Evening star., 1937-11-20
By Mary Jane Moore.


~ ever before, and they are
learning that the erandest ski
slopes, snow viStaS ice skating rinks.
and toboggan slides lie within our
national parks and forests Here
recreation facilities belong to all peo-
pie of the United States almost as
If they existed in their own back
Yards, though on considerably larger
scale.
OF the country'S 26 national parks
all but three are open the year round
to some extent, and winter sports may
be enjoyed in many of them In
some. the snow lasts well into the
summer. permitting ski racing as
late as July 4 Nearly all of the ma
tonal forests now have some winter
sports use.
Acadia National Park, Maine, the
only national park where sea and
mountains meet, has no regular winter
schedule, but 1t offers vIsitas OF winter
loneliness perhaps unsurpassed in all
of New England, the eastern center
of winter sports. The park offers na-
tural skating Kinks, framed by growing
Christmas trees, and nearly 20 square
miles for mixers on SnoWshoeS.
Mount Rainier National Park. Wash
tneton, and Yosemite, SeQuoia and
General Grant Parks, California, its
fellows of the high Sierra, and Rocky
Mountain National Park Colorado,
afford gentle slopes for ski novlces who
need to build up courage as well as
experience. and tricky. intricate
courses which challenge even cham
pions. Mount Rainier has been the
scene of national championships held
as prelimlnaries to the Olympic
Games.
Crater Lake National Park in Oregon
and Lassen Volcanic National Park
IN California are increasing in winter
popularity, and are the scenes of snow
festivals when ~ weather conditions
permit access to the parks. The road
to Manzanlta Lake in LasSen is being
kept open, and accommodations are
provided for the large number of
visitors to try the new snow course
there.
In the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, North Carolina and
Tennessee. and Shenandoah National
Park. Virginia, there is an increased
interest in winter sports, and some
preliminary consideration of develop
ment, although the snow does not
have such great staying qualities there
as in the northern parks.
There are natural skiing areas in
MorrlstoWn National Historical Park,
New Jersey. Even in Yellowstone,
which officially closes for the winter,
the park personnel has splendid IA
ellities for skating ana skiing. And
q recent report from semi-tropical
Hawaii tells of an intrepid ranger and
his son who found snow nigh on a
volcanic slope within the Hawaii Ma
tional Park, and went skiing
GENERALLY speaking, there are
surprisingly few artificial ski slides
or toboggan slides in our national
parks. The National Park Service has
adopted definite policy of stressing
the winter beauties of its parks and
of opening them to all sports lovers
on an informal basis. which will pro-
vide equal opportunity for enjoyment
10 amateur and professional. 1t
opposes erection of any equipment that
might mar the scenic value and ter
rain of the parks. In most of the
Western parks there is plenty of snow
to form natural toboggan slides, and
the mountain slopes provide natural
ski jumps and runs.
Although skiing seems to be far and
away the most popular sport, there are
so many other things to do in national
parks in winter time that visitors find
it hard to crowd them all in without
setting back the clock.
Skating is especially popular. Then
there's ski i-ioring, which means riding
on skis while holding tightly to the
heightened bride of a Well-trained
but speedy horse-really it is land
surf-board riding with Steed replac-
ing motor boat for power A thrill
ing new sport is slalom running which
means dangerous and fast doWn-hill
skiing with sharp turns. Other recrea-
tions found in most of the Western
parks are sleighing. tobogganing, snow
balling, and toasting oneself before
q great log fire to thaw out after many
hours spent playing in the snow.
The parks also have their own
unique sport, developed, SO the story
goes, by former director of the Ma
tional Park Service. 1t is called lash
canning and today is one of the most
popular diversions in Yosemite, Mount
Rainier and Sequoia. Equipment fer
1t consists of an ash can lid, minus
the handle, burlap bag for cushion,
and courage. The brave sportsman
or sportswoman who sits in the lid
is given push at the top of a mildly
sloping toboggSn slide, and goes
whirling around and around and, down
to the bottom-or perhaps head over
heels into mighty snowdrift.
YOSEMITE has long been popular
as winter paradise, and here,
with the Wawona road, completed in
1888, opening up a 35-mile drive to
the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and
leading to the Chinquapin and Badger
Flat snowfields, park officials were
confronted with record
crowds. On the floor of the Yosemite
Valley every conceivable recreation is
provided with the exception of long
distance skiing. Snow day is big
event with its proclamation Of winten