McKinney Creek Stadium was a temporary ski stadium located at

Tahoma, California Tahoma (formerly Chambers Lodge) is a census-designated place in Placer and El Dorado counties, California, United States. Tahoma is located along Lake Tahoe 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Homewood. Tahoma has a population of 1,191 (780 in ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Built in 1959, it was used for cross-country skiing,

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever Winter Olympics in 1924, while the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup ...

, and

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.

History

As Squaw Valley was an undeveloped area at the time of being awarded the Olympics, the organizing committee was free to build a tailor-made Olympic resort.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 33 The organizing committee originally intended to house all events in Squaw Valley proper, but real estate developments in Squaw Valley made this difficult. In 1958 the organizing committee therefore decided to move all cross-country and biathlon events to McKinney Creek.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 115 Rolf Gerlofsen had surveyed the area in March 1957, and work on the biathlon tracks and facilities was undertaken and completed during the summer of 1958. It was the first time that pull targets were installed for a biathlon competition.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 118 Work on the stadium began in August 1959.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 109 Plans for the tracks were approved by the International Ski Federation's Knut Korsvold and

Sigge Bergman Sigge Bergman (31 July 1905 – 6 January 2001) was a Swedish sports executive and journalist. He was secretary general of the International Ski Federation (FIS) from 1961 to 1979, and before that the founding chairman of the Technical Committee f ...

, after which construction of the trails could start in the summer 1959. Trial events were undertaken in 1959, in which it was found that mechanical track preparation was more efficient than manual, given that there was at least 45 centimeters (18 in) of snow. After the Olympics, the stadium was dismounted.

Facilities

McKinney Creek Stadium was located immediately off

California State Route 89 State Route 89 (SR 89) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels in the north–south direction, serving as a major thoroughfare for many mountain communities in the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range. It starts from U.S ...

, 19 kilometers (12 mi) south of Squaw Valley. It was the only venue to not be located in the ski resort itself. The stadium was long and between wide.

Bleacher Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a ro ...

s were erected on one side of the finish line with space for 1,000 spectators and 200 press officers. A 16 by 4 meter (54 by 13 ft)

scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...

was built behind the finish line, which at any given time showed the latest times and the ten best results. Flags for all participating nations at the games were hoisted along the stadium. The main building was the Timing Building, which consisted of a calculations room, a communications room, an office for the race secretary in addition to areas for timing staff and equipment. The upper section was used by the public announcer and featured sixteen radio booths. Two 6 by 15 meter (20 by 48 ft)

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War ...

s with a total sixteen rooms were built for competitors for waxing, resting and changing. Lack of water caused the stadium to lack showers. An identically sized Quonset hut was built for administration personnel and course preparation works. A larger 6 by 20 meter (20 by 64 ft) Quonset hut was built for the press, which included typewriters,

teletype machine A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Initia ...

s, telephones and a darkroom. The biathlon course had four shooting ranges along the course. A range was installed at , a range at , a range at and a range at . The ranges had 15 pull-type targets with a "sleeve and plunger" system with five recharges. This allowed up to 75 participants in the race. An additional practice range was built in the Squaw Valley–Deer Park area, in addition to the range being available for training. Coordination of the shooting station was undertaken by four groups of twenty men from the United States Air Force Rifle School. First aid stations were installed at each range. Track preparation was undertaken every evening before the events. Crews were assigned to sections of tracks, with the responsibility of skiing the courses one and a half hours before start, policing the section and removing markers after the event. Each event was color-coded and all marking and material for each event used the colors for visual identification. Training tracks were available in the McKinney Park area and the Squaw Valley–Deer Park area. Both official electronic and unofficial manual timing was used. Interval times were taken at intervals and phoned to the stadium.

Events

Cross-country skiing consisted of six events—four for men and two for women, including a

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, oriente ...

for both genders. The men's 30 kilometer saw a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

double won by

Sixten Jernberg Edy Sixten Jernberg, known as "Sixten", (6 February 1929 – 14 July 2012) was a Swedish cross-country skier and one of the most successful cross-country skiers of all time. Between 1952 and 1964 he took part in 363 ski races, finishing within ...

ahead of

Rolf Rämgård Rolf Rämgård (born 30 March 1934) is a former Swedish cross-country skier. He competed in the 15, 30 and 50 km events at the 1960 Winter Olympics and won a silver medal over 30 km and a bronze over 50 km. In the 1970's, Rämg� ...

.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 116 In the men's 15 kilometer, Jernberg finished second after

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

's Hakon Brusveen. The men's 4 × 10 kilometer relay saw

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

win ahead of Norway and the Soviet Union. The

finished last of the eleven teams.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 117 The final men's race was the men's 50 kilometer, which saw a Finish double with

Kalevi Hämäläinen Kalevi Hämäläinen (13 December 1932 – 10 January 2005) was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He won the 50 km event at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. He was born in Juva. Häm� ...

win ahead of

Veikko Hakulinen Veikko Johannes Hakulinen (4 January 1925 – 24 October 2003) was a Finnish cross-country skier, triple champion in both the Olympics and World Championships. He also competed in biathlon, orienteering, ski-orienteering, cross-country running, ...

followed by three Swedes. The men's relay saw the largest crowd, of 3,000 spectators. The women's 10 kilometer saw the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

win the four top positions, with Maria Gusakova winning gold and Lyubov Kozyreva winning silver. Five teams entered the women's 3 × 5 kilometer relay. Despite the Soviet dominance in the individual race, Sweden was successful at beating the Soviet Union, ahead of Finland,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The ski jumping part of the

took place at

Papoose Peak Jumps Papoose Peak Jumps was a ski jumping hill located at Palisades Tahoe in the US state of California. The hill consisted of three jumps, with K-points of 80, 60 and 40 meters, respectively. Constructed upon the hill-side of Little Papoose Peak, it ...

in Squaw Valley.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 104 Germany's

Georg Thoma Georg Thoma (; born 20 August 1937) is a retired German Nordic combined skier and ski jumper. He won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, becoming the first non-Scandinavian athlete to do so, and was voted German Sportsman of the Year. At the 196 ...

won the ski jumping event and succeeded at defending the gold through the 15 kilometer cross-country race. The Soviet Union's Dmitriy Kochkin finished second after the jumps, but was relegated to fifth after the cross-country event, with Norway's

Tormod Knutsen Tormod Kåre Knutsen (7 January 1932 – 23 February 2021) was a Norwegian Nordic combined skier, who won the Nordic combined event at the 1964 Winter Olympics, and came second at the 1960 Winter Olympics. He won four national championships, a ...

taking silver.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 106 The 1960 Winter Olympics saw the debut of biathlon. Thirty competitors from nine nations entered the 20 kilometer race, which was undertaken with one-minute interval start. The race was won by Klas Lestander of Sweden ahead of

's Antti Tyrvainen and four Soviet biathletes.Squaw Valley Organizing Committee: 120

External links

Location of McKinney Creek Stadium
on Waymarking.com
Sugar Pine Point State Park Cross-country Ski Map
on Go Tahoe North
McKinney Creek Stadium
on Google Maps

References

;Bibliography * ;Notes {{Olympic venues Nordic combined Ski stadiums in the United States Defunct sports venues in California Venues of the 1960 Winter Olympics Olympic biathlon venues Olympic cross-country skiing venues Olympic Nordic combined venues Sports venues in Placer County, California Sports in Tahoma, California Sports venues completed in 1959 1959 establishments in California Skiing in California