Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics The Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics, located in Tahoe City, California, is focused on the heritage of skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California and Nevada. The museum's exhibits include photos and memorabilia about the history of skiing up through the 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in nearby Squaw Valley, California. Displays include ski equipment, posters, trophies, clothing and local athlete profiles. Official Olympic items include skis, racing bibs, official results, and promotional literature. Olympic participation mementos include exhibited banners, souvenirs and spectator memorabilia. There
Winter Olympic Games an international audience, though no television rights were sold until the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The Cortina Games were used to test the feasibility of televising large sporting events. The Soviet Union made its Olympic debut and had an immediate impact, winning more medals than any other nation. Soviet immediate success might be explained by the advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete". The USSR entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train full-time. Chiharu Igaya won the first