Dick Kohnstamm - Richard Kohnstamm, Timberline Lodge savior

Richard Kohnstamm, 80

Rescued and managed Timberline Lodge

Government Camp, Ore.,  Richard L. Kohnstamm, who transformed Timberline Lodge into a national skiing institution in the 1950s, died April 25, 2006, after becoming ill at his family's cabin on Mount Hood. He was 80 years old.

Kohnstamm assumed management of the Depression-era Timberline Lodge in 1956, after it had been closed for several months. He extended the resort's summer skiing onto the permanent snowfield. He later convinced the federal government to construct the Wy'East Day Lodge to spare Timberline from the daily toll of skier traffic. Timberline, built as a public works project in 1937, is now a National Historic Landmark.

In 1992, Kohnstamm s contributions to the growth of the sport and creation of a resort icon led to his induction into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum in Ishpeming, Mich.

This report is based on material from Ski Area Management and information from Morten Lund.