During the 1950s, downhill skiing captured the interest of numerous Austinites. A major problem, however, was they lived in the mostly flat terrain of Mower County. In 1955, however, the City of Austin tried to make the most of what hills are featured in town on the west side along Turtle Creek. “It had to happen. The ski bug has even invaded Austin,” the Austin Daily Herald wrote Jan. 5, 1955. At the time, the city started offering a “ski school” in an area overlooking Turtle Creek known as Crestwood Hills, which – as ski lessons began there – started being called “Crestwood Alps.” Today, this area is easily within Austin’s city limits, with a 3.5-acre public slope called Nob Hill that overlooks Turtle Creek and is used for sledding and snowboarding. Nob, however, is a distant second to Austin’s Skinner’s Hill in drawing winter recreationists. Traveling to Crestwood Hills from Austin in the 1950s involved heading west on State Hwy. 16 (Oakland Avenue West), crossing Turtle Creek and taking the first left at the top of the hill onto what was Crestwood Hill Road. In the 1950s, downhill skiing was America’s “fastest-growing winter sport” that seemed destined to bypass the Austin area’s “flatland,” the Herald wrote. “At any rate, Austin youngsters and adults alike are careening down the few available hills and, in general, are experiencing a rather rude and bruising introduction to the ‘white art.’” To keep a flood of broken arms and legs from coming into Austin’s St. Olaf Hospital, Austin’s Parks & Recreation Department decided to offer ski lessons to the public. Harry Strong, the city’s recreation director in the ‘50s, noted Austin’s younger people had shown a strong interest in skiing and starting an organized ski school. “We want to prevent as many accidents as possible and still teach the skills needed to fully enjoy this thrilling sport,” Strong said. Austin’s Parks & Rec Board arranged with private landowners to use Crestwood Hills— which was outside the city limits — as a site for ski school. Parks & Rec hired a skiing instructor and created a program for beginning skiers. These classes were open to all high school and college students as well as young adults. Classes were on weekends, with registrations accepted at the old Shaw Gym, which was where a city parking lot is today next to Brick Furniture. Strong made an interesting pitch to the public for ski classes. “Save our forests. Stop knocking our trees down. Enter the recreation department’s ski school and save the landscape,” Strong said in 1955. That 1954-55 winter also was the first time the Austin Girl Scout program offered lessons not only skating but also skiing. A local couple, the Probarts, volunteered to lead ski lessons for the Girl Scouts who were working for ski-merit badges at Crestwood Hills. A few months after ski lessons began, city crews started building a 64-foot “pontoon bridge” to serve the Crestwood area for ski classes. Crews started constructing the bridge at the city warehouse to haul later in sections to assemble over Turtle Creek. This crossing was at the bottom of Nob Hill, where the city still has a strip approaching the creek from 21st Street Southwest. Consisting of 16-foot sections with a plank deck and railings resting on old barrels, the pontoon bridge rested on the ice but could sit on Turtle Creek’s bottom when its water levels were normal. City officials planned to take the bridge out before each year’s spring thaw. The following winter, Parks & Rec brought back skiing lessons but it doesn’t appear to have continued at Crestwood Hills beyond the 1955-56 winter. For the 1966-67 winter, the Austin YMCA sponsored ski lessons at “Johnson’s Hill,” two blocks west of Riverland Community College, with an instructor from the Welch Village ski hill. Other lessons were planned for later that winter. Three years later, the ski-lessons site was called the “YMCA Ski Hill,” and it featured a tow rope and chalet. These classes were offered to children and adults, meeting weekly for five weeks for 8 to 10 hours of instruction overall. As for the Crestwood Hills area, Austin Township and Mower County officials started considering residential plats in 1954 for the that hilly side of Turtle Creek. In the 1950s, Austin also experienced significant residential and commercial growth to the west, including the Sterling Shopping Center and surrounding neighborhoods going to Turtle Creek. The post Lookback: Ski club once offered at Austin’s ‘Alps” along Turtle Creek appeared first on Austin Daily Herald.