Martin Hollay, a ski legend in the Lake Tahoe region, was honored at a recent ceremony for his long service in the ski community.
Palisades Tahoe and the SNOW Sports Museum honored the 101-year-old Hollay, a former ski patroller who is known across Tahoe for his many contributions to the ski industry.
Hollay played an important role in the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, which were held at Squaw Valley. He built the Cross Country ski track that was used by the Olympic skiers.
Despite his age, he still participates in cross country skiing. Originally from Hungary, Hollay served as a ski patroller for many decades, and contributed greatly to the formation of the Heavenly Ski Patrol.
The ceremony was held in The Village at Palisades Tahoe, where Hollay told stories to the crowd regarding his long history in the winter sport.
During the ceremony, Dee Byrne, president and COO of Palisades Tahoe, presented Hollay with a metal sculpture made from old lift parts from the resort, and a complimentary Palisades Tahoe season pass. Attendees sang Happy Birthday to Martin.
Eddy Ancinas, a board member of the future SNOW Sports Museum and an IOC guide at 1960 Winter Olympics, said the museum eventually looks forward to telling the stories of Hollay and other legendary characters who worked behind the scenes to make the ski community what it is today.
Hollay was an apprentice glovemaker in Hungary in the 1930s. He eventually moved to the U.S. in 1958 and made South Lake Tahoe his home, where he frequently skied and raised a family. He has continued making hand-stitched leather gloves using his glove press that is more than 100 years old.
In 2017, Heavenly Mountain Resort named a grove of trees after Hollay – called Martin’s Trees. Hollay was a 25-year employee of Heavenly and was responsible for crafting many of the Nevada runs.
