Books explore Carson City, Sierra, Olympic history
By Susan Skorupa, Reno Gazette-Journal
One good thing came from the death by avalanche of miner William F. Weir near Poker Flat in the western Sierra Nevada on Dec. 17, 1852.
Other miners learned that knowing how to ski could help them survive in the mountains.
Skis and sleds, snowshoes and Olympic competition form the core of new books by Lake Tahoe writers David C. Antonucci and Mark McLaughlin.
McLaughlin’s “Longboards to Olympics: A Century of Tahoe Winter Sports” (Mic Mac Publishing, $24.95 paperback) tracks the history of winter sports in the Sierra from Weir’s ill-fated meeting with an avalanche through the innovations and advancements of winter-sport racing and commercial ventures and the Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley in 1960.