Forest Service Road 40/45: Skjersaa Rd.

(photo: left to right, Karen, Greta and Olaf Skjersaa in Meier & Frank catalog photo shot at Hoodoo, circa 1951.)

According to my colleague Anna Johnson at Descutes County, "Following the recent reconstruction of Forest Service Road 40/45, (also known as the Sunriver to Mt. Bachelor road), Deschutes County Commissioners are asking the public for ideas on what to rename the road."

Here's my suggestion:

Skjersaa Rd.
No other single family has contributed more to the development of skiing as an industry in Central Oregon than the Skjersaas: Nils, Olaf, Grace, Karol, Terry, Karen, Greta, Terry Jr. - all of these members of the Skjersaa family were champion skiers, ski industry pioneers, and visionaries who enabled the development of Mt. Bachelor and the ski industry as we know it today in Deschutes County. Most of them still call Central Oregon home. I can't think of a more fitting name for this road.

photo: Skyliners Ski Club nordic team, circa 1930. Olaf is second from right, Nils is wearing #1 fourth from right.

PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ANNA JOHNSON to express your support of Skjersaa Rd. ONLY contact her to suggest your own name ideas. She is simply compiling a list of submitted names, and the Board of County Commissioners will make the decision:
annaj@deschutes.org

If you have any information about the Skyliners Ski Club - contact information for surviving members of the elder, "founding" generations in particular, family photos, stories, news clippings, etc., I would love to see and hear about it.

- Harold Olaf (Skjersaa) Cecil