Dick Dorworth

Nov 28, 2024 | tahoequarterly.com | Sylas Wright |Dick Dorworth

Of all the talented and influential women skiers from the Reno-Tahoe area, Dodie Post Gann and Marcelle “Marce” Barkley Herz share space on the short list of all-time greats. Close friends despite an 11-year age difference, the pair stood out as the region’s most skilled and best known female skiers of their era. Dodie became Nevada’s first Olympian in 1948, and Marce, a remarkable athlete and record-setting runner, earned state titles in multiple skiing events through the 1940s.

Sep 27, 2024 | tahoequarterly.com | Sylas Wright |Dick Dorworth

In 1969, I was walking along the base of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley with a couple of climbing buddies when we ran into Galen Rowell. I was new to the sport and not up on my Yosemite climbing history, and thus had never heard Galen’s name. We were introduced, and I was immediately struck by the fierce intensity of his person. His handshake was firm, his smile sincere and there was a gleeful, wild passion in his eyes that I liked and trusted from the very beginning.

Apr 30, 2024 | tahoequarterly.com | Sylas Wright |Dick Dorworth

Bijou means “jewel” in French, and as an adolescent boy in the early 1950s, the Bal Bijou on Lake Tahoe’s South Shore was the crown jewel of my and many others’ social and cultural lives. Built in the 1930s in Bijou—a former unincorporated community that is now part of South Lake Tahoe—the Bal Bijou immediately became and remained a popular gathering spot for two decades.

Dec 20, 2023 | sunvalleymag.com | Dick Dorworth

Sun Valley has been at the forefront of more skiing progress, growth and inventions since it opened in December 1936 than can be mentioned here. It continues to do so in numerous areas, including ski gear. One of the best-known is Nelson Bennett’s ski toboggan, which has benefited hundreds of thousands of injured skiers.

Sep 25, 2023 | tahoequarterly.com | Sylas Wright |Dick Dorworth

The story of how Wayne Poulsen developed Olympic Valley in company with—and then without—Alex Cushing is well documented. There is no need to repeat it here. What is far less known—even among ski historians—is the embryonic influence of Martin Arrouge, the man responsible for introducing Poulsen to the scenic alpine valley and setting in motion a ripple effect that would transform the Lake Tahoe Basin along with skiing history. But this story is not about Poulsen.