Tom (Tube) Hill and Tom Heard, both former members of the University of Washington Ski Team, hadn’t seen each other for years. When they saw each other again in 1982 they reminisced about the old days and discussed the idea of a reunion of old time skiers from the days of Mr. Rainier, prior to World War II. Hill then presented the idea to Seattle Times sports editor, Vince O’Keefe, to get the word out to those who might be interested in having a reunion. Irv Pratt was also contacted to help get something started since he was near retirement and supposedly, would have the time to work on it.
Irv thought many old skiers would enjoy getting together to “mingle and mangle” and remember old times. Instead of a clambake, a traditional Northwest affair, Irv came up with a “Clamfreeze”! Irv and a group of skiers including Hal Smith, Ginny Higman (nee Bowden), Jean MacDonald Zweibel and Burns Smith organized a banquet at the Officer’s Club at Sand Point in October 1982. Over 300 skiers got word and attended a venue than included jumpers, U.W. Ski Team members, ski area operators, and instructors from the early days of skiing. The banquet was a super success with skiers re-living their past experiences together and exchanging ideas for their next skiing escapades.
The idea of the Ancient Skiers organization was formed a couple years later when a few skiers again met up at Sun Valley. It seemed every time they got together the more they wanted to keep the past alive. Howard “Howie” Clifford, a newspaper man and ardent skier who served as Treasurer for PNSA in the War years, coined the name “ANCIENT SKIERS” and it stuck. The idea of a holding a regular annual Sun Valley reunion was acted upon and the first Sun Valley reunion of Ancient Skiers was held in Sun Valley in Winter 1984. A second Ancient Skiers banquet was held in Bellevue in fall 1984 and a soon after a special reunion was held at Paradise Inn on Mt. Rainier in late May/early June of 1985. The reunion at Paradise was so successful that two other on-mountain Clamfreeze reunions (including ski events) were held at Paradise in 1989 and 1993. Biennial banquets in the Puget Sound region continued and the group formally organized in 1986.
The founding members included Mel Borgersen, Bob St. Louis, Glen Jones, and Hal Smith who all worked with Irv to establish a Washington State non-profit organization that endures today. At the third biennial Ancient Skiers banquet in 1987, the first Northwest legends of skiing were honored into a new established Northwest Ski Hall of Fame. When Otto Lang moved back to Seattle in 1987, the organization got a further boost from his extensive participation and interest.
In March of 1988, a separate organization was formed to serve as the organization and fundraising arm for a Northwest Ski Hall of Fame and Museum with the intent of raising funds and finding a permanent home for a Northwest ski museum and display for the Northwest Ski Hall of Fame. This group, separate from the Ancient Skiers organization, is continuing to work in Leavenworth to someday establish a permanent ski museum. The Ancient Skiers membership nominates and inducts members to the Ski Hall of Fame and the Leavenworth Northwest Ski Hall of Fame group house an exhibit of Hall of Fame skiing legends at the Enzian Inn (basement area of this hotel in Leavenworth).