Downhill skiing has been a part of California’s Siskiyou County for a long time, notably on Mt. Shasta. While I won’t get super deep here, many small ski operations once dotted the area around Mt. Shasta, serving an enthusiastic ski community.

In September of 1955, the first mention of lift served skiing on Mt. Shasta appeared as a development proposal. In the months following the proposal, the county constructed the Everett Memorial Highway which would serve as the ski area’s access road. Later that year, the Heron Engineering company completed all surveying work. By September of 1956, a new board of directors had been elected, and 50,000 company shares were sold to raise cash. Grand plans were drawn for the ski bowl, which would have included the double chairlift and a tram which would have reached the top of Sargents Ridge. Work was slow to commence, with additional shares being offered throughout 1957 to fully finance the lift and lodge. While work was supposed to be complete in time for the 1957 ski season, a heavy snowfall halted work that winter. Instead, workmen raced to build the lodge and install the ski lift throughout 1958. By October of that year, everything was built and the ski area was ready to commence operations. In fact, the 30-tower double chairlift even opened for sightseeing that fall as the weather was so warm.

The day lodge was not initially owned by the ski hill. Instead, the building was owned by local financier Carl McConnell. McConnell simply leased the building out to the ski club. The only issue the first year was the lack of snow that Mt. Shasta received. Initially delayed until December and then to January of 1959, Mt. Shasta finally opened to much fanfare, with over 5000 people showing up on opening day.

Mt. Shasta had a poor first season, only opening 70 days out of the expected 151 days. This was due to the late start of the season, and then a huge snowstorm which completely buried the access road, taking days to clear out. Unfortunately, this began a trend of almost continual money losses year after year. Instead of going through each and every loss or profit every year, I’ll just put the numbers on this Excel file so you can see the financial status of the resort through its early life. Note that the Ski Bowl had a November fiscal year ending, which captured the revenues from the ski season and summer tourist season.

In the summer of 1959, the ski bowl added a dormitory to their impressive lodge, which could accommodate 21 guests. A phone line was installed, and the ski bowl began renting out their lodge to groups during off season times.

The ski bowl operated with a deficit during the 1959-1960 ski season. In January of 1961, looking to cut costs, the ski bowl cut to a 5 day week. While profits for the 1961 ski season were already strong, the lodge lease payments were really hurting the bottom line of the ski bowl. By April of 1961, the situation had become so bad that the ski club warned of insolvency if they could not raise enough stock to buy the building. Unable to do so that year, the ski club only operated on weekends in a desperate attempt to save money. By September of 1961, the shareholders had voted to sell all assets of the ski bowl, minus the privately owned ski lodge. By November that year, there was no purchase of the ski bowl, as the corporation tried desperately to raise 250,000 dollars to buy the lodge. Only 47,000 was actually raised during this time.

By April of 1962, the corporation had abandoned the plans to raise 250,000 dollars in stock and the plans to sell the resort, instead announcing a working agreement with McConnell. In this agreement, the shareholders traded McConnell almost 80% of the ski bowl’s stock in exchange for the lodge. This made McConnell the primary shareholder of the resort, giving him a controlling interest in the corporation. 

In July of 1962, the county assessor cut the valuation of the Mt. Shasta Ski Bowl in half, which cut their tax valuation from 140,000 to 37,000. With this tax advantage and McConnell at the reins, the ski bowl entered their most profitable season ever from 1962 to 1963. When most California resorts were struggling to retain snow, the ski bowl had abounding snow that attracted throngs of visitors from all over the state, though the ski bowl did miss a week in May due to their liability insurance expiring. This season brought the ski bowl a profit of $25,961.

It’s astounding how many times the ski bowl was sued in its short existence. The first lawsuit started in 1963, when a women sued for $150,000 after a chair lift accident. This lawsuit was only the beginning of many more to come.

In December of 1963, another lawsuit was brought upon the ski bowl, general manager and Heron Lift company after an injured woman seeked 750,000 in damages after a chairlift loading mishap.

Now, though the ski bowl was definitely one of the most scenic, unique and attractive ski resorts in California, it suffered tremendously from nature. Some winters there was too much snow, which completely covered the access road and took days to plow out. Other winters, marginal snow conditions would plague the resort until a blizzard hit which would make the access road impassible. Other times, though snow conditions would be perfect, extremely high winds would hinder the operation of the chairlift. Other times, avalanches would come and bury the road. These conditions all translated into no profits whatsoever. 

That said, though the ski bowl corporation never made a profit again, there were some new investments made. In 1964, a new Constam T-Bar was constructed a little further down the mountain in an effort to provide some shelterd tree terrain. 

In 1966, another women filed a 45,000 dollar lawsuit against the ski bowl, general manager and Heron Lift Company after a loading mishap.

Seeking to raise profits, the ski bowl introduced a new season pass plan in 1966 where instead of season tickets, people would buy $35 dollar season memberships which would entitle them to buy lift tickets at half price. At this time, normal lift tickets were $6 for adults and $4 for children. Finally, for the 1966 season, the ski bowl only operated on weekends and holidays to try and decrease expenses.

By 1967, developers had taken notice of the ski bowl, and claimed “This elevation combined with an annual snowfall far greater than that enjoyed by any peak in the Sierras gives Mt. Shasta an almost limitless potential as a ski and winter resort area. But to date this potential has gone virtually untapped.” The developer claimed that the potential was there, but money was not.

In 1968, the ski bowl was plagued with strong warm winds, which damaged the chairlift and sent a tree across the T-bar, as well as damaging the lodge and other buildings. 1968 was also the year when a man sued the ski bowl for 20,000 dollars after breaking his ankle.

In 1968, aging power lines to the resort failed during the Christmas holiday, causing the resort to close for those profitable days. Additionally, a longer power failure in February resulted in 140 skiers trapped on the chair lift, and the resort closing for another few days. After the ski bowl threatened to sue the Pacific Power and Light Company, a new underground power sources was constructed to the ski bowl. The ski bowl ended up suing the power company, asking for 120,000 in damages total. In 1969, a new beginner tow rope was constructed, and the parking lot was paved.

By 1970, it had become obvious that the business was not sustainable in its current form. The ski bowl had only made a profit one season of operation. Thus, the sale of all assets was announced, and a new buyer, Beverly Enterprises Inc. reached an agreement to buy Carl McConnell’s 80.5% stock in the ski bowl. However, a last minute back out of Beverley Enterprises left the ski bowl still in the hands of McConnell. By September of 1971, the ski bowl was back on the market for sale. The main purpose of the sale was to further develop additional skiing in the bowl.

In October of 1971, a vicious fire completely gutted the iconic ski lodge on Mt. Shasta. Though the lodge was a total loss, the chair lift, rope tows and snow cat were undamaged. Though some of the building was insured, not all of it was. By November of that year, a new lodge had been announced by the corporation. Because the fire happened so late in the season, there was not time for construction. Thus, temporary trailers and ports potties were used for the 1971-1972 ski season until the new lodge could be complete.

The new lodge was way smaller than the original structure. The roof featured a large sloping skylight, which allowed visitors to see the summit of Mt. Shasta from the inside. In December of 1971, the ski bowl announced a new master plan, which would include 3 new chairlifts that traveled further down into the timberline. This expansion hinged upon Forest Service approval.

In 1972, the ski bowl, general manager and Heron Lift Company faced another lawsuit after a man fell while trying to unload from the top of the lift. The man seeked 1 million from the ski bowl, and 1 million from the Heron company.

By the summer of 1972, facing rising expenses and rising debts, Carl McConnell announced an auction of the ski bowl, which included all assets. The forest service had not approved the expansion, and staggering debts from the construction of the new lodge had crippled the operation financially.

In a surprising move, Carl McConnell and his wife bought all assets of the Ski Bowl at the auction. They were the only bidders. McConnel promised the auction audience that he would persist in trying to make the ski bowl resort successful. McConnell was really banking on the forest service approval of the new expansion.

That fall, McConnell formed a new private corporation. Immediately, finishing touches on the lodge’s interior that had stalled were completed, and safety upgrades to the Heron chairlift were carried out. Additionally, by October of 1973, a new Riblet double called Panther Creek was installed. This lift serviced no new terrain, but drastically improved the beginner experience at Mt. Shasta. Additionally, in 1973 another lawsuit for 100,000 was filed against the Ski Bowl was filed after a skier fell on a run. In 1975, yet another lawsuit was filed for 50,000 after a skier accidentally ski-jumped, onto the paved parking lot.

The forest service took their time with the proposed expansion put together by the ski bowl. However, by 1976, the resort was informed that a Forest Service expansion approval was not going to happen. In the 1976-77 ski season, the resort also never operated in the winter due to a severe lack of snow across the mountain. 

In January of 1978, a devastating avalanche destroyed 5 towers of the Green Butte chairlift, and damaged several others. This catastrophic event caused owner Carl McConnell to announce the closure of the ski bowl, though he kept the Panther Creek chair and T-Bar operational at least for that season. According to McConnell, the mountain was simply too inhospitable and difficult to operate a business on. The ski bowl had only once made a profit in the 1970s. Thus, in the summer of 1978, all assets were removed from the ski bowl site, ending the ski bowl’s 19 year run. McConnell went on to help develop the current Mt. Shasta Ski Park, which continues to operate to this day.