Loulou looks to future of skiing
Growing up in the in the French Alps, Loulou Kneubuhler could choose from about 100 hills within an 80-mile radius of his home. He raced with Jean-Claude Killy in high school.
Somehow he ended up here. Skiing in the Northwest today wouldn’t be the same without him. His ski shop elevated the sport in Spokane. He spearheaded Silver Mountain’s gondola and expansion to Kellogg Peak. He’s an original board member of Mt. Spokane 2000.
I connected with Loulou over a cup of coffee. Today he’s working to reinvigorate skiing for the generation he introduced to the sport.
“All these baby boomers, an awful lot of them quit for no reason and that is sad.” he said. “If we don’t do something, there is a giant vacuum in the continuity of skiing. So I’m working on ideas to keep them skiing at 60, 70 and beyond.”
Back in the ‘60s Loulou was touring English-speaking countries to work on the language. He decided to winter in America at a tiny ski area called Spout Springs near Pendleton, Ore.
“It was nothing to write home about,” he said. “But the people were so nice, all these cowboys and farmers. We had the time of our lives so I said we have to come back for another year.”
The next winter Loulou coached at White Pass near Yakima. He started a Mighty Mite program. A set of twins won most of the races. Eventually Phil and Steve Mahre were winning Olympic medals. Next winter Loulou came to Spokane.
“I got to Spokane in ‘68-69, it was the biggest winter ever on record,” he said. “I thought I had died and gone to the big snowflake in the sky.”
Loulou started coaching with the Spokane Ski Racing Association. He said at one point racing was canceled when 10-foot bamboo slalom gates pushed clear through the snow without hitting bottom.
He opened a ski repair shop in 1973. “Loulou’s of Spokane Ltd” became a flagship store for the biggest brands in gear and fashion. Technicians did warranty work on site. It was one of the top shops in North America.
Magic Mountain, the legendary ski simulator, opened in 1978. The Mahre twins, 1983 overall World Cup champion Tamara McKinney and the late world champion snowboarder Craig Kelly honed their technique with Loulou on Magic Mountain.
“Mt. Spokane 2000 started on Magic Mountain,” Loulou said. “Allison Cowles spent a lot of time on it. She was so upset with the way the mountain was being run and she was talking with real conviction. So I said, ‘You don’t like it, let’s change it.’ She asked me, ‘Are you in?’ I said, ‘Yeah, OK, who else do we need?’ and we went from there.”
Loulou’s new big idea combines technology and coaching to help people ski better longer. I asked him for an example. He shot his cuff.
“This long john is made from the most high-tech material money can buy,” he said. “It doesn’t look like much, though.”
He asked me to touch the thumb and middle finger of my strongest hand. Brian Jones, friend of Loulou and sales executive at Lawton Printing, pulled them apart easily. I then placed my other hand over the fabric on his arm and Jones could not pull my fingers apart.
“It’s made of the same material that coats the tiles of the space shuttle,” Loulou said. “It absorbs your body heat and gives it back to you as energy.”
I have to get a pair of those skivvies.