The Collection
The California Ski Library is a unique collection of books, magazines, photographs, and ephemera related to all facets and disciplines of skiing.
The Library provides access to rare, unusual, and one-of-a-kind historical memorabilia for use by all interested researchers, scholars, and skiers. If you need to know more about skiing history, written or visual, you’ve found the right place.
Our collection is one of the most extensive collections of ski books, magazines, photographs, and paper memorabilia in the United States.
The photograph collection includes a vast and broad range of photographs of American skiing from the 1930s to 2000s, including photographs of Sun Valley, Idaho, Aspen, Colorado, Squaw Valley Winter Olympics, Mammoth Mountain, Yosemite, Mount Hood, Mount Baker, and many California ski areas, large and small.
A few of the collections at the Ski Library:
Approximately 2,700 books on skiing, winter sports, snow, avalanches, and the Winter Olympics.
Hundreds of periodicals including Ski, Skiing, Snow Country, Powder, Cross Country Skier, Ski Illustrated, Western Skiing, ski annuals from the U.S. and other countries, and many regional ski publications.
Ethel Van Degrift Collection: Van Degrift was an Associate Editor for Ski Illustrated and the ski columnist for the Los Angeles Times from 1939 to 1954. The collection consists of thousands of photographs, brochures, and correspondence, as well as numerous books and periodicals.
Cecil Charles Collection: Charles photographed California skiing and ski area growth for more than 30 years, from the 1940s through the 1970s. His collection includes photographs of Kratka Ridge, Mount Waterman, Snow Summit and other Southland ski areas, as well as hundreds of photographs of Mammoth Mountain.
Carson and Vi White Collection: A collection comprised of more than 50 years of ski columns, photographs, ski club memorabilia, and ephemera from one of California's founding ski journalists. Carson and Vi were pioneer members of the Oakland Ski Club and the Southern Pacific Ski Club. Carson worked as a ski journalist for the San Francisco Examiner for many years.
Wolfgang Lert Collection: Extensive collection of photographs documenting ski racers, Western ski areas, the 1950 FIS World Alpine Championships in Aspen, and the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics.
Howard More Collection: More was the longtime owner of Ski Sunrise, located near Wrightwood. He was a major proponent of ski development on San Gorgonio in the 1960s. The collection includes numerous photographs, documents, and correspondence related to the battle for San Gorgonio ski area development.
Sepp Benedikter Collection: Benedikter influenced and promoted skiing in Southern California from the 1930 thru the 1970s. He was an instructor, started a Pine Needle Ski School where Universal City is today, was a partner in the initial development of Holiday Hill (today known as Mountain High East), and staged a ski jumping meet during the 1951 Los Angeles County Fair. His collection includes photographs, ephemera, and correspondence.
Muir Dawson Papers: Dawson was an almost life-long member of the Sierra Club and won the San Gorgonio Downhill Ski Race more than any other skier. He was involved in the fight against ski development on San Gorgonio in the 1960s. His papers include documents, correspondence, and publications related to San Gorgonio ski development.
Periodicals Collection: Includes Ski, Skiing, Snow Country, Powder, Cross Country Skier, Ski Illustrated, Western Skiing, ski annuals from the U.S. and other countries, and many regional ski publications.