‘San Diego could become the grass skiing mecca of the United States.’

Curtis McBride, a Mammoth Mountain ski instructor, was wintering in San Diego--surfing and pounding nails--when he encountered a product that married his hometown turf and the mountain sport. McBride brought his Rolka grass skis to Presidio Park in 1979 and sparked local interest in the treaded skis, which were invented to train German snow skiers during balmy weather. He set up a gasoline-powered tow to pull skiers who joined the club and wanted to learn the sport on a slope sanctioned by the city. The club waiting list was expanding and competitive skiers were clamoring for a bigger hill. McBride searched the county for more than four years for a new site, meeting seemingly insurmountable opposition. Out of frustration, the 31-year-old skier, co-owner of a construction company, no longer brings his cable tow to Presidio on weekends. Though he has competed in the past, he is ambivalent about the world grass skiing championships in Japan in September--he is tired of training on a hill meant for beginners. But he says he hasn’t given up his dream of opening a grass ski area in San Diego, which he says could be the grass ski mecca of the United States. He was interviewed by Times staff writer Nancy Reed and photographed by Peter McCurdy.

You could not believe the tourists in the early ‘80s, before the sport was all over Australia and everywhere, and they would come to Presidio and would run back to their hotels--they forgot their camera--and they just thought, these San Diegans, you guys have everything--you have the ocean and you can ski here, too! They couldn’t believe it.

When I moved back here for the summer, came out to Presidio Park and I ran into two other grass skiers. At that time, we would ski down to the bottom of the hill, then take our skis off and the truck would pick us up--up and down the hill.

I said, this is great, this is super, I’ve got to get something going here. So I proposed a San Diego grass ski club. The San Diego park department was really great; they gave us a chance.

But Presidio is too small. The club turned into a much bigger thing than we thought it ever would, and much faster. If I had 20 acres and a chairlift going up eight hours a day, that thing would be filled.

We were trying to get something going in North County and East County. The proposal was basically shot down by the residents at Brengle Park in Vista and Gillespie Field in El Cajon--they are all afraid that these grass skiers are riffraff and they are going to bring in drugs. They didn’t realize that that isn’t the type of clientele. The demographics of grass skiers are those of snow skiers. Everyone was out here, from 15 to 50. Even the San Diego park department was saying this is great, you should accept it, let these guys do it.

It was such a new idea. They (opponents) think it is like skateboarding. At first, I used to laugh that they didn’t understand it, but now it hurts too much to realize that you can’t change these people’s perspective. They have a picture in their minds; they don’t want to see change. They think it is something that will be gone in a year--that it’s not legitimate--Southern California produces all these little fads. We had petitions with thousands of signatures endorsing it, supporting it, wanting it to happen. I got really exhausted, and spent thousands of dollars and thousands of hours trying to get a grass ski area here. I wanted it for profit, but also wanted it because there is a very large market for this.

I have been on the U.S. Grass Ski Team since 1980 and have been around the world competing and seeing what it’s doing in Australia and Europe--it’s amazing.

San Diego could become the grass skiing mecca of the United States, where right now it is in Virginia and the Eastern Seaboard.

Now this sport is doing more in Japan than in any other country.

Bureaucracy, the cost of land and water are the reasons we are not having any luck in San Diego County.

My enthusiasm is lost, you can imagine. It’s been eight years now, and you’re skiing this little 300-linear-foot hill. But I have never lost the dream.

A regional park in Carlsbad is one of my last hopes, just east of Interstate 5.

Instead of golf courses, I would like to see developers develop condos around a grass ski area.