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Still Going Downhill

Legends of Showdown · The Ski Club years, 1936–1956

2024 Mike's Bell — First Tracks Facebook Post from 11-22-2024

2024 Mike's Bell — First Tracks Facebook Post from 11-22-2024Showdown Facebook Collection

Mike Bell

Forty-one years on the patrol; the bell is his

Legend of Showdown

Born: 24 October 1938, Great Falls
First skied at Showdown: racing the club juniors by March 1951
First worked here: on the Great Falls Ski Patrol from c.1955
Years at Showdown: 1951–1996
Positions: Great Falls Ski Patrol, volunteer — forty-one years; its senior member by 1981
President, Great Falls Ski Club 1961-62 and 1963-64
USSA classification chairman, Great Falls Ski Club, 1963-64
Board, Great Falls Ski Club 1965-66, and director 1969–72
Race chairman, All-Great Falls Nordic and Alpine Championships, Kings Hill, January 1967
Co-chairman, Kings Hill Invitational, January 1968
USSA Northern Division board, to 1969
Chief of race, Showdown Downhill, January 1984
Eagle Mount volunteer, Showdown's first adaptive ski season 1991-92
Awards: Skier of the Year, Great Falls Ski Club, 1966

What they did

21 entries

March 1951Third in both the junior downhill and junior slalom, Great Falls Ski Club championship
1952Junior combined champion, Great Falls Ski Club
February 1954With Carolyn Allred, won the first high-school competition at Kings Hill
27 March 1955Won both the high school division and the senior men's division at the Great Falls Ski Club's annual races, a record field of 51
1956Took two Ski Tow, Inc. class B shares, for fifty dollars
March 1957Named to work the Great Falls Ski Patrol's Ski Breakfast at the YMCA
April 1961Elected president of the Great Falls Ski Club at twenty-two, succeeding Stub Gendreau
March 1962Won the men's class B slalom at the Kings Hill Invitational, in 3:20.1
March 1963Won the combined senior men's title at the Billings Ski Club championships, Red Lodge
April 1963Called 'state champion' by the Great Falls Tribune
April 1963Elected president of the Great Falls Ski Club a second time
December 1963The club's USSA classification chairman, and the contact for its new junior racing school
December 1963As club president, ran a public Saturday ski bus to Kings Hill, whatever the numbers
May 1966Named the Great Falls Ski Club's Skier of the Year, for his work for the club
December 1966Headed the National Ski Patrol rescue clinic for the Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Townsend and Lewistown patrols
January 1967Chaired the All-Great Falls Nordic and Alpine Championships, drawing over 100 skiers from ten Montana high schools
January 1968Co-chaired the Kings Hill Invitational, with 125 entries
April 1981Named in the Great Falls Tribune as the ski patrol's senior member, at forty-two
January 1984Chief of race at the Showdown Downhill, the first run on the lengthened course
April 1984Beat Stan King in the over-40 giant slalom at the club championships, their twenty-fifth head-to-head race
April 1989On the Klinefelter Insulation team that won the sixth Corporate Cup at Showdown

Photographs

29 in the archive

1997 Kid in front of Mike's Bell — 1997 Kid in front of Mike's BellGeorge Willett Collection

1997 Mike Bell's Bell wiith Two skiers — 1997 Mike Bell's Bell wiith Two skiersGeorge Willett Collection

1997 Mike Bell's Bell with 2 Skiers — 1997 Mike Bell's Bell with 2 SkiersGeorge Willett Collection

1997 Two girls on a bench at the summit in fromt of Mike Bell's Bell — 1997 Two girls on a bench at the summit in fromt of Mike Bell's BellGeorge Willett Collection

1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell Dedication 2 — 1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell Dedication 2George Willett Collection

1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell Dedication 3 — 1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell Dedication 3George Willett Collection

1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell Dedication 4 — 1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell Dedication 4George Willett Collection

1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell Dedication — 1999 Mike Bell's Memorial Bell DedicationGeorge Willett Collection

2001 unknown Easgle mount near Mike's Bell on top mountain — 2001 unknown Easgle mount near Mike's Bell on top mountainGeorge Willett Collection

2001 unknown men with Mike's Bell in the background — 2001 unknown men with Mike's Bell in the backgroundGeorge Willett Collection

2009 Kelsey han, Bodie Morrison with ski school class near Mikes Bell on top the mountain — 2009 Kelsey han, Bodie Morrison with ski school class near Mikes Bell on top the mountainGeorge Willett Collection

2013 Mike's Bell — Ski Patrol group in the summer — 2013 Mike's Bell — Ski Patrol group in the summerGeorge Willett Collection

2013 Ski Patrol group near Mike's Bell2 — 2013 Ski Patrol group near Mike's Bell2George Willett Collection

2015 Dave Elmquist Collection 016 — 2015 Dave Elmquist Collection 016Dave Elmquist Collection

2017 Dave Elmquist Collection 047 — 2017 Dave Elmquist Collection 047Dave Elmquist Collection

2021 Decker Madden, Allyson Willett — Mike's Bell — 2021 Decker Madden, Allyson Willett — Mike's BellCharley Willett Collection

2024 Mike's Bell — First Tracks Facebook Post from 11-22-2024 — 2024 Mike's Bell — First Tracks Facebook Post from 11-22-2024Showdown Facebook Collection

1990s Mike Bell — 1990s Mike BellGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Mike's Bell on Beautiful day — 1990s Mike's Bell on Beautiful dayGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Russ Corn Near Mikes Bell — 1990s Russ Corn Near Mikes BellGeorge Willett Collection

2000s George Ed Nobel and — 2000s George Ed Nobel andGeorge Willett Collection

2000s Jake Zander, unknown female, Derek with Mikes Bell in background — 2000s Jake Zander, unknown female, Derek with Mikes Bell in backgroundGeorge Willett Collection

2000s Scott Mosher near Mikes Bell on top of mountain — 2000s Scott Mosher near Mikes Bell on top of mountainGeorge Willett Collection

2000s unknown patrollers near Mike's Bell — 2000s unknown patrollers near Mike's BellGeorge Willett Collection

2000s unknown ski patrollers near Mikes Bell — 2000s unknown ski patrollers near Mikes BellGeorge Willett Collection

2020s Mike Bell — Mike's Bell — 2020s Mike Bell — Mike's BellGreat Falls Ski Patrol

A photograph of undated year — Great Falls Ski Patrol — Great Falls Ski Patrol

A photograph of undated year — Great Falls Ski Patrol — Great Falls Ski Patrol

1990s Mike's Bell — Ski Patrol group photo — 1990s Mike's Bell — Ski Patrol group photoDave Elmquist Collection

All photographs of Mike Bell in the search →

In the papers

10 documents

Ski Tow Incorporated Stock subscriptions — the founding list1956 · page 2
Montana Parade “Skiing In Montana”Sunday, 28 January 1962 · page 7
Kings Crier Vol. 1, No. 16 December 1963 · pages 3, 8
Kings Crier Vol. 1, No. 217 January 1964 · pages 3, 6, 11
Kings Crier Vol. I, No. IV26 March 1964 · pages 4, 9
Kings Crier Vol. II, No. II — price 10¢4 December 1964 · pages 5, 6
Kings Crier Vol. II, No. IV9 February 1965 · page 6
Kings Crier Vol. III, No. IIDecember 1965 · page 2
Kings Crier UnnumberedNovember 1969 · pages 2, 3
Kings Crier Unnumbered — published monthlyOctober 1970 · page 3

Search the papers for Mike Bell →

Also

Named for him Mike's Bell, the twenty-foot fir bell tower at the top of Porphyry Peak beside the Top Rock — built in 1996 by Allan Rabbit, Dave Mountain and Mel Carnahan with other patrollers and friends, a metal skier by Bob Olds on top
Named for him the Mike Bell Lifetime Service Award of the Great Falls Ski Patrol, first given in 1999, its roll cast in metal onto the uprights of the bell

Added by the people who were there