The Matterhorn Bobsleds

Like any story that involves a Disney park, there are plenty of side stories and interesting details that I couldn’t quite fit into the video. Here are two of them…

The basketball court

From the ride’s opening in 1959 until around 1970, guests could often see an intrepid band of mountain climbers scaling the sheer side of the Matterhorn throughout the day. These were actually real, qualified climbers, hired to add that little extra magic to the attraction. They were allowed to pick from several routes up the mountain, but were given strict instructions never to fall!

To keep the climbers entertained between ascents, a small basketball half-court was installed at the very top of the mountain, above the ride itself. Here’s a picture of it:

Access to the court was locked off, so only climbers could use it. During the various renovations that the ride has undergone, the court has been moved, but is reportedly still present. Alas, Disneyland no longer employs climbers to scale the Matterhorn, so it’s probably a while since the court has seen a game.

The Matterhorn Ski Club

The ride operators who worked on the Matterhorn Bobsleds referred to themselves as "The Matterhorn Ski Club". The group was led by Attraction Host Chuck Abbott, who came up with an idea for what they could do with the large quantity of loose change that fell from the pockets of riders on board the Bobsleds.

The Ski Club collected this change (along with dropped pocket knives and other paraphernalia, which they sold) and used the funds to pay for partially-sighted people to adopt seeing-eye dogs.

In order to raise further funds for this mission, they also started collecting cans from employee break rooms, which could be recycled for a small rebate. In need of a place to store these cans, they turned to the Matterhorn, stashing dozens of bags of cans on the ground floor of the mountain – probably not what most guests would expect to find down there!