Donner Summit is not known as the most hospitable place. Winters are long, storms are fierce and snow piles up by the foot. Yet for nearly a century, Alpine and Nordic skiers, snowboarders and biathletes of all ages, abilities and ambitions have called the Summit and Auburn Ski Club Training Center home.
ASC is a place where athletes learn, grow and pursue their goals. Generations of families have connected here through a shared love of mountain sports. Athletes become coaches and mentors, passing what they have learned to the next generation and keeping one of the Truckee and North Tahoe region’s great traditions alive.
While ASC may be best known for developing athletes, its larger purpose is creating relationships with mountain sports, the outdoors and one another that can last a lifetime.
“It is more than a place to train,” said Amy Warren, executive director of ASC Training Center. “It is a community where athletes grow up, families connect, coaches mentor, and people can stay involved in mountain sports throughout their lives.”
Four programs, one club
Based at 7,040 feet on Donner Summit, ASC Training Center is a nonprofit mountain-sports community that brings together four disciplines: Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, snowboarding and biathlon.
ASC’s motto: “Four programs, one club.”
While most ski clubs specialize in a single discipline, ASC is one of the few organizations in the country to bring all four together. Athletes may use different equipment, train at different facilities and pursue different competitive goals, but they share a community, coaches and mentors, and the opportunity to learn from people following many different paths through mountain sports.
“ASC can support a child discovering skiing, a teenager competing regionally or nationally, and an adult who simply wants to stay connected to the sport,” Warren said. “There isn’t just one pathway to success here.”
That breadth is reflected throughout ASC’s programming. Nordic instruction begins with play-based programs for children as young as four. Alpine programs offer development and competition pathways for young skiers, while snowboard programming ranges from recreational riding to athletes with professional and Olympic ambitions. Biathletes train at what ASC describes as the only Olympic-distance, year-round biathlon range in the West.
The organization also operates the ASC Nordic Center, with 25 kilometers of groomed trails open to the public through season passes and day tickets.
Together, these programs make room for athletes of different ages, interests and ambitions while keeping them connected through a shared club identity.
Nearly a century on the snow
ASC’s roots stretch back to 1928, before Sugar Bowl, Boreal or Palisades Tahoe existed.
The club was founded by a group of people who loved skiing and wanted to create opportunities for others to experience winter sports. Since then, ASC has evolved alongside skiing itself, connecting Tahoe’s early ski culture with today’s world of year-round training, specialized facilities and international competition.
Its history includes several milestones in the development of winter sports on Donner Summit:
1928: Auburn Ski Club was founded and built the first engineered ski jump in the West.
1932: The club advocated for keeping Highway 40 open throughout the winter.
1969: The Western SkiSport Museum opened on Donner Summit.
1989: The modern ASC Training Center was established on Donner Summit.
2023: ASC installed California’s first permanent Nordic night-lighting system.
The facilities and programs look very different today, but Warren said the founding spirit has remained remarkably consistent.
“At the heart of ASC is access,” she said. “Creating opportunities for people to participate, develop as athletes, build character and become part of a mountain community.”
Developing people, not just athletes
At ASC, making an Olympic team or winning a World Cup is not the only measure of success.
Coaches provide technical instruction, but they also help young athletes develop confidence, resilience, independence and personal responsibility. The goal is not simply to produce faster skiers or stronger competitors. It is to help young people grow while building a lasting relationship with the outdoors.
Families are active participants in that process. Parents volunteer, help operate races and events, and form friendships that can continue across seasons and even generations.
“Success at ASC isn’t just producing elite athletes,” Warren said. “It’s producing people who love mountain sports enough to stay connected for life.”
Bernie Nelson comes full circle
Few people represent that idea better than Bernie Nelson.
Nelson grew up as an ASC Nordic athlete, surrounded by coaches and mentors who helped shape her love of the sport. She went on to become a coach, mentor and advocate herself, and her career eventually took her to the highest levels of Nordic skiing.
After representing Auburn Ski Club in a World Cup coaching-development program, Nelson joined the U.S. Cross Country Team’s coaching staff. She has continued to remain connected to ASC and support the community that helped develop her.
Her story captures the generational cycle at the heart of the organization. A young athlete receives support, grows within the sport, reaches its highest levels and then helps create opportunities for the athletes coming behind her.
“Her passion for the sport was shaped by the coaches and mentors who invested in her as a young athlete, and today she is providing that same experience for the next generation,” Warren said. “To me, that is what success at ASC looks like.”
Access requires a community
As nearly anyone who participates in mountain sports knows, they can carry significant financial, logistical and geographic barriers.
Creating access therefore requires an entire community.
ASC’s coaches teach and mentor. Families and volunteers make programs, races and community events possible. Staff operate the programs, trails and facilities. Donors help ensure those opportunities remain available to future generations.
The ASC Legacy Foundation serves as the philanthropic partner to ASC Training Center. While the Training Center operates the programs and facilities, the Foundation raises money to strengthen the organization and expand access.
Its support includes:
Needs-based tuition scholarships
Coach education and development
Trail and facility improvements
Capital projects
Programs and community events
“The ASC Legacy Foundation helps ensure that opportunity isn’t limited by a family’s financial circumstances,” Warren said. “The Foundation helps us keep looking toward the next generation while honoring the generations that built ASC.”
Applications for the Foundation’s 2026–27 needs-based scholarships are currently open through October 17.
Looking toward the next century
ASC will celebrate its centennial in 2028, a major accomplishment for any organization. Warren and the ASC team are focused not just on growth, but investing in facilities, trail improvements, year-round training opportunities and clearer development pathways across all four disciplines. Their goal is to keep ASC accessible, sustainable and relevant for the generations that will carry it into its second century.
“Growth for us isn’t simply about getting bigger,” Warren said. “It’s about creating more opportunities for people to experience mountain sports and making sure ASC remains accessible and sustainable for future generations.”
My team at Peak Digital Studio and I were recently fortunate to work with ASC to modernize its website and make the organization’s many programs and opportunities clearer and easier to access online. Working closely with Amy, Inger and the rest of the team gave us a better appreciation for just how much ASC encompasses.
What might look from the outside like a ski club is really a network of athletes, families, coaches, volunteers, donors, trails, facilities and traditions, all working together.
See ASC for yourself
For anyone interested in joining that tradition, ASC will host a community open house on September 20 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Training Center.
The afternoon is expected to include a Dryathlon relay, a coach Q&A and a walk along the Nordic trails highlighting improvements completed over the summer. It is an opportunity for families and other community members to explore the facility, learn about the programs and find ways to participate as athletes, volunteers or supporters.
Winter registration is also open for Alpine, Nordic, snowboard and biathlon programs. Program prices are scheduled to increase by $150 after October 6 at 11:59 p.m.
It takes a hearty person, and a hearty organization, to survive on Donner Summit. Community and a multigenerational commitment to ASC’s mission have sustained it for nearly 100 years.
ASC began with people who wanted to share their love of winter sports with others. The disciplines, facilities and ambitions have evolved, but that guiding principle remains. Perhaps ASC’s defining achievement is not simply that it has survived on the Summit, but that generations of people have continued to return, give back and bring someone new with them.
Follow ASC Training Center on Instagram for program news, events and updates.