Lack of snow not stopping Olympic Heritage week on West Shore
By Barbara Barte Osborn, Sacramento Bee
In 1960, with the sports world poised to show up on their doorstep, organizers of the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley grew increasingly nervous through an unusually dry January.
“There was virtually no snow at Squaw Valley, and they brought in tribal snow-dancers and cloud-seeders,” said Mark McLaughlin, a noted Tahoe historian.
But the weather changed in early February, bathing the area in snow, and then brilliant sunshine, to reveal a stunningly beautiful winter landscape. Organizers of Olympic Heritage Week – a series of skiing events that commemorate the games 52 years ago – aren’t likely to be so lucky.
With events beginning Saturday and running through Jan. 15, there is no snow on the ground and none is forecast.