How the Olympics in Lake Tahoe changed the games forever

As the 2018 Olympics come to a close, taking a look back to the 1960 event at Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe puts a lot into perspective. Perhaps those Olympics should have been called "Against All Odds."

"The 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley were the last of the small Olympics," author David Antonucci told those attending the Lake Tahoe Historical Society's Fireside Chat at Camp Richardson recently. His book, Snowball's Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games, is the only book devoted solely to chronicling the historic events at Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe. The VIII Olympic Winter Games took place in February 196, and 665 athletes from 30 countries gathered over 11 days to engage in five recognized Olympic winter sports contested in 27 events.

Alex Cushing, the owner of Squaw Valley, saw that Reno was putting in a request for the Olympics in 1954. Cushing put together a presentation between December of 54 and January of 55 to try and get the Olympics to Lake Tahoe. At the time, his Squaw Valley ski are consisted of one lodge, one ski lift and a rope tow. The State of California chipped in $1M to help him bring the Olympics to Squaw.

"There was not much support for Squaw and it was against all odds for them to win the bid for the 1960 Olympics," said Antonucci. The U.S. Olympic Committee chose Squaw Valley over Reno for their bid, but then it was off to the international choice.

The vote by the International Olympic Committee was 31 for Innsbruck, and 31 for Squaw Valley. Enter Jo Marillac, a famous European who was a World War II hero, leader of the French Resistance to the Nazis, escaped two captures by Nazis and was a French Alp mountaineering expert who moved to Squaw Valley and taught skiing. His support of Alex Cushing and Squaw broke the tie and the Olympics headed to Lake Tahoe.

That meant there were only four years to build up a resort from that rope tow and single ski lift. It was the first ski area ever to be created for the Olympics.

"It was an Olympics like no other," said Antonucci. It was going to be the first games where one could see multiple events by standing in one spot.

There was less commercialization in 1960 and all participants were amateur athletes. Walt Disney was hired to produce the event, and changed the Olympics forever. The pageantry of the opening and closing ceremonies we see today are a result of Disney's work at Squaw. He developed spectacular fireworks, grand statues and an avenue of flags. The sides of the ice arena were made with hydraulics so they'd face indoors for some events, then swing out for the outdoor events.

Art Linkletter was hired to be the event's MC (he was also an investor in Alpine Meadows).

Everything was held in Squaw Valley except for the biathlon and cross country events which were through the trees in Tahoma. Martin Hollay, who still lives in South Lake Tahoe, was hired to work on those cross country routes.

That winter was a dry one for Lake Tahoe, with not enough snow for the events just a few days before the opening ceremony. A storm came over the Sierra and didn't stop until the moment the Greek flag entered the arena during the opening ceremony. The clouds cleared and it stopped snowing. It was in the midst of the Cold War and the Russians thought America had perfected weather control.

The successful Olympics were a true group effort. There were 1,000 members of the military on hand to not only assist with security, but to stomp down the fresh snow to create the runs for races. 3,000 volunteers helped run a smooth event that was attended by 250,000 spectators.

There were a lot of firsts in 1960 at Squaw Valley:

First Olympics to be televised
First computerized scoring (ice skating would take hours before Squaw)
First videotape and videotape replay
First Olympic Village to house the athletes

CBS pioneered the live broadcast. They purchased the broadcasting rights to the 1960 Olympic games for $50,000. Jim McKay was scheduled to be in the broadcast booth but he got ill and was replaced by a new guy named Walter Cronkite.

The cost to put on those Olympics was $15 million. To put that in perspective, the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980 cost $150 million and Salt Lake City's games in 2002 cost $1.5 billion.

To read more of the interesting stories of the 1960 Olympics and how they changed not only how Olympics would be produced, but how skiing in the western United States would change forever, David Antonucci's book can be purchased on Amazon or at the Lake Tahoe Historical Society's Museum in South Lake Tahoe.