Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project

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Lowell Skoog - Clippings, People

I've reviewed only selected clippings before World War II. More work is needed on this file.

Fritz Koons

Bellingham Herald, Dec 31, 1988 - Giordano, Steve, "Komo Kids celebrate spirit of early skiers"

The earliest Mt Baker skiers, in the late 1920s, made their own skis in a small shop on Jersey Street. They formed a club from members of the Mt Baker Hiking club, and hired Roy Gaasland to build a ski cabin two miles below the present ski area. The Komo Kulshan Ski Club was formed from the Mt Baker Ski Club in the mid-1950s.

Another article on this page, "After 60 years, Koons still skis Mt Baker," profiles Fritz Koons, who hasn't missed a season of skiing in 60 years. "A few of us attempted to ski back as far as 1928," said Koons. Until 1936, the road was cleared as far as Bagley Creek, about three miles below the present ski area. Koons, a surveyor for Puget Power, was active in the Mt Baker Hiking Club starting in 1926, and was Hike Director from 1935 to 1940. Koons was 86 at the time this article was published.

Bellingham Herald, Apr 27, 1997 - "Outdoorsman loved Whatcom County"

Fritz Koons was born December 19, 1902 and died April 24, 1997. An early member of the "Bellingham Hiking Club" (actually Mt Baker Club), Koons and some other members formed a ski club as an offshoot in 1928, before there were any ski lifts. Koons learned to ski by the seat of his pants and by watching instructional films from Europe. For almost forty years after he first skied himself, he taught children to ski on the slopes of Mt Baker.

Otto K. Strizek

Seattle Times, Sunday magazine, May 31, 1959 - "Seattle Area's Czechoslavakians"

Otto Karl Strizek was born in Bohemia and came to America and entered the U.S. Cavalry in 1892, campaigning against the Indians in the Dakotas. In 1898 he went to Alaska and backpacked to Dawson over the Chilkoot Pass. In 1900 Strizek returned to Europe where he married his wife Paulina. From 1901 to 1908 he was in San Francisco and Alaska. In 1908 he settled on a farm in Port Orchard. Later Strizek operated a creamery in Bremerton and was a banker in rural communities. At one time he was the mayor of Poulsbo and from 1917 until his death in 1937 he was Czechoslovakian consul in Seattle. Otto and Paulina Strizek had three children--Dr. Otto Paul Strizek, a dentist, Mrs. Donald B. Packard [nee Marguerite Strizek?], and Jere Strizek, a banker in Phoenix, Arizona.

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