Skiing Pioneer, Old West Figure. Snowshoe Thompson was a nickname for the Norwegian born American Jon Torsteinson (John A. Thompson), an early resident of the Sierra Nevada of Nevada and California. He is considered the father of California skiing. A statue of Snowshoe Thompson stands in Genoa, Nevada, as does a an ECV monument at Carson Pass. Born outside of of Tinn, Norway, Thompson delivered mail between 1856 and 1876, his route being between Placerville, California and Genoa, Nevada and later Virginia City, Nevada. His "snowshoes" were ten-foot skis, and a single sturdy pole generally held in both hands at once. He knew this version of cross-country skiing from his native Scandinavia, and employed it during the winter, as one of the earlier skiers in the United States. As the postman for the area, Thompson delivered the first silver ore to be mined from the Comstock Lode. He taught others how to make skis and taught then to navigate on skis. Despite his twenty years of service, he never received any pay for delivering the mail. Thompson often made the eastward trip in three days, and the return trip in two days. He traveled the route known as "Johnson's Cutoff", which is today the route of U.S. Highway 50 as it winds its way from Placerville, California to South Lake Tahoe. One rescue that was attributed to him: a man trapped in his cabin by unusually deep snow. Thompson realized the damage to the man's legs from frostbite would kill him, so he skied out to get chloroform, skied back in with it, and saved the man by amputating the mans leg himself. Snowshoe Thompson died of appendicitis which developed into pneumonia on May 15, 1876. His grave can still be seen in Genoa, Nevada, in Carson Valley, east of Lake Tahoe. From a plaque on his grave: We salute John "Snowshoe" Thompson On his homemade snowshoes John carried the mail and supplies over the snowy Sierras for 20 winters. As he traveled, he saved the lives of seven people who were snowbound in mountain cabins. In 1866, after this Norwegian became an American citizen, he homesteaded a 160-acre ranch in Diamond Valley. Respected by all who knew him, John was was elected to the Alpine County Board of Supervisors. A true pioneer of the West, an early link between California and the Nevada territory.