The Tahoe Tribune did a story on South Tahoe local Martin Hollay who received yet more honors at Palisades Tahoe Resort. See the story at the Tahoe Daily Tribune, link below.
https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/south-tahoe-ski-legend-hollay-honored-at-ceremony/
At 101, Martin is still skiing, still smiling, still charming everyone he meets.
My wife and I first met Martin in 1990 at Heavenly Resort. He invited us to spend a day skiing with him. It was a blast. He gave us an "insider's" tour of the mountain, skirting around the boundary fences, heading down wonderful tree skiing where the public is not allowed to go. Several times, ski patrolers saw us. They just waved us through because we were with the #1 VIP on the mountain!
When we stopped for lunch, we met some of his friends from Hungary, where Martin was from. What a charming group! Martin pulled out his metal lunch box that he'd had from the time he was a boy, and he served us Hungarian food, crackers, cheese, sausage, and other treats.
We learned that Martin and his friends had left Hungary around the time of the Soviet invasion in 1956. The Hungarians had begun to resist Soviet rule, and the Soviets wanted to crush the uprising. Martin came to the United States and ended up in Tahoe, where he ran the Heavenly Ski Patrol for 25 years.
Martin also told us stories about competing in the Olympics. He knew everybody significant, including, of course, his younger friend Stein Eriksen.
Not long ago, I had the honor of doing a book signing with Martin at the Lake Tahoe Museum in South Lake Tahoe. I had my most recent book and Martin had his: I Was So Lucky: The Life Of Martin Hollay.
We had a great afternoon together, and he told me amazing stories. One I'll never forget was when I asked him about his current skiing.
He said, "Oh, yes. You know the Top of the Tram at Heavenly and the Roundabout Run that goes down from there?"
"Of course," I said.
"I still ski Roundabout every morning."
"Wow, that's great," I said, impressed that a man in his mid-nineties was still skiing down 1,700 vertical feet every day. I added, "I've always loved the views of the lake as you ski down."
He looked a little taken aback. "Oh, no, I don't ski down. I ski UP. On my cross-country skis. Then I ride the tram down."
That was a revealing look into Martin's life. And it suggests one of the main reasons he is still so vital at 101 years of age.
My wife and I have done a fair amount of skiing in our lives. And some of that was on our back-country skis, climbing up a good distance and then skiing down. But I don't think we've ever climbed up more than a thousand vertical feet on our skis.
Martin does 1,700 feet every morning.
An amazing man.
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