Austria in the Sierra

by Anne W. Bernard

There are few American ski resorts today that allow you to truly escape the hustle and bustle of modern life without sacrificing modern comforts. But in the Village at Sugar Bowl, where homeowners leave their cars a mile away in a garage on Route 40 before descending into this mountain basin via gondola, escape and luxury exist hand-in-hand. Sumptuous "ski cabins," both old and new, dot this snowbound valley, as do new facilities that complement the resort's historic lodge. All of the Village's buildings share a unique structural burden: Sugar Bowl's 500 inches of annual snowfall require construction that holds 3 times the weight of homes in nearby Truckee (no snow-slouch itself)!

In recent years, Sugar Bowl has embarked on a new era, adding multiple-unit residential buildings, a Village Hall and replacing older chairlifts around its perimeter with new high-speed quads. The Village will soon boast a brand-new aquatics and fitness facility. Near the resort's other, newish Mt. Judah base area, the first phase of multiple residential buildings has commenced. With each addition, Sugar Bowl takes on a new face. However, for those who are familiar with it, the history of the area persists as an essential, palpable component of every new architectural line.

In 1867, when the Southern Pacific Railroad began serving a stop called Tinker's Station, a small group of hard and hearty Bay Area skiers were taking first tracks down mounts Lincoln and Disney on a regular basis. Their interest sparked the development of several ski slopes on Donner Summit, eventually complete with rope tows, toboggan runs and, in 1936, the Klein Ski School. In 1937, Bill Klein (see page 84) worked with legendary Austrian skier Hannes Schroll to get the nascent vision of Sugar Bowl Ski Resort off the ground.

Schroll had made quick friends in the United States after winning the U.S. National Downhill Championships at Mt. Rainier, Washington in 1935. Two years later, they had the financial support of Walt Disney and several other Bay Area families to purchase the land and working capital to start on their dream of developing a "Tyrolean village in the Sierra Nevada."

The Village Lodge, designed by William Wurster in 1939, harkened back to Schroll's childhood in the Alps. The building was constructed with local timber, due to the remoteness of the site, and was soon accompanied by four individual homes reflecting a similar style.

Sixty-six years after Sugar Bowl's inception, historic precedent and local materials continue to influence the architecture. Homes of board and bat siding, cantilevered second stories and shed roofs set at acute angles are common. There is no denying that Schroll and his Austrian heritage remain a fundamental influence—that and the region's prodigious snowfall.

According to Chris Parker, managing director of Sugar Bowl's resort development agency, serviceability, not style, is the main concern when constructing residences in the area. "We are a snowbound community. When we design these homes, we know that come winter, the lower eight feet of the house may be buried in snow for many months. So we recommend second-floor entryways, mudrooms and ski storage. And we build the house, so that it will still be aesthetically pleasing when it is eight feet shorter."

Walking through the Village during the summer, the chalet-like houses are noticeably taller than those in nearby towns, their lower levels sided with stucco, stone or concrete, in contrast to the predominantly wooden upper levels. The alpine-looking, cantilevered-style homes serve a practical purpose as well. With second floors occupying larger footprints than ground floors, this construction provides additional space on the upper level, where residents will likely spend the majority of their wintertime. While the roofs are generally set to slough snow, in areas where foot traffic is common, they are often built to hold or redirect it as a matter of safety. To accommodate the 500-plus inches of snow that fall on Sugar Bowl each year, engineers must design the homes to hold 440 pounds of snow per square foot. A home in Truckee is built to withstand 120 to 175 pounds of snow load.

The interior designs of these homes often feature tall windows, rafted ceilings and earthy hues. Stone-faced fireplaces that extend the length of the walls accentuate the height of the steep roofs and, coupled with the windows, create a sense of size not often accomplished in winter homes.

Still another interpretation of Sugar Bowl's unique architecture stems from the residents themselves. Jim Harleen, homeowner and member of the resort's board of directors, believes construction in the Village is a direct refl ection of the community occupying it. Each winter, he pulls his two children out of school, and the family hunkers down in their home for a season of humping groceries, building fi res and, of course, skiing. This last winter, Harleen's family took on an additional lodger in the form of one of Sugar Bowl's young ski team members. He, along with Harleen's children, spent the winter nestled upstairs in a loft designed like a train bunker. Each bed comes equipped with its own curtain, Here at the Sierra's crest, where snow depths routinely top ten feet during winter, life is best conducted from the second story. pulled tight for privacy across a redwood frame. Meanwhile, the master bedroom, accessible via a kind of "skywalk" corridor that also contains a hot tub and sauna, is set off from the main building atop 16- foot stilts. The bottom floor comprises bedrooms reserved for the family's many winter houseguests.

There is an unmistakable parallel between the design of these homes and the makeup of the community that Harleen and others are so proud of.

"I relate it to a Venn diagram," says Harleen. "The homeowners, the old line ski club and the ski team comprise three overlapping circles—where the areas of commonality dominate."

Similarly, Harleen, his wife, his children and his houseguests converge each morning and evening in the main space of their home—an area of commonality that includes a kitchen, dining room and sitting area for life avant- and après-ski.

While the homes themselves are somewhat isolated from the rest of the mountain, the recently built Village Hall has created a space for all members of that Venn diagram to mingle before potluck dinners, evening movies and other community events. Additionally, plans have been made for an outdoor plaza at the base of Mt. Judah.

Despite its new construction, Sugar Bowl continues to exude the Austrian heritage of its founders. It's a natural aesthetic to preserve here in this high alpine valley. From their predominantly stone and wood materials to tall, straight and proud frames, the homes and common buildings of Sugar Bowl echo the strength and beauty of the peaks surrounding them.