Lynn Newcomb Jr., Southern California skiing pioneer, dies at 91

Lynn Newcomb Jr., the legendary mountain man credited with establishing the first ski lift in Southern California and introducing a generation of young people to the sport, died Monday in Bishop, Calif. He was 91. 

He had lived with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia for several years and suffered a series of seizures in recent weeks, his family told the Glendale News-Press. 

For six decades starting in the 1940s, Newcomb was at the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains community, managing and owning Newcomb’s Ranch and Mt. Waterman Ski Resort in the Angeles National Forest. 

He was a champion of outdoor culture, and his businesses -- the only privately owned operations in the 650,000-acre expanse -- attracted everyone from truant schoolchildren to Hollywood stars. Long after selling the ski resort and namesake restaurant in separate deals in 2000 and 2001, respectively, Newcomb remained a frequent visitor, friends said. 

“I honestly believe his greatest joy in life was seeing people enjoy and recreate in the forest,” said Mike Leum, a longtime member of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team who befriended Newcomb during years of search-and-rescue operations in the Angeles National Forest. “That he had a part in that, I thought always brought him a feeling of accomplishment.”