Ski museum displays rich local history
Lou Lou Kneubeuhler opened a ski shop in 1973. “Loulou’s of Spokane Ltd” became a flagship store for the biggest brands in gear and fashion. It was one of the top shops in North America.
Today in the ski chalet on Pacific and Sherman where he influenced the sport around here, Kneubeuhler has founded the Ski Museum of Spokane. Among all the history, the place gives you a hands-on lesson about the evolution of skis.
“I’m hoping to make this a main attraction in the city of Spokane if it’s done properly,” he said. “I would like to have gear, history, photography and artifacts here from ski areas throughout the region.”
The first thing you see when you walk in the door is a lineup of ancient wooden skis. A pair from the late ’30s or early ’40s stood out. They have a beautiful polished black finish and upturned tails – a proto twin tip that had never been on the snow.
You could tell by the edges – or lack of. The other wood skis were worn along the sides. The black ones were untouched. Edges and materials are a theme in Kneubeuhler’s collection.
“Francois Salomon was a structural engineer and his passion was skiing,” he said. “He wanted to do something in the ski business so he started manufacturing ski edges. That’s what we’re looking at here, a ski made shortly after World War II.”
Kneubeuhler held a wood ski with a crude edge about a quarter-inch wide. A screw every 2 inches held the metal to the wood. If you wanted edges in those days, you would use a router to make a groove and screw in metal pieces about a foot long.
The collection also has the Aluflex, the first metal ski. The Aluflex is a late ’40s French innovation Kneubeuhler calls the “grandfather of all modern skis.”
“This ski is all metal,” he said. “Now let’s say you go through rocks. Just peel off the base, because it’s a 3M tape. I worked at an outfit in Val d’ Sere where we had these for rentals. Throughout the season we would repair skis. So you heated the ski, peeled of the tape, cleaned it up a little bit, take a roll of tape and – pffffffft – a new base.”
Segmented edges were a big thing in the 1980s. Kneubeuhler pointed out the Dynamic VR17, a direct descendant of the Aluflex, as an example. He bent the ski. At 1-inch intervals the edge pulled apart, flexing with the ski. A pair of La Croix skis from the 1980s also had segmented edges. He said at $1,100 a pair flat, they were the most expensive ski sold in the U.S. at the time.
Other notable skis in the museum include the Head Standard, Head 360 and Head Killy; Rossignol Strato; one Kneissel White Star from a pair used by Austrian racing legend Karl Schranz with his name on it; and Salomon’s first ski, the 1990 S9000.
Segmented edges eventually went the way of other short-lived innovations in the museum, like K2’s piezoelectric dampening system. The collection, which includes all kinds of gear, clothing, photos, advertising and artwork, is growing.
“The history of skiing is so rich here, with the stories behind Mt. Spokane and 49 Degrees North and Schweitzer.” Kneubeuhler said. “In the Silver Valley, if you go to Mullan, the people there were from Norway and Finland. In Kellogg, it’s Italy and in between a few Germans. That mix all skied, so they built Lookout. Years later those cultures brought forth Jackass, which is now Silver. When you start putting it all together, there’s a lot to tell.”