 at the Silver Spoon loading ramp on the closing day.
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  All-lifts day ticket, 1972–73

  Physical Object · 1972

  Adhesive day ticket in fluorescent orange, the color for adults that season, with its wicket still attached. A day on all lifts cost $6.50.