REVISITING A 1933 SKI TRAVERSE OF ROLLINS PASS
By John Lacher
Ascending to Arestua Hut. Jim Dlouhy
A good many years ago I entered the Historical Mail Route Ski Race. We went up over one of Colorado’s many Cottonwood Passes from US 40, south of Granby to Hot Sulphur Springs. The course was about eight or nine miles. We were well outfitted with lycra, carbon fiber ski poles, and skating skis. This race commemorated the men who carried the winter mail from Empire to Hot Sulphur Springs during the later years of the 19th century. They skied over Berthoud Pass on handmade wooden skis, bringing the mail to people in Middle Park. During those years, there was no reliable winter transportation into that part of the state. Because this race honored their legacy, we had to carry weights in our packs. I believe it was 12 pounds. At the end of the race, we gathered at the Grand County Historical Museum to receive our shirts, rewards, and glasses of warm apple cider. We had entered that great fellowship of hardy mountain skiers. Afterwards, I read about these pioneer skiers. They were rather stout fellows. One man, Bill Kimball, had the route in 1875. He was described as “. . . a wonder, the best snowshoe man ever known in Middle Park. His pack was never less than 70 pounds of mail, and I have known him to carry 105 pounds. He often packed through from Empire to Hot Sulphur, going night and day, with no sleep, stopping only for meals. He never wore gloves, and only one pair of wool socks, with ordinary cityman’s rubber over them"1. During this time skis were 26
Trail & Timberline
usually called Norwegian snowshoes or just snowshoes. After hearing about Kimball, our heroic effort seemed somewhat diminished.
a Recently, Doug Long shared a letter with me that his dad, Carleton Long, wrote in l933 describing a ski traverse from below the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel to the West Portal by way of Arapaho Lakes. This was done on February 25 in company with
Bob Clifton and Bob Fernie. I was hooked. The letter reads in part: We left Tolland at 2 am and were able to drive part way to East Portal in a car. When snowdrifts stopped the car, we walked up the railroad track to East Portal. This point we left at 3:45 am and followed up the valley of South Boulder Creek for a scant mile before turning north and up the wall of the canyon. Incidentally peculiar hazards were encountered while on the floor of the
