Page 64 - Flathead Beacon // 8.13.14

64 | AUGUST 13, 2014
SPORTS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
LURCHING FROM ONE
NEAR DISASTER TO ANOTHER... Warren Miller
Cabin for Sale
What Hikes are on your List This Summer?
RETAILERS WHO CARRY
DAY HIKES AROUND THE FLATHEAD:
• Rocky Mtn Outfitters 752-2446 • Sportsman Ski Haus 755-6484
• Glacier National Park Conservancy 888-5756
• Flathead National Forest
758-5200
• The Book Shelf 756-2665 • Bookworks 862-4980
• Montana Coffee Traders (Columbia Falls and Hwy 93 S. locations)
1-800-345-5282
• The Toggery 862-2271
FOR MORE INFORMATION: [email protected]
Have you
or in
ONLY IN SUN VALLEY, IDAHO, can a 750-square-foot early 1950s log cabin go on the market for $949,000.
Here is the history of that log cab-
in.
My job at Sun Valley in the winter
of 1948/49 was to teach beginning ski- ing to people who had come there on a “Learn to Ski” week vacation for $87.95. This price included room and board, a one-week ski lift ticket and six days of ski lessons. I taught people from all over the country how to put their skis on for the first time.
The end of my dream job as a ski in- structor was coming to an end for the season. I had gotten very used to having a place to live and three meals a day. Rath- er than pack up and spend the summer surfing, I got a good night job washing dishes in the Challenger Inn.
After washing dishes during the day, I was getting material ready to build my dream log cabin on my $300 vacant lot in nearby Ketchum.
Now shift your attention to August, 2013, when Ron and Kendall Johnson of Ketchum, sent me a flyer complete with photographs of a very attractive log cab- in.
Here is what the real estate ad said:
“This is a very special one-of-a-kind early 1950 log cabin. The cabin was com- pletely refurbished down to the studs in 2006 and this wonderful property is a showpiece. Tourist zoned so a business is possible on over 200 feet of Trail Creek footage. Underground parking and stor- age area in The Crossings (just across the creek). Owner occupied. The log cab- in has 1 bathroom, 1 bedroom.”
When I read the fine print in the ad it said that the cabin was built by ski film- maker Warren Miller. So I called the real estate agent, Lane Monroe, to find out more details. I’ve known Lane for many
years and he told me that, yes, it is the log cabin I started building in April 1948 while I was washing dishes in the Chal- lenger Inn and earning $125 a month.
Digging further into the fine print of the real estate ad, the house still contains the 750 square feet I’d planned so the owner has spent a lot of money rebuild- ing my amateur dream log cabin, but ap- parently kept the floor plan along with the window locations.
When I designed the log cabin I was a 24-year-old bachelor ski instructor with no responsibilities except for food and gas for my car and wax for my surfboard. The asking price for this 750-square-foot cabin is only $949,000. When I sold the cabin for $900, I made a couple of hun- dred dollars, or 20 percent of what I had put into it.
With no real responsibilities, as I said, I had decided I wanted be surfing, rather than hanging around washing dishes. I never looked back and the mon- ey I made helped me buy enough 16mm color film to make my first surfing movie at San Onofre. A lot of the shots in that film were made with my waterproof cam- era box that I made in my garage in Ket- chum before I left in July.
It is nice to stumble onto something that you created 60-plus years ago that still has value and to know that some- one who cares has preserved your dream alongside a gurgling creek.
At least I assume that stream still gur- gles at the entrance to Ketchum above the roar of the cars commuting twice a day to Hailey and beyond.
If you followed my historical nar- rative of a log cabin wait until you read about the rest of my nutty life in my memoirs when I finally get them fin- ished. Eighty-eight, almost 89 years, are an awful lot of years to recount.
This column was orginally published in 2013.
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For more of Warren’s wanderings go to www.warrenmiller.net or visit him on his Face- book page at facebook.com/warrenmiller. For information on his Foundation, please visit the Warren Miller Freedom Foundation, at www.warrenmiller.org.
Quality, rent-subsidized apartments for seniors ages 62 and better
Van Ee Apartments – Kalispell, Montana
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Located at 420 Grandview Drive
• 22 One-bedroom apartments
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• Approved pets welcome
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