Brief History of MSC
Our club was first organized as a ski jumping club,
holding tournaments on a hill at Nagawicka Lake. Limited finances and uncertain
weather troubled these early skiers.
In 1925 the ski club erected a scaffold on the Milwaukee River bluff in Gordon Park. Meets took place there for six years. Park rules prohibited charging admission to MSC meets, so the club had to scratch to make ends meet.
During one meet so many spectators gathered on the river ice to watch a record field of 125 jumpers that the club decided for safety’s sake to move its operations to Soldier’s home field.
The Milwaukee and Oconomowoc ski clubs merged from 1933 to 1942. Jumping meets were held at Devil’s Hollow until World War II. In 1937 the club maintained its record of never calling off a tournament by using artificially made snow.
Downhill skiing came to MSC in 1939. Prosperity arrived with the War and the club acquired Fox Hill. A Ski Patrol was formed. Women became active members. In 1949, the present Ski Chalet was erected.
In the years since 1949, members have graded and
regraded the intermediate hill, defined trails and added additional rope
tows. The club continues to grow and improve through the work and dedication
of its current members.
A more detailed but still being added to, time line history of the Milwaukee Ski Club is in the club's Memebership Directory.
An article from the "Remember When ..." series from the Milwaukee Journal's Green Sheet is in the Milwaukee Public Library's Digital Collection, about the February 8, 1925, first annual ski tournament in Milwaukee.