Organized ski racing in America started near Lake Tahoe in the 1860s when gold miners rode 15-foot boards that reached speeds near 100 miles per hour. By 1895, residents of Truckee had started the nations first winter carnival west of the Rocky Mountains and soon built the largest ski jump in California. Todays Lake Tahoe, with significant annual snowfall, has become home to the largest concentration of ski resorts on the continent.

In this collection of vintage-photograph postcards, Mark McLaughlin explores the area's skiing past.