The first Silver Skis downhill race was held in 1934, organized by a group of Seattle-area ski boosters in order to put the Northwest on the nation's winter sports map. The race began with a mass start at Camp Muir at 10,000 feet on Mount Rainier, and ended when the first skier crossed the finish line 3.6 ungroomed miles later in front of the Paradise Inn. Although suspended during WWII, the Silver Skis was held through 1948, when the growth of skiing elsewhere in the Cascades brought the annual race to an end.

The program pictured here is for the 1936 race, and features a photo of the previous year's winner, Australian Alpine racer Hannes Schroll (1909-1985), and an introduction by Royal Brougham, sports editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The route of the Silver Skis race changed slightly in 1936 from its original course set in 1934, shortening to 3.16 miles and including a vertical drop of 4,800 feet instead of 4,600. Norwegian-American skier Hjalmar Petterson Hvam (1902-1996) won the men's race in 5:38 minutes.

Caption information source: http://www.alpenglow.org/skiing/silver-skis-2005/index.html.