The Susanville progressives of the late 1930s were an active bunch. By February 1938 major progress had been made with ski runs at Coppervale and Willards. Then, the Western Pacific Railroad started running a special “Snow Ball Express Train” from Oakland, picking up passengers on various stops with the final destination at Norvell, just north Westwood. The passengers then embarked and spent the day frolicking in the snow.
Then Eric Hebbe and Leslie Mastolier* set their sites on developing a ski area on Diamond Mountain, just south of Susanville. With tremendous snowfall that winter, a number of ski enthusiasts would spend five hours hiking to the summit of Diamond, to ski down in less then two hours. However, no development occurred, though over the years, the topic surfaces.
*Mastolier was best known as the founder of Susanville’s Leslie Jewelry. During the 1930s and 1940s he made films of these episodes. His son, Gary, years later offered to me, but it never materialized.