JOHNSVILLE, Calif. — Quick — as befits a question about downhill ski racing: Where did it begin?
If Scandinavia comes to mind, consider this: Years before there were organized races in Europe, miners were competitively hurtling down mountains in a part of California known as the Lost Sierra, a mother lode of forests, lakes and small, remote towns in Sierra and Plumas counties about an hour north of Truckee.
This heritage is celebrated and reenacted each year at Johnsville Ski Bowl in Plumas-Eureka State Park. But COVID-19 halted the festivities for two years and during that time, the Dixie fire devastated the surrounding areas.
