FROM PAGE ONE
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022
SKIING
Continued from Page A1
Oregon within the Umatilla
National Forest at milepost 22
along Oregon Highway 204.
An Olympic history
Created by the Blue Mountain
Ski Club, Spout Springs served
as the Nordic training center for
the United States Olympic team
and the Norwegian jump team
in preparation for the 1955 and
1964 Winter Olympics. The U.S.
Olympic Committee recognized
Spout Springs’ connection to
the Winter Olympic Games and
granted the ski area permission to
fl y the Olympic fl ag.
The ski area covers 1,413 acres
and has a vertical drop of 530 feet,
according to the Forest Service.
Spout Springs is at an elevation of
4,920 feet and on average receives
130 inches of snow per year. The
recreation area includes two large
chalet-style buildings, which have
been used as the main lodge and
rental shop.
Skiers and snowboarders are
taken up the mountain via two
double chairlifts, where they have
access to 13 downhill runs. Pre-
vious owners of Spout Springs
said the ski area is an ideal place
for alpine skiers of all skill levels
to hone their skills, in part due to
the varied terrain.
Some of the downhill runs can
be illuminated for night skiing,
wrestling coach this season
for equal and proper
instruction.
“The sport is diff erent
for boys and girls and
requires a diff erent back-
ground,” Gonzales said.
“It’s worth the investment.
Our baseball and soft-
ball facilities are good,
they share the gym and the
weight room, and we have
a couple of soccer fi elds
behind the sports complex.”
EQUITY
Continued from Page A1
added in 1967 and golf
came in 1971. Oregon held
its fi rst state volleyball and
cross-country champion-
ships in 1974, basketball in
1976, and soccer in 1977.
Softball was added in 1979
and wrestling came in 2019.
Baker High School has
worked hard to make sure
its female athletes have the
same opportunities as the
male athletes.
“We did an audit when
I got here a couple of years
ago to make sure we have
the same number of sports
being off ered,” said Baker’s
athletic director, Buell Gon-
zales, “to make sure those
things that should be hap-
pening are happening.”
Baker is adding a girls
A true pioneer
Anderson is not one to
sit still very long. She took
a 27-mile bike ride on July
2 before settling in for an
interview. She had returned
from a camping and kaya-
king trip the day before.
“I usually travel to a for-
eign country once or twice
a year,” she said. “I do go to
Baja for two to three weeks
THE OBSERVER — A3
and there are also more than 20
miles of nordic ski trails with
varied levels of diffi culties.
Change in ownership
The ski area has been closed
since 2016, Weseman said. That
left the previous owners in a
“state of noncompliance” she said.
John and Nancy Murray — who
had owned and operated Spout
Springs since 1999 — had safety
concerns for skiers due to snow-
mobilers using the north parking
area. According to Weseman, the
Forest Service worked with the
Murrays and tried to resolve the
confl ict, but no resolution was
ever reached. In November 2021,
their permit was revoked and the
infrastructure became property of
of kayaking per year. I do
a lot of hiking, I ride a bike
and I kayak. Do I go to very
many sports? No. I watched
enough as athletic director.
I do have tickets for the
world championships. I
follow track and fi eld more
than anything.”
Anderson graduated
from Wilson High School in
Portland in 1959. She went
to Lincoln High School her
freshman year and was on
the swim team. When she
moved to Wilson, she was
on the tennis and golf teams
for three years.
“They only had indi-
vidual sports, no team
sports,” Anderson said of
girls’ athletics. “I played
on softball and basketball
teams in the park bureau. I
went to Eastern in 1963 and
they had tennis. In 1965, we
added fi eld hockey, volley-
year-round in their proposals.
Weseman said candidates should
consider four-season operations
in order to make the opportunity
more lucrative and successful.
Previous owners have promoted
summer recreational activities,
such as mountain biking and
hiking, and the Umatilla Forest
Service is open to allowing activ-
ities aligned with the intended use
of the land, like camping.
The ultimate goal is to sell the
existing infrastructure and issue
a new Ski Area Term Permit to a
qualifi ed application. According
to Weseman, the ski area could
be operated under a special use
permit for government-owned
facilities until the sale of the
infrastructure is fi nalized.
the U.S. government.
“The Forest Service is com-
mitted to providing for public
safety while maintaining a bal-
ance of public access to the Forest
surrounding Spout Springs Ski
Area,” Weseman said.
Spout Springs’ future
The list of required duties to
operate Spout Springs is long.
Weseman said the new oper-
ators will be responsible for
the operation and maintenance
of infrastructure and equip-
ment, physical site management,
staffi ng, food and beverage, plan-
ning and development.
Interested parties are encour-
aged to include ways the rec-
reation area could be used
ball, basketball and track
and fi eld.”
Anderson said schools in
Eastern Oregon were very
active in sports pre-Title IX.
“Rural Eastern Oregon
was more advanced in pro-
viding opportunities than
Western Oregon was,”
Anderson said. “There is
equity in most schools, and
most schools have tried and
have addressed facilities.
It’s not perfect. Some areas
are stronger than others.”
As Title IX came in,
Anderson was excited about
the opportunities it would
bring for female athletes,
but female coaches had to
make the decision to stay in
athletics or move full-time
into education.
“In 1972, 90 to 100%
of women’s teams were
coached by women,”
Anderson said. “In 1992,
www.lagrandeobserver.com
less than 50% of women’s
teams were coached by
women.”
Anderson was at EOU
from 1963-72. She helped
start the women’s basket-
ball, fi eld hockey, volley-
ball and track programs in
1965-66.
She left EOU to get
a doctorate degree from
the University of Wiscon-
sin-Madison, then she was
on staff at University of
Arizona, where she worked
a little magic to get the
school to allow her to start
the women’s cross-country
and track programs in the
late 1970s.
Though the programs
were successful, she was
given the option in 1979 to
coach or to teach.
“That’s when it started
opening the doors for men
to go into coaching wom-
en’s programs,” Anderson
said. “If a person is talented
enough, knowledgeable and
works well with people,
they can coach anywhere.”
Anderson returned to
EOU in 1986 as athletic
director and professor of
physical education. She
retired from the AD job in
2001 and from teaching in
2006.
Cashell, now the com-
missioner of the Cascade
Collegiate Conference, car-
ried on Young’s mission for
equality in women’s sports.
“Now, in his line of
work, he does presenta-
tions on Title IX at NAIA
national conventions,”
Weissenfl uh said. “I’m for-
tunate there were pioneers
who fought hard. I didn’t
feel like I had to fi ght for
the opportunities. I am
thankful for that.”
CAPSULE
pleted by the Baker City
fi eld offi ce of the Oregon
Department of Geology and
Mineral Industries.
The testing conducted
in June indicates that the
marker was made from
rock that is identical to
the stone the one at lower
Ladd Canyon was made
from. Allen earlier had
the stone from the lower
Ladd Canyon marker tested
by the same offi ce, which
determined it likely came
from Sugarloaf Mountain.
Continued from Page A1
WE MAKE IT EASY with an online application
installed at lower and upper
Ladd Canyon.
Allen says he now has
evidence indicating that
the Walnut Street marker
was made from lava fl ows
underlying the north fl ank
of Sugarloaf Mountain,
about 9 miles northwest
of La Grande. An anal-
ysis of the stone the marker
was made from was com-
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