Auburn Ski Club (ASC) will be celebrating its 90th birthday in 2018, and to kick things off, is offering a limited number of 2017/18 Cross Country trail passes for just ninety dollars! The season passes will also be valid for the rest of the spring ski season through mid-April.
Auburn Ski Club was founded in 1928 by a group of visionary winter sports enthusiasts from Auburn, and the club’s first facility was located in Cisco Grove. ASC’s “Ski Grounds” boasted a modest warming hut and the first engineered ski jump in the western U.S.
In its early years, ASC’s determined members were instrumental in creating the “Far West California Ski Association,” now the Far West Ski Association, and bringing the 1932 National Ski Championships to Lake Tahoe. They also spearheaded the efforts to keep Highway 40 open year-round, a legislative decision which led to the establishment of the region as a winter sports hub.
By the late 1940’s the club had its sights on a parcel of Donner Summit land known as Boreal Ridge, and eventually acquired and developed the land (presently encompassing Boreal Mtn. Resort and ASC’s facilities) as the Boreal Ridge Winter Park, the Western Ski Sport Museum, and the Roy Mikkelson Memorial Ski Jumping Hill.
Today, Auburn Ski Club has evolved into the ASC Training Center, a non-profit winter sports facility dedicated to the lifelong enjoyment of winter sports for families and athletes from the greater foothill region and across Northern California. It serves a diverse community of athletes with a focus on developing excellence in XC racing, Biathlon, Alpine skiing and Snowboarding.
In addition to its training programs, ASCTC’s race department presents numerous sanctioned XC races each winter, a series of Biathlon competitions, and Alpine and Snowboard races in its Race Arena at Boreal. The club hosted the USSA SuperTour in January, and has held the XC Junior Nationals four times, the NCAA XC Nationals and the US Biathlon Championship.
ASCTC also puts on annual running events in the summer and fall including the Firecracker Mile, the Squaw Mountain Run, the Sierra Crest Ultra Run and the Donner Lake Turkey Trot.
The special limited edition (only 25) 90th Anniversary Commemorative pass will be available for purchase online beginning March 17th. For more information and purchase links, visit auburnskiclub.org.
About ASC Training Center
ASCTC has a 25km expertly groomed cross country trail system with a world class Nordic ski competition start/finish stadium and timing building, a 14 point Biathlon range, 15 and 40 meter ski jumping hills, an Alpine Ski/Snowboard competition and training arena at Boreal, a ski waxing room, and a 100 car parking lot.
The training center’s lodge is a 6,000 sq. ft. building with locker rooms, gathering and seating areas, a kitchen, offices and meeting rooms, a sun deck, restrooms and showers. The facilities also include a 2,000 sq. ft. “sprung structure” which houses a work-out and weight training room and serves as a staging area for athletes during the center’s many XC race events.
