52Ancestors52Weeks Weeks 41 and 42 Themes: Change and Sports.....Robley Hansen's Early Skiing Days And Some Surprising Connections

     This is a picture taken from my Uncle Bob's (Robley Hansen) family album.  This is an early snapshot taken of Uncle Bob (bottom left, on one knee) and the Zero Ski Club sometime around  1929/1930.  I was not able to find any information on what the Zero referred to, but this group may have been the Auburn Ski Club or the precursor to the Reno Ski Club founded in 1930.  What I found interesting was that in the album the very young man third from the left, bottom, was identified as Wayne Poulsen.  I'll get back to Wayne Poulsen later in the story.

     My Uncle Bob became an avid skier after he moved from Grass Valley, California to Reno, Nevada right after his high school graduation in 1926.  He took up a winter sport that fit right in with his Norwegian heritage!  His father, John Hartwig Hansen, was also an avid skier, skater and swimmer who  espoused a healthy lifestyle by way of vigorous exercise.  I suppose Uncle Bob took it a step further by adding his canned spinach! 

I found the article above saved in Uncle Bob's early family photo album.  There is no date on it, but on the reverse is an advertisement for the movie Queen Christina starring Greta Garbo.  That movie opened in theaters on December 26, 1933, so this article was written either at the end of December 1933 or in January or February of 1934.  Uncle Bob was the Club president.  He also wrote newspaper articles for the Club....

  This article was probably written around the same time as the first article.  Mount Rose Highway is still the center of Reno's winter playground today. 

Aunt Alma identified this as "The Reno Ski Club" with Uncle Bob 4th from the left.  Cecil Crawford is to his left, and James Crawford is third from the right.  Taken around 1933/34. 

Bob Hansen posing for the camera...

   Aunt Alma was a skier too....taken in 1933 in front of the house on 270 Thoma street, Reno. She began appearing in the album pictures in 1930. She and Bob married in October of 1931. 

Bob Hansen date unknown

  Uncle Bob and Cecil Crawford skiing together.  Date unknown. This looks more like spring skiing...still a popular past time in the area! 

  Spring skiing at its finest.....


  

    Bob and Alma skiing with friends....probably taken around the early 30's. 

  And now we come back to Wayne Poulsen.  Wayne grew up in an era (along with Uncle Bob) marked by an explosion of winter sports and leisure activities.  As a young boy Wayne and his friends would ski on Reno streets when ever there was snow. They'd grab onto a truck bumper and get a tow up to the top of the road.  He became fascinated by Norwegian skiers and ski jumpers, taught himself to ski, and ultimately became an accomplished skier.   

   Wayne eventually became a pioneer in the ski industry and was instrumental in bringing the sport of skiing to the greater Lake Tahoe/Reno area.  He is best known as the founder of the Squaw Valley ski community, which became an internationally celebrated ski resort and would host the 1960 Winter Olympics.  

  Aside from Wayne's accomplishments in the world of skiing, I was more interested in his relationship with Dr. James Church.   In 1932, during his senior year in high school, Wayne trekked into the unexplored back country of the Sierra Nevada with James E. Church as his aide.  Dr. Church, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, pioneered snow survey methodology that is still in use today.  Dr. Church needed an accomplished  skier to accompany him to the back country to collect data and conduct research. They initiated snow pack surveys to accurately predict the spring run off that was vital to the agricultural industry in California.  Poulsen worked with Dr. Church for the next six years, exploring and charting the mountains surrounding the Lake Tahoe Basin.  Poulsen would carry a 35 pound camera , tripod and a 12 foot tube while they made their circuit to different areas of Lake Tahoe.  Dr. Church had a cadre of volunteers that helped him with his surveys in the 30's, Poulsen being the youngest.  Wouldn't you know, Uncle Bob was a volunteer working for Dr. Church.   I believe he got started  in helping Dr. Church conduct snow surveys due to his connection with Wayne.  That is a very unique and special  connection! 

If you want more information on Wayne Poulsen, please see the website

                                      https://waynepoulsen.wordpress.com/

 for more information.  He led a very interesting and colorful life which included a distinguished career as a WWII military pilot. 

     Change:  Change always seems to go hand in hand with the passage of time....  Poulsen died in 1995, and on July 2, 2005 Poulsen Peak in Squaw Valley was commemorated in Wayne's honor and in remembrance of his accomplishments and contributions to the sport of skiing and the region. 

     On September 13th 2021, the name Squaw Valley was officially changed to Palisades Tahoe after the resort owners acknowledged the controversial term of "squaw" as being a derogatory and offensive ethnic and sexist slur.  Sometimes change is good! 

Relationship Reference:  Bob (Robley Hansen)->John Hartwig Hansen m. Vere Burrows Hansen

  

  The three Hansen brothers were Jack, Robley, and Harold (my grandfather).