Snowflake Ski Club

Written by Polly Rude many years ago.

In 1968 Judge Lincoln Neprud

wanted you to attend the Snowflake Ski Club

National Ski Jumping Championship

En Tydelig Historie

The first meetings of the Snowflake Ski Club were held in Norwegian.

Den forste Ski Klubb i Westby var organisert i 1922 av Oscar Villand, Henry Nerison, Nordahl Nelson, Carl Gronland, og August Gorder: Utvalgt officerer var: Forman Oscar Villand, secretær og kasserer var Henry Nerison.

Tilslutte seg senere var J.T. Hage, Earl Jefson, Martin Oium, Adolph Holte, John Stensby, Ivar Engebretson, Carl Stensvold, Gunnar Mikkelson og Magnus Mikkelson.

Den forste ski renn var holte den ottende Februar 1923 pass Martin Holte bakken, tre mile øst av Westby. Nordahl Nelson planlagde og byggde den forste skaffot.

Mrs. Lena Villand forslog at navne skulle vere Sno-Flake Ski Klubb.

Early Presidents serving Snowflake:

1923 Oscar Villand

1924 August Gorder

1925 Adolph Holte

1926 Adolph Holte

1927 Martin Oium

1928 Martin Oium

1929 Earl Jefson

1930 Earl Jefson

1930-1939 No Tournaments

1946 Howard Johnson reactivates Ski Club

1947 Howard Johnson

Westby’s major contribution to ski jumping is its outstanding hill. Westby has created the world’s most challenging hill in ski jumping, except for the ski flying hills of Europe. Indeed it is the best jump in North America.

A number of ski enthusiasts founded the Snowflake Ski club, elected Oscar Villand, President, and held it first tournament on February 8, 1923. Lars Haugen took top honors on the slide located 3 miles east of the city. Three meets were held here. In 1926 a large slide with a 72 foot tower was constructed at the present site which was considered a great achievement in those days.

During the 1930s interest was revived and Westby became a member of the Tri-State Ski Association. Tournaments were held annually until World War II. In 1946 the club was reactivated under the direction of Howard Johnson.

In 1947 the Snowflake Ski Club was reorganized and affiliated with the Central Ski Association. The meet was held at Seas Branch with Arne Arneson of Norway taking class A honors. The club moved again and on February 8, 1948, Oscar Severson set a hill record of 160 feet. Peter Haugstad, the 1948 Olympic Champion, skied on the Anderson Hill in 1949. The United State Olympic Team trained on the hill in 1952 and 1960. The official hill record was set in 1957 by Juhani Karkinen of Finland at 223 feet.

The present phase, beginning in 1961, with the creation of the 80 meter hill at the present site, is indeed the most exciting part of the Snowflake Ski Club’s history. Before 20,000 people “Butch” Weden took first place in class A and two Japanese starts, Kiyotaka Sakai and Yukio Kasaya, took second and fourth places respectively. John Balfanz “flew” 292 feet to initiate the new hill.

The FIS trials were the feature in the 1962 tournament at which seven men were selected to train and of which four of those were to compete in the world’s Championship at Zakopane, Poland. John Balfanz set a new North American record of 317 feet. The members selected for the FIS squad were as follows: Willie Erickson, Lyle Swenson, Jon Elliot, Jim Brennen, Steve Reischl, Bob Keck and John Balfanz.

There seemed to be no end to the excitement on this new hill as in 1963 Gene Kotlarek, national champion, skied beautifully on rides of 287 and 297 feet to win. But, the story of the day was John Balfanz’s leap of 356 feet and then a heartbreaking fall. There were eight jumps over 300 feet that day but none could compare with Balfanz’s. Lyle Swenson took second in class A, Dave Norby was fist in class B. Dave Hicks was first in the junior class and John Lyons led all competitors in the veterans class.

The Snowflake Ski Club, has, in the formative stage, plans for developing the present area for downhill skiing, tobogganing, skating and swimming. This has, indeed resulted from the aggressiveness of a club and community cooperating for the general welfare of the region.