Then and now: Changing ski shops
The Sugar House in the mid-1960s. Photo/Private Collection
A long time local favorite lasting into the 1990s, Ceddy Sherer’s Sugar House was at the corner of Lake Tahoe Boulevard and LaSalle Street near Stateline. The coffe shop seen at the left in the photo above later became a steakery and until recently was Womack’s Texas-style Barbecue. Today it is Mayas Mexican Grill.
The Powder House ha this an another location. Photo/Bill Kingman
Now the building houses the Powder House’s main store. The current owners have opened a second Powder House store in the Chateau complex, one block away.
— Bill Kingman
My dad worked was in the service with Ceddy and then worked with him a year at The Sugar House around 1972 until we opened Sugar House West. Those were the boom years for cross country skiing.
FYI
Ceddy passed away a few years ago up in Bend, OR.
A very good business man who always remembered your name.
Thanks Bill for the memories
The coffee shop mentioned was actually a doughnut shop at night as well as coffee shop during the day that my parents operated for over 25 years. I remember going to help make doughnuts in the middle of the night and busing tables during the day.
Upon my parents retirement the lease was sold to Womack’s BBQ which was moved from it’s previous location on Ski Run Blvd.
Thanks again for the memories Bill as that brings up a lot of the good old days in Tahoe
Before Cedric bought the building it was known as the K-Building, named for its owner, Harley Keiling, and there were many different businesses there. Rene’s Jewelers, Mullins Men’s Wear, Dr. Kaminar (a local chiropractor), a beauty salon, and even a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise for a short time. And as John said, the Donut Deal. Lots of changes over the years.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane, Bill!
Bill K, Ceddy was a good guy and The Sugar house was a good ski shop. I knew a few guys that worked there over the years and bought a pair of Nordica foam filled ski boots there when they were all the rage.
Sorry to hear Ceddy is gone, but he’s not forgotten!
Happy turns on fresh snow and keep your edges sharp and your bases filled in with some p-tex.
Thanks Bill. Old Long Skiis
OLS were your Nordicas red or yellow? Also Look bindings and 207’s K2’s. They were fast!
I had Nordica Astral Slaloms….the “BANANA BOOT”…1974s. I retired them in 1998 last run at Kirkwood for them.
Okay, I skiied on leather lace up double Nordica boots as a kid. Then went to leather buckle Nordica boots when they came on the scene. Buckle boots! All the ski instructers and patrolmen had them! Next came my first pair of Lang plastic boots with Lang Flo wich was a bladder inside the boot with pink goop inside the liner. Then went to a red pair of foam filled Nordicas fitted at the Sugar House. Finally a pair of yellow, “banana boots”as we called them.
Lots of fun and lots of good runs, Old Long Skiis.
Lake Tahoe Historical Society will be putting on a “Fireside Chat” featuring Bill Kingman presenting a slideshow of Tahoe history at Camp Richardson lodge, Tuesday the 14th of April at 7:00 p.m. Limited seating so get there early for a seat and enjoy some Tahoe history. OLS
Norm Woods told me the building plans were drawn on a paper napkin!
“Cedric” and his contemporary Sheldon Varney (Vice Principal at South Tahoe High – now the middle school) were both champion skiers, Sheldon as a ski jumper, & Ced’s particular skill escapes me right now, but he started at the Outdoorsman before embarking on his own. . .
As OLS points out, Lange boots came on the scene (I bought the 1st pair the Outdoorsman got) – they were like being in a space suit compared to the long-thongs OLS mentions, and also heralded the start of the ‘step-in’ binding. . . Ceddy, I believe, saw that the ski industry was burgeoning much quicker than an all-around Department store like the Outdoorsman could provide the space for. . .