February 6, 2025
By Judy DePuy, From Truckee Magazine: Community Connections, Winter 2024/25
The Winter Carnival has been a Truckee tradition since 1895. Truckee is known as a rustic, historic mountain town, but few people think of it as the town that introduced winter sports to the West.
In the late 1890s, winter found Truckee usually snowbound and in decline. Summertime had loggers working in the timber and lumber industry. The main winter industry was the harvesting of ice but it was limited and did not span the entire snow season. During this time most businesses had little new clientele and revenues were scarce. There was a plethora of bars on main street but that only reinforced Truckee’s rough and tumble reputation.
Charles F. McGlashan, a prominent citizen of Truckee, understood that getting visitors to Truckee in the winter was possible because the railroad could make it across the mountain. All he needed to do was figure out a way to entice people to get off the train and stay in Truckee.
In 1894 McGlashan (an educator, scientist, lawyer, journalist, entrepreneur, inventor, historian, collector, politician, and father of a talented family) set his sights on creating a spectacle that would amaze everyone on the train.
He started by building a giant inverted cone structure made of wood covered with wire netting that he sprayed with water on the hill above the town. When the temperatures plummeted, it formed a huge shimmering cone lit by an arc lamp. The ice cone dominated the Truckee skyline at the Rocking Stone and was visible from the train depot. The icicle did get people’s attention.
From there McGlashan decided that he needed to build an ice palace on Front Street (today’s Donner Pass Road). Ice palaces have existed elsewhere but Truckee’s ice palace was the first of its kind in the West. The goal was to make Truckee “the place to go to in the winter and spend time at.” McGlashan even patented his ice palace design.
The first ice palace had walls 50 feet high and 3 feet deep with a hollow center gallery. Cedar and pine trees rimmed the top. The hollow center section was used for storing snow which collected on the roof. Only a thin sheet of ice was left on the roof allowing sunlight to come through. At night 20 huge arc lamps were turned on for night ice skating and rendered an eerie glow.
McGlashan also wanted the first winter carnival to be fun for everyone and not necessarily for profit. He worked with local businesses to create a fun family environment with a collection of events and attractions including a toboggan slide, ski jumping contests, dogsled races, horse-drawn sleigh rides, and of course, ice skating in the Ice Palace.
The ice palace took half the block of old town and was not attractive in the summer months. The original ice palace also had its issues with warm winter weather melting all the fabulous decorations inside and outside of the palace. The palace fell into disrepair and was declared unfit and torn down in the late 1890s.
The Truckee winter carnival faded from public view until its revival in 1909. The carnival was brought back and included ice skating, tobogganing, skiing, ski jumps, sledding and snowballing. In 1910 the first steam-powered donkey engine, connected to a cable, hauled tobogganers up Hilltop (next to the current Cottonwood Restaurant) making the toboggan run much easier, faster and more enjoyable. Wooden spikes located in the middle of the toboggan ramp would fold down to allow the sled to go up the ramp but would pop up again to prevent the sled from careening out of control down the ramp if the tow rope broke. This lift is generally believed to be the first mechanical lift for winter sports in the United States.
The second ice palace was built across the river at the base of Hilltop in 1913. The carnival’s name was changed to ‘Fiesta of the Snows’ and was a huge success. The Marysville Democrat newspaper had an eyewitness who reported that the reconstructed ice palace “was a dream of dazzling beauty and superior to the old palace. The skating gallery had a surface like a great big mirror. Jeweled icicles hanging in clusters from the arched ceiling of the ice gallery sparkled with all the color of a beautiful rainbow creating an appearance of ‘unusual splendor’”. The new ice palace had several rooms with open fireplaces for much appreciated warmth.
Trains came to Truckee with sleeper, smoker, baggage, dining, observation, buffet and entertainment cars which served as temporary hotel accommodations to support the small town and its growing flow of visitors. The mountains were beautiful and the town went out of their way to make sure everyone felt welcome. There was also dancing, food, movie company filming, dog sled races and demonstrations of the rotary snow plows.
Like most things in Truckee, the second ice palace burned down in June 1915 and was not rebuilt.
Over the years there have been many winter activities to keep Truckee viable and winter sports here.
In February 1919, Truckee held a 2-weekend event that had a toboggan slide, sleigh rides and entertainment on Front Street. In the 1920s there were skiing lessons on Hilltop. Note that sport skiing was still a novelty (flat wood boards with a leather strap to hold your feet in). It was not for the meek of heart but for the adventurer. The 1930s had skiing, toboggan riding, and ice skating. 1930 also brought a formidable ski jump to Hilltop. It was in use for many years but there are stories of some of the skiers climbing to the top of the rickety structure and being terrified. The ski jump was finally torn down in the 1950s.
In February, 2024 the Museum of Truckee History and Truckee Donner Recreation and Parks District brought back the Truckee Winter Carnival. There were planned events all weekend with various activities including snow sculptures and snowman building, sled dog demonstrations, historic tours and presentations, and fun winter games. Regretfully Mother Nature won, and like the first 1895 carnival, there was too little snow on Saturday and a blizzard on Sunday. Many of the Friday and Saturday events went on as scheduled (the dog sled demonstration was one of the highlights) but the snow activities had to be canceled. Welcome to Truckee.
2025 once again brings back the Winter Carnival with new activities and a flexible date that will be updated based on conditions.
A list of tentative activities for this year’s Winter Carnival includes:
Friday, February 28:
Saturday, March 1:
Sunday, March 2:
The Rail Jam is expected to be an exciting community event put on by organizations and volunteers prominent in the ski and snowboard community.
To keep abreast of the latest Truckee Winter Carnival information, registrations, and more, go to Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District at https://tdrpd.org/318/truckee-winter-carnival or to Truckee-Donner Historical Society and Museum of Truckee History at https://www.truckeehistory.org/truckee-winter-carnival-2025.html and https://museumoftruckeehistory.org/events-and-articles
About the Author:
Judy DePuy is a member of the Truckee-Donner Historical Society and a board member of the Museum of Truckee History. She resides in Truckee with her husband, Dave, and their Belgian Sheepdog, Morticia.
Photos courtesy Truckee Donner Historical Society/Museum of Truckee History and Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District. Check out the Museum of Truckee History in the Truckee Train Depot.
