Above, Paradise Inn doing its best impersonation of Glacier National Park, with "Jammers" lined up at the front door.
The always popular snow tunnel entrance, circa 1955
This vintage postcard depicts the numerous canvas cabins prior to construction of the annex. Unlike Yosemite, these cabins were unpopular at Mt. Rainier.
Typical snow depths at Paradise Inn, as revealed by this vintage image of a sleigh ride.
Above, a pre-construction artist's rendering of Paradise Inn. While the canvas cabins were built, they were unpopular and slowly but surely removed. The Inn structure shows an interesting tower in this painting; it appears to have been the intended main entrance for the hotel. Although this makes for a better flow of foot traffic than what was built, the plan was probably abandoned due to costs. Overall the hotel as envisioned was quite a bit larger than what was ultimately built.
This vintage postcard shows snow being cleared by a steam shovel.
Another popular vintage postcard depicts mid winter snow levels; this colorized photo was taken sometime after 1920.
The ski area was a fixture at Paradise Inn for more than 30 years; it fell into disuse during the early 1970s when Lou Whittaker's RMI Co. declined to bid on the ski tow concession.
The most important historical text on Paradise Inn is Floyd Schmoe's A Year in Paradise
.
It's an incredible read about Paradise Inn and the Valley. Schmoe was winter caretaker at Paradise Inn during the 1920s, and gives insightful descriptions of what life is like when the snow reaches the roof peak. Every purchase you make from this link at Amazon.com helps defray the costs of the National Park Lodge Architecture Society website, at no additional cost to you.
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