Club History

A Skiyente might be a student, professional, home-maker, or retiree. She might be single or partnered, a mom or child-free, 21 or 88, an avid skier or avid boarder or both. The two things that have stayed constant are our respect for racing and love for our mountain community.

Skiyente is rooted in the racing discipline of snow sports.

Skiyente Ski Club was started in 1955 when some members of the Associated Women Skiers, the first all women’s ski club in the United States, wanted to focus more on mountain activities over the mostly social and non-mountain community events of their current club. These women sought out others with the same objectives and formed Skiyente Ski Club, which — loosely translated — means “Ski Maiden".

The 25 charter members elected Maryanne (Lawton) Hill, a former U.S. Ski Team hopeful, as their first president. The club first started meeting in members’ homes but soon found the basement of The Mountain Shop in Portland to be more convenient; meetings were held there for nearly 35 years, but we now hold most membership meetings either online at a local pub.

Former Races

From 1956 into the 1970's, the Skiyente Ski Club co-sponsored the Far West Kandahar race, which alternated between Mt. Hood and Europe. As a U.S. Olympic team qualifier, it was attended by many of the great names in racing.
For about 20 years, Skiyente hosted the Betty Dodd Kiddie Classic, open to children ages 5 to 12.

Current Races

Since the club’s inception, we've held the Maryanne Cup annually, in honor of Skiyente's first president.
The first Skiyente Cup was held in 1959, and was originally a women-only giant slalom race. The Skiyente Cup is still awarded today to the fastest woman slalom racer during our annual Masters Memorial Cup race weekend.
We have participated in the local Pacific Northwest Area Clubs Recreational Alpine Teams (PACRAT) racing league since it began over 30 years ago. Our all-women ski club has placed first several times!!!

We've collected accolades over the years.

1960 - PNSA Outstanding Club
1961 - National Ski Association’s Miller High Life Trophy for outstanding clubs.
2006 - Tollakson Award in our division at the FWSA convention
2009 - Charity Award and the first FWSA Club History Award
Our newsletters and scrap books have taken many awards at PNSA and FWSA conventions.

We embrace our traditions.

One of our most prestigious traditions is our King Winter Coronation and Dance. Each year since 1956, we honor an individual who contributed significantly to snow sports and the mountain community during their lifetime. Originally, this honor was bestowed upon a man who was crowned King Winter. However, the tradition was modernized and now honors any gender.

Other traditional activities include our annual Membership Drive, Fireside Holiday Party, Masters Mania, Maryanne Cup, Thank You Night, Spring Fling and Summer Function. We also gather each spring and fall for highway cleanup on a section of Highway 35 near Mt Hood Meadows. We've also held a Family and Friends Ski Trip on many years.