2020s

A Skier’s Bucket List

This 616-page book is not something you lug to the beach. It’s a skiing media extravaganza that takes you from the Alpine heart of Europe through the Mediterranean—skiing on Corsica, anybody?—then to the north. Denmark’s green carpet of Neveplast on the roof of Copenhagen’s power plant can give you an 85-foot vertical, 365 days of the year. Move on to Eastern Europe, and to the Americas north and south, and elsewhere on the corners of the globe. This is, after all, Skiing Around the World, Volume II: Collecting Ski Resorts, by Jimmy Petterson.

Journey to the sands of Qatar and Oman, and to the massive indoor-skiing center of Dubai (104° F outside and 25° F inside). Continue to Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, North Korea—Kim Il Jung’s Masikryong does not compare well with PyeongChang, the 2018 Olympic venue in South Korea, especially for lifts.

Petterson travels as far east as Kamchatka and finishes in Antarctica: an exhausting, pleasurable, sometimes enchanting 45 chapters. Whew! You could consider it a hardcover skier’s bucket list.

How does Petterson do it—and on senior-citizen knees? The answer: live a life full of curiosity, as we are all told we should do, spiced up with the athletic joy to keep your body in motion. Every page supports that life theory. Here are magnificent skiing photographs: powder spumes follow Petterson making first tracks at Livigno and on pristine glaciers in Antarctica, then panoramic views of Kamchatka. Then ‘tourist’ photos: the author posing with skis on shoulder at St. Basil’s cathedral in Moscow, Ugandans and their animals, the 1,500-room Atlantic Palace Hotel in Dubai. There are enthusiasts skiing and swimming naked, and not a few celebrations, libations and guitar at hand.

Here I sit in rural New Hampshire and I revel in Petterson’s exploits. I ski along with him in the Alps and Scandinavia, at resorts I, too, have known, and I feel a nostalgic rush.

I turn a page or two and am in Peru, then Lesotho (not highly recommended), Greenland and the Ukraine. Turkey looks intriguing. There is a feel for the spray of powder, living free, and having a heck of a time of it for over 40 years. —E. John Allen

Skiing Around the World, Volume II: Collecting Ski Resorts by Jimmy Petterson, Published by Ski Bum Publishing Company, (2019), hardcover, $97, Winner: 2021 ISHA Baldur Award. www.skiingaroundtheworldbook.com

The Forgotten Race of the 10th Mountain Division

On June 3, 1945, the 10th Mountain Division of the US Army held a special race on Mount Mangart. At first glance, this is hardly a breathtaking announcement, but it was the first peace-time race, only 26 days after Germany’s unconditional surrender ended World War II in Europe. However, the authors of Američani na Mangartu 1945. Smučarska tekma 10. gorske divizije na Mangartu 3. junija 1945 (English translation: Americans on Mount Mangart: Ski Race of the 10th Mountain Division at Mount Mangart, Slovenia, on June 3, 1945) are more interested in detailing “a race long forgotten by Americans,” and one of which Slovenians—whose national winter sport is skiing—were unaware.

The race took place on Mount Mangart, 2,679 meters (8,789 feet), situated in today’s Slovenian Triglav National Park. This corner of the world has a varied border history whose modern roots lie in the line between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, a new border was drawn by the 1920 Rapallo Treaty. After World War II, the Morgan Line of demarcation separated Tito’s partisans and the area under Allied military administration. It was signed on June, 10, 1945, and lasted until September 15, 1947, so this ski race took place during the uncertain days of immediate post-war land settlements.

The book, in Slovenian but with chapter summaries in English, includes 10 papers presented at a conference titled Americans on Mount Mangart. The centerpiece is Brigadier Janez Kavar’s essay on the race itself. The essay details the top times: Sgt. Prager (1.05.2), followed by Sgt. Steve Knowlton six seconds back (1.11.4).

There were an astonishing number of DNFs. I can only suppose this is because none of the men had any real race practice while fighting in Italy. Readers will recognize Herbert Schneider, Dev Jennings, John Litchfield and Arthur Doucette to pick four prominent personalities among the 50 men listed.

Supporting essays explain the border problems (Karla Kofol), the general history of military skiing and the Yugoslav Partisan Olympics held in January 1945 (Aleš Guček). Col. Boštjan Blaznik, commander of the NATO Centre of Excellence for Mountain Warfare, presents an overview of modern military skiing.

The book also maintains that Alpina boots and Elan skis made their mark in North America as a result of the American connection. At just over 100 pages, with many photographs, the book brings this uncelebrated military race out of the shadows of
history. —E. John Allen

Americans on Mount Mangart: Ski Race of the 10th Mountain Division at Mount Mangart, Slovenia, on June 3, 1945. Editor: Janez Kavar. Proceedings Editor: Matijo Perko. Editor: Bohinjska Bela, Association of the Slovenian Military Mountaineers. Winner: 2021 ISHA Ullr Award. Available from tomaz.pirjevec@telemach.net.

Visions of Arlberg Past

There has been a recent focus on ski-history photography. In the United States, the interest ranges from an upcoming exhibition of 1950-2000 photos by the New England Ski Museum in Franconia, New Hampshire, to the donation of Ray Atkeson’s photo archive to the University of Oregon. In Europe, an exhibition is planned of the works of Emanuel Gyger and Arnold Klopfenstein, Swiss photographers of the 1920s and ’30s, by the Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern. And now here is Martin Rhomberg and Christof Thöny’s Sichtbar: Eugen Heimhuber: Fotographien am Arlberg und Hochtannberg (English translation: Eugen Heimhuber’s Vision: Photographs of the Arlberg and Hochtannberg.) It’s 128 pages of stunning photographs by Heimhuber (1879-1966), mostly from the 1920s but some earlier.

The book is sourced from a trove of 30,000 glass plates from Heimhuber and covers a number of his excursions. This is, the editors tell us, probably the largest photo collection (estimated 250,000 taken from 1876 to 1960) from a single source with documentation to go with it.

Sichtbar has four short essays in German and translations in English. Sections portray Stuben, St. Christof, St. Anton, Lech, Zürs and Warth. We see the Arlberg before any lifts. We see single and double ski spoor in a lonely line up the Widderstein in February 1911, and on the Schindler Spitz in 1920. It’s a world gone by.

There is St.Anton before the razzmatazz of industrial downhill skiing. And Zürs, today claiming 88 lifts, but the photos show the Edelweiss and Alpenrose inns alone in the landscape.

We learn the importance of regional pioneers such as Dr. Max Madlener of Kempten and Dr. Christof Müller of Immenstadt and, yes, there is a photo of Hannes Schneider jumping off the Rendelschanze (Rendel jump) in 1914. This book is a wonderful evocation of the Arlberg, through the lens of a skilled photographer. — E. John Allen

Eugen Heimhuber’s Vision: Photographs of the Arlberg and Hochtannberg edited by Martin Rhomberg and Christof Thöny. Published by Lorenzi Verlag (2019), 128 pages, hardcover, $30. Winner: 2021 ISHA Skade Award.

Mount Assiniboine: The Story

This coffee-table book, with 336 pages and 382 images, is a tribute to the many people who made Mount Assiniboine so special. Historian Chic Scott has written more than a dozen books on the Canadian Rockies and knows the collections of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, perhaps, like no other. So it’s not surprising to find Mount Assiniboine: The Story full of evocative photos of the mountains and its people.

The first section starts with the local First Nations, followed by the explorers, priests, and early mountaineers. It ends with James Outram’s first ascent of Assiniboine in September 1901. Four more sections are dominated by personalities.

During 1913-1927, A.O. Wheeler promoted the area to mountaineers and tourists, and in 1922 the Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park came into existence. Then came two mercurial skiers, the Marquis degli Albizzi and Erling Strom, who brought the first skiers into Assiniboine and got the initial Assiniboine Lodge constructed. Strom’s 55-year tenure at the lodge introduces all sorts of characters: horse wranglers, Chinese cooks, guitar-strumming cowboys, dog-sled drivers, Swiss guides, pilots, and a parade of strong women, not least Lizzie Rummel, who ran her own camp for 20 years.

During World War II, the lodge was open only in summer. After the war, although summer tourism picked up, skiing tourists preferred the rope tow, t-bar, and chairlifts. The long haul to Assiniboine on cross-country skis was no longer attractive to clients who did not have a month to spend, but only a weekend for mountain skiing.

Part Five covers the Renner Years (1983-2010), introducing many improvements. It tells how regional bureaucracy at its worst almost removed Sepp and Barb Renner as hosts; they were about to leave the lodge when they learned that their contract had been renewed. After 2010, their work was taken on by their son and two friends—a happy ending.

This book includes the sources used, a good bibliography and index, which all add to the tales of camp and lodge living, to knowledge of the prime movers and to the story of those for whom the mountain came to dominate their lives. —E. John Allen   

Mount Assiniboine: The Story by Chic Scott. From Assiniboine Publishing (2020), hardcover, 336 pages and 382 images. $75. Available from The Assiniboine Lodge (assiniboinelodge.com)

ISHA's Board of Directors has elected a new chairman, three new directors and a new treasurer. They are:

Rick Moulton (Chairman), long-time chairman of ISHA’s Awards Committee, is an independent film producer based in Huntington, Vermont. His most notable films include the Vermont Memories series for Vermont Public Television, “Legends of American Skiing” (1983), “Spirit of a Classic” (Mad River Glen, 1988), “Ski Sentinels” (National Ski Patrol, 1983), “Thrills and Spills in the North Country” (New England Ski Museum, 1998), “Passion for Snow” (Dartmouth skiing, 2012) and “Voice of America: Lowell Thomas and the Rise of Broadcast Journalism” (2018). Rick studied mass communication at the University of Denver.

Henri Rivers (Director) was elected president of the National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS) in March 2020. NBS comprises 50 ski clubs in 43 cities, with 3,500 members. A native New Yorker, he has been an avid skier since 1975. Henri is a PSIA-certified instructor and USSA official. He first became involved with NBS in 1996. In 2003 he became a coach for the NBS national team and in 2008 he was appointed the Olympic Scholarship Fund administrator. During his tenure as OSF administrator, he grew the national team to 15 athletes. In 2016 he was appointed national competition director and in 2018 was elected executive vice president of NBS. He served for two years before being elected national president. After 25 years managing large construction projects, including hospitals, dormitories and other municipal facilities, in 2007 he founded Drumriver Industries, which designs and builds renewable energy projects.

Christof Thöny (Director) of Bludenz, Austria, studied at the University of Innsbruck and teaches Catholic religion and history at the Bundesgymnasium Bludenz, while working as a project manager and publisher. Since 2005 he has been curating historical and cultural exhibitions. He is the author of more than 50 publications, mainly focused on regional history and the history of skiing. His projects include “Hannes Schneider, Pioneer of Skiing,” staged in the Arlberg and at the New England Ski Museum; “80 Years of Arlberg Kandahar” at the Museum St. Anton; “Wintersportarchiv,” funded by the EU and including ski museums and associations in Vorarlberg and Allgäu (wintersportarchiv.org); and the skiing-history website skispuren.com. His book “Skispuren” won an ISHA Ullr Award in 2020.

Ivan Wagner (Director) is chief editor of Der Schneehase, the Swiss Academic Ski Club (SAS) yearbook, which received an ISHA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Born in Prague, he trained with the Czech national ski team. After the Russian invasion of 1968 he emigrated with his family to Switzerland, studied electrical engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), and joined SAS in 1969. He became a successful university alpine racer and mountaineer. Ivan earned a master’s degree in industrial management at Purdue and spent four decades in banking, retiring as chair of banking and financial services at Ernst & Young. He’s a member of the Kandahar Ski Club and received its Sir Arnold Lunn Medal in 2010.

Bob Soden (Treasurer) has been involved with ISHA for many years, as a writer/researcher and historian and as chair of the Museum Outreach Committee. He is working on a history of Jay Peak. A lifelong resident of Montreal, Bob studied engineering at Sir George Williams University and Concordia University. In 1963 he achieved certification from the American Ski Teachers Association of Natur Teknik. Though English is his mother tongue, he is fluent in French and uses both in promoting ISHA in Canada. For 40 years Bob was involved in engineering management and consulting. He has been a project manager for multiple large paper companies and has worked with Petro-Canada and the TransCanada Pipeline.

Other officers were re-elected. They are President Seth Masia, Vice Presidents Jeff Blumenfeld, Wini Jones, and John McMurtry, and Secretary Einar Sunde. 

2021 ISHA Awards Video Now Online

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the ISHA Awards Program, originally scheduled for Snowmass, was held online on April 29. View a video of the program, with brief talks by the honored writers and filmmakers, at skiinghistory.org/events.

Shuttered for five years, Maine's Saddleback Mountain has reopened. Can it do well by doing good?

December 15, 2020, dawned cold and windy—and with the Covid-19 pandemic raging. But that didn’t stop about 300 skiers and boarders from riding the new Rangeley high-speed quad at Saddleback Mountain near Rangeley, Maine. It was the first time in five seasons that the lifts had spun at Saddleback—one of New England’s hidden gems. And more than just the ski area’s loyalists were happy. The entire region breathed a sigh of relief.

“There’s been a steady stream of people who have come to me, some of them ecstatic, some of them just really emotional, about how much it means to them that the mountain is open again,” said Saddleback CEO and general manager Andy Shepard. He’s a former L.L. Bean executive who started the Maine Winter Sports Center (now Outdoor Sport Institute) to help revive the economy of Maine’s far northern Aroostook County and teach the area’s youth how to ski.

But this is more than a story of a shuttered ski area’s resurrection. In an era of mass consolidation in the ski industry, it’s a story about a new model of ski-area ownership built on the foundation of impact investing, a financial strategy, growing in popularity, aimed to deliver social benefits in addition to financial gains. In Saddleback’s case, it’s about bringing back jobs and helping the local economy, which in turn helps the local community.

When Saddleback opened on New Year’s Eve 1960—with a 4,120-foot summit and the highest base elevation in New England—the owners envisioned the resort becoming the “Sun Valley of the East.” It promised 2,000 vertical feet of skiing, 200 inches of snow annually, and stunning views of the Rangeley Lakes region—the lakes themselves offer four-season recreation. But the lofty ideal was never achieved. The secluded resort—a three-hour drive from Portland and four-plus hours from Boston—was perhaps too secluded, especially with limited lodging in the area. During Saddleback’s first 18 years, it had five owners.

In 1978, Donald Breen, a Massachusetts businessman, came along with plans to revive the ski area. But the Appalachian Trail corridor runs across Saddleback’s above-timberline summit, and Breen spent almost two decades battling the National Park Service over access rights to the trail corridor. By the time Breen and the NPS came to an agreement in 2000, the battle had derailed Breen’s expansion plans. He sold the area for $8 million to retired University of Maine geologist Bill Berry and his wife, Irene, in 2003.

For a decade, the Berrys ran Saddleback as a labor of love, improving snowmaking, enlarging the base lodge, adding more expert terrain, and replacing a vertiginous T-bar with a chairlift. Saddleback has always had a devoted community of skiers—“a sense of family that I have not experienced, and I’ve been in this business for a long time,” noted Shepard. Saddleback patrons included locals and part-time residents alike, with nary a distinction between them—unlike the contentious vibe between the two groups at many large resorts. Skier visits climbed steadily.

But the Berrys had to weather the Great Recession (2007-2009), and Saddleback lacked a high-speed chairlift—an amenity that has become a standard resort convenience, even at modest ski areas. As a result, annual skier visits began to decline.

Unwilling to invest further capital, the Berrys put Saddleback on the market for $12 million in December 2012. But no buyers came forth. Three years later, they announced that if they could not acquire $3 million in funding for a new chairlift, they would not open for the season.

Potential buyers came and went over the next four years, including a group of Saddleback faithful who wanted to operate the mountain as a nonprofit Mad River Glen-like co-op. Then came a shyster from Australia proposing an EB-5 Ponzi scheme similar to the failed debacle at Vermont’s Jay Peak. “The community was put through the wringer, hopes raised and dashed on a regular basis,” said Shepard.

Locals and Saddleback fans had almost given up hope when Shepard’s group rode in on a white horse. Or rather a horse of a different color. Knowing how important Saddleback was to the Rangeley community, Shepard had been working with the Berrys since 2014 to secure a suitable buyer. And with his experience founding the Maine Winter Sports Center, Shepard knew that the mountain was as important an economic driver to the Rangeley region as the Sports Center was to Aroostook County.

He knew Saddleback could be profitable—but only if someone would first inject millions of dollars into the infrastructure. But who was going to invest that kind of money in an out-of-the-way ski area and in an industry that is susceptible to climate change? A traditional investor looking for private equity-style returns would look elsewhere. The state's Department of Economic and Community Development knew where to look. Early in 2018, they brought in Boston-based  Arctaris Impact Fund, which has been investing in projects in the Rust Belt and other economically disadvantaged areas for more than a decade. Arctaris leverages non-traditional impact investors and nonprofit foundations that are motivated by making a societal difference and will settle for smaller returns, New Markets Tax Credits, state-guaranteed loans, and support from the community and local foundations. Saddleback fit the profile.

It took two years to close the agreement, but Arctaris purchased Saddleback on January 31, 2020, for $6.5 million, with a plan to invest $38 million over the next five years in new lifts, base lodge refurbishment, a new mid-mountain lodge, a solar array to power the mountain, a hotel, daycare center, employee housing, and other modern resort necessities. 

Arctaris co-founder Jonathan Tower sees the deal as a chance to revitalize a region hit hard by Saddleback’s closing. “This is about more than opening a mountain,” said Tower. “This is about restoring 200-plus jobs to the community. It’s about the regional economic impact of Saddleback. And it’s about the health and wellness benefits of an operational mountain.”

With negotiations complete, Arctaris asked Shepard to become Saddleback’s CEO and general manager. Shepard was especially attracted to the deep connection between mountain and community. “It’s more than a ski area,” he said. “It’s been a family to people. There’s a deep sense of responsibility that goes along with that. Knowing that we’re stewards of that kind of connection is important to me. I’ve tried to make sure we build an organization of people to whom that’s equally important.”

Both the pandemic and the regional economy made Saddleback’s first season a challenge. Many people who once worked at Saddleback have moved away, so the hiring pool is smaller than it once was. But Shepard is confident that workers will be lured back by competitive wages, a creative program to provide year-round benefits like health insurance to seasonal workers, and the soon-to-be-built employee housing and daycare center.

Saddleback’s modest pass prices for youth and elders is another nod to the community. Purchase a season pass in the spring and prices range from $30 (under 6) to $50 for local students to $30 for a super senior pass (80 and over)—a pass category that is no longer offered at most resorts. In addition, all passes can be purchased under an installment plan.

Shepard is equally confident that the new Rangeley high-speed quad, which cut the 11-minute ride time by more than half, a refurbished base lodge, and a planned mid-mountain lodge atop the quad will attract more skiers to Saddleback. The mid-mountain lodge will have views west to New Hampshire’s Mount Washington and a flat roof planted with sod and blueberry bushes so that the building is largely hidden from across the ridgeline.

When new skiers and riders discover Saddleback, Shepard hopes that they will integrate into the community, as has happened for generations. “People care for one another here,” he explained. “There’s very little judgment about political opinions and who’s got money and who doesn’t. It’s just people who love Saddleback, people who love doing things with family and friends.” 

For recent obitituaries please go to skiinghistory.org/lives

In 2020, donors dug deep to help ISHA weather trying times. Fundraising set a new record.

For the seventh year in a row, donors to the nonprofit International Skiing History Association set a record for unrestricted donations. Thanks to the generosity of ISHA members, individual donations in 2020 rose 15.6 percent over the previous best year (2019).

The 2020 Fundraising Campaign raised a total of $136,857 in gifts from 443 individuals. The ISHA Board of Directors thanks Christin Cooper and Penny Pitou for leading the annual drive.

Fifty-four companies and organizations contributed $35,000. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many ski industry firms lost customer traffic, with the result that ISHA’s corporate sponsorship revenue fell 33 percent for the year. However, total unrestricted donations rose .3 percent.

In 2020, membership dues covered about 18.6 percent of ISHA’s annual costs for publishing the magazine, maintaining the website, producing the annual ISHA Awards program, and maintaining communications with the membership. The balance of the budget was met through charitable contributions, corporate sponsorships, bulk sales of the magazine to our museum partners, foundation grants and revenue from investment funds.

On the expense side of the ledger, 67 percent of the budget went to support ISHA programs (magazine and website publishing, awards program). The remainder went to administration (member service, bookkeeping and audit, fundraising, member recruitment).

ISHA is a 501( c )( 3 ) public charity, eligible to receive grants from family and community foundations, donor-advised funds and corporate matching programs, in addition to direct contributions from individuals.

If you’re interested in supporting a specific ISHA program, please contact president Seth Masia at (303) 594-1657. If your firm would like to be a corporate sponsor, contact Peter Kirkpatrick at (541) 488-1933.

ISHA Income 2020

• Individual donations $132,506 (59%)
• Memberships $50,694 (23%)
• Corporate Sponsorships  $35,000 (16%)
• Magazine sales (museums, other partners $6,399 (3%)
• Total revenue $224,599

ISHA Expenditures 2020

• Magazine content, editorial $74,397 (30%)
• Magazine printing, distribution $45,598 (19%)
• Events, ISHA Awards program $36,501 (15%)
• Website content, management $7,169 (3%)
• Administration, bookkeeping $63,542 (26%)
• Fundraising, member recruitment $13,158 (5%)
• Audit, tax preparation $3,725 (2%)
• Total $244,090
   

HONOR ROLL

Listed here are the donors who supported ISHA’s mission with tax-free donations and gift memberships above and beyond their membership dues in 2018. –Seth Masia, President

Pinnacle Club
$10,000 and up

• Barry & Kristine Stott

Chairman's Circle
$5,000 to $9,999

• Elliot Cooperstone
• Renie & Dave Gorsuch
• Jake & Maureen Hoeschler
• Jean-Claude Killy
• Nicholas Paumgarten
• Nicholas Skinner

SuperG(ivers)
$2,000 to $4,999

• John J. Byrne
• Mike & Carol Hundert
• Liza-Lee & George Kremer
• Stephanie McLennan
• Jack Nixon In memory of Gwen James Nixon
• Charles Sanders

History Leader
$1,000 to $1,999

• Osvaldo & Eddy Ancinas In memory of John Fry
• Skip Beitzel, Hickory & Tweed Ski Shop
• Albert & Gretchen Rous Besser
• Christin Cooper-Tach & Mark Tach In memory of John Fry
• Chris & Eileen Diamond
• Charles Ferries
• E. Nicholas Giustina
• Adolph Imboden
• Peter Looram
• Seth Masia In memory of John Fry & Dick Bohr
• Judy McLennan
• Marvin & Renee Melville
• Janet Mosser
• Richard & Deborah Pearce
• Penny Pitou
• Barbara Alley Simon
• Bob Soden
• John Stahler
• Carol & Barry Stone In memory of John Fry &
• Jeff Stone
• Stephen Storey
• Ivan Wagner, Swiss Academic Ski Club
• Thomas Wilkins

Gold Medalist
$500 to $999

• Michael & Diana Brooks
• Jeffrey Burnham
• Michael & Jennifer Calderone
• Robert Craven In honor of Penny Pitou
• Jack & Kathleen Eck
• Curtis Emerson
• Tania & Tom Evans
• Peter Fischer
• Mitch & Kim Fleischer
• Jim & Barbara Gaddis
• Vernon Greco
• Hugh Harley In memory of John Fry
• Robert Irwin
• Joe Jay & Susan Jalbert, Jalbert Productions In memory of Calvin Beisswanger
• Nigel Jones
• Jim & Dorothy Klein
• Winston Lauder
• Win Lockwood
• Robert & Alice Looney
• J. Howard Marshall III
• Debby McClenahan
• Andy & Linda McLane,
• McLane Harper Charitable Foundation
• David Moffett
• Chauncey & Edith Morgan
• Stan & Sally Morse
• David Moulton
• Trygve Myhrven
• Bradley Olch
• Peter Pell Sr.
• Charles & Janet Perkins
• Lee Perry Jr.
• Doug & Ginny Pfeiffer
• William Polleys
• Nancy Greene Raine
• David Scott
• Jay Stagg
• Einar Sunde
• Otto Tschudi
• Lee Turlington In honor of Marcel Barel
• U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
• Roger Wangen

Silver Medalist
$100 to $499

• Peter Abramson In memory of John Fry
• Guy Alexander
• Graham Anderson In memory of John Fry
• Coralue Anderson
• Gordon Arwine
• Carol Atha
• Michelle Avery
• Alan Baker
• Brian Balusek
• F. Michael Bannon
• Pat Bauman
• Phil Bayly
• Tom Beachman
• Kevin & Cyndy Beardsley
• Bob Beattie
• Stephen & Louise Berry
• Nicholas & Ellen Besobrasow
• Michael Bing
• Rick & Judy Birk
• Heather Black
• Tom Blair
• Jeff Blumenfeld, NASJA
• Spencer Bocks
• Bruce Boeder
• Junior & Maxine Bounous
• Charles Bowen
• Bob & Christana Boyle In memory of Gus Gnehm
• Sally Brew
• Michael Briggs
• Jerome Britton
• G. Stanley Brown
• Jan & Judith Brunvand
• Jackie & John Bucksbaum,
• John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation
• Eddie Bunch,
• The Bunch Family (Alpine Ski Shop)
• Frank Cammack
• Doug Campbell
• Duncan Campbell
• Chris Cannon
• Dorothy Cantor
• Rick Carter
• Warren & Gretchen Cash
• Harvey & Reserl Chalker, Alpine Sports
• Kathryn & Charles Chamberlain
• Barbara Clark
• Jaycee & Patty Clark
• Cal Conniff
• Sven & Mary Dominick-Coomer
• Jay Cowan
• Art & Sharon Currier
• Chris & Jessica Davenport
• George & Jean Davies
• Michael & Vicki Dawson
• Mike Day
• Mike Dederer
• Yves Desgouttes
• Kathe Dillmann In memory of John Fry
• Peter Dirkes
• Dave Donaldson
• Mike Douglas
• Alex Douglas, Mount Seymour History Project
• James Duke
• Robert Ebling III
• John Eichenour
• Rett Ertl
• Gregory Fangel, Woodenskis.com
• John Farley
• Sally Faulkner
• Anthony & Barbara Favale
• Diane & Jim Fisher
• Ingie Franberg
• W. D. Frank
• Victor & Karin Frohlich
• Dick Frost
• Marlies Fry
• Tony Gagliardi In memory of Andy Nault
• Ken Gallard In memory of John Fry
• Caleb & Sidney Gates
• Hans Geier In memory of John Fry
• Pepi & Sheika Gramshammer
• Ellen Greer
• Larry Gubb
• Aleš Guček In memory of John Fry
• Edson Hackett
• H. Fred Haemisegger
• Susie Hagemeister
• Mike Halstead In memory of John Fry
• John Hansen
• Erica Hansen In memory of Hank Garza
• Stefi Hastings In memory of John Fry
• Bettie Hastings
• Robert Havard
• Cathy Hay, Alpine Sport Shop
• Irene & Michael Healy
• Tom & Roberta Heinrich
• Jim & Linda Henderson
• John Hoagland
• Karin Hock Baker In memory of Nick Hock
• Randy Hoffman
• Ron Hoffman
• David Holton
• Steve Irwin
• Joe Irwin
• David Jacobs
• Bill & Cheryl Jensen
• Phil & Brigitte Johnson
• Wini Jones
• Donald Jones
• David Kaufman
• Hank Kaufmann
• John & Denise Kelley
• Paul Kenny
• LeRoy Kingland
• Leon Kirschner
• Pete Kolp
• Mike Korologos
• Madi Kraus
• Ivo Krupka
• Erik Kvarsten
• Michael Lafferty
• William Lash
• Jeffrey & Martha Leich
• John Lewis
• Tom & Laurel Lippert
• Alan Lizee
• John Lovett
• Jean Luce
• Phil Lutey
• John Maas
• James & Dianne Mahaffey
• Tom Malmgren
• James Mangan
• Garrett R. Martin
• Bob & Trudy Matarese
• Jeff Mayfield
• Sloan McBurney
• Stephen McGrath
• Sandra McMahon
• John McMurtry In memory of John Fry
• Christine McRoy
• Charlie McWilliams
• Paul Mehrtens Jr.
• Peter Miller
• Louisa & Steve Moats
• Gregory Morrill
• Halsted Morris
• Roger Moyer
• Paul Naeseth
• Carolyn Nally
• Michael Neal
• Connie Nelson, Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation
• Timothy Nelson
• New York Museum of Skiing Hall of Fame
• Paul Oliver
• Gary & JoAnn Olson
• George Page
• Philip Palmedo
• Tom Parrott
• Fred Passmore
• Tom & Sally Patterson
• Albert & Carol Pierce
• LuAnn Dillon & Tom Pierce
• Brian Poster
• Glen Poulsen
• Bob Presson
• Michael Prinster
• Peggy Proctor Dean
• Christian & Joanie Raaum In memory of Gus Raaum
• Carey & A. Todd Rash
• Ken Read
• Stuart Rempel
• Ken Rendell
• Jim Renkert In memory of John Fry
• Grant Reynolds
• Thomas Rhodes
• Wilbur Rice
• Alex Riddell
• Bill Roberts
• Albert & Julia Rosenblatt In memory of John Fry
• Jan Rozendaal
• William Rude In memory of John Fry & Pat Doran
• Paul Ryan
• Mary Sargent
• David Schames
• Rod Schrage
• Don Schwamb
• Bill Scott
• Allan & Sally Seymour
• Tom & Sandy Sharp
• Christopher Shining
• Peggy Shinn In memory of John Fry
• Brad Simmons
• Donald Simonds
• Richard Sippel
• Constantine Siversky In honor of the Siverskys
• Ski Barn In memory of Carol and Richard Fallon
• Lowell Skoog
• Michael Smith
• Terrell & Tammie Smith
• Alicia Smith
• Ann Soden
• Robert Sorvaag
• Glenn Spiller
• Rick Stark
• Arthur Stegen
• Nancy Stone, Buck Hill, Inc.
• Rick Stoner
• John Stout
• Sam Stout
• Robert Tengdin
• Joannie & Mark Ter Molen
• Robert & Sue Thibault
• Simeon Thomas
• Brent & Bonnie Tregaskis, Snow Summit Ski Corp
• Bradford & Una Tuck
• Charles Upson
• Juris Vagners
• Paul Vesterstein
• Susan Voorhees
• Bruce Wadsworth
• Dick & Barbara Wagner
• Karl Wallach
• Lawrence Walsh In memory of Walt Roessing and John Fry
• Patrick Walsh
• Annie Ward
• Ray Dave Watkins
• William Webster
• James Wick
• Thomas Wies
• Alice & Brad Williams
• Heggie Wilson
• Maurice Woehrlé
• Carmen Yonn

Bronze Medalist
Up to $99

• Horst & Kit Abraham
• Michel Achard
• Drew Adams, Glacier
• Ski Shop
• Steve Adams
• Robert & Margaret Albrecht
• Boyd Allen III In memory of John Fry
• Vicki Andersen, NASJA West
• Tom Andrews
• Larry Asay
• Nat Barker
• Peter Birkeland
• Jim Bogner
• Richard Boutelle
• Rouene Brown
• Frank Brown
• Nancy Brucken
• Charlie & Mary Seaton Brush
• William Burns Jr. In memory of James Reilly
• Frank Carrannante
• Thomas Clark
• Ned & Jan Cochran In memory of Tage Pedersen
• Ron Costabile
• Larry Daniels
• Chris Dawkins
• Dennis De Cuir
• Thomas Dillon
• David Downs
• Randy Draper
• Duane Ecker
• Murray & Gretchen Fins
• Margaret Fuller
• Bill Fundy
• Bruce Gaisford
• Tracy Gibbons Sturtevant’s
• Martin Glendon
• Austen Gray
• Wende Gray
• John Greenwood
• Jim Hamblin
• D. Anne Heggtveit Hamilton
• Alden Hanson, Apex Ski Boots
• Sherri Harkin
• Brett Heineman
• Nathan & Monica Hill
• Suzanne Hoffmann, Blizzard Ski Club In memory of Calvin Beisswanger
• Sandy Hogan
• John Holland
• William & Linda Holman
• Kris Husted
• Julien & Trudie Hutchinson
• David Ingemie
• Walter Jackson
• John Jacobs,
• Reliable Racing Supply
• Kathleen James
• Karen Jeisi
• JJ Johansson
• Kirk Johnson
• Richard Jones
• Jeff Kahn
• Peter Kirkpatrick,
• PK Company
• Earl Kishida
• Bill La Couter
• Joseph LaBarbera
• Duane Larson
• Charlie Leavitt
• Mimi Levitt, Alta Lodge
• Nicholas Lewin
• Sandy & Colleen Liman
• John Lutz
• Nina MacLeod
• Dick & Jo Anne Malmgren
• Constance Marshall
• Nick Martini
• Richard Mason In memory of David E. Mason, Sr.
• Jessie McAleer
• Woods McCahill
• Christian McDonald
• James & Barbara McHale
• Leslie McLennan
• Millie Merrill
• Donald & Susan Miller
• Louis Miller
• Mark & Janet Miller, Antique Skis
• Michael Moore
• Rick & Melinda Moulton
• Keith Nelson
• Christopher Newell In Honor of Chris Newell
• Greg Newton
• Allen Pachmayer
• Deanna & Val Painter
• Ruth Parton
• Scott Peer
• Nancy Pesman
• Paul & Margie Prutzman, Pinnacle Sports
• Evelyn Pitt
• Roland Puton
• Thomas Quinn
• Edward Rengers
• Marsha Rich
• Reinhard Richter
• Joseph & Cynthia Riggs
• Gary Rivers
• Jack Robbins
• Paul Rogers
• Bruce Rosenoff
• Fred Runne
• Rick Rust
• Fred Schaaff
• Jake Schuler
• Greg Sewell
• Peter Shelton
• John & Judy Sherman
• Geoff Smith
• Linda Socher
• Sheila Spalding
• Gretchen Sproehnle
• Mark & Janet Standley
• Audrey Staniforth
• William Stecker
• Robert Sullivan
• Rod Tatsuno
• Polly Thompson
• Richard Tillema
• Louise Van Winkle
• Lucile Vaughan
• Janet Wadsworth Evans In memory of Donald Wadsworth
• John Waring
• Doug Webb
• Tom West
• Lisa West
• Lon Whitman
• Scott Willingham
• Jack Wolber
• Bob Woodward
• Frederick Yost

Leading the Way
The following ISHA members have kick-started our 2021 fundraising by giving $100 or more by March 1, 2021.

• Karin Hock Baker
• Michael Bannon
• Beekley Family Foundation
• John Byrne | In honor of the Byrne Family
• Chris Cannon
• James Clarke
• Richard Crumb
• Caleb Gates
• Nick Giustina
• Scott Jackson
• Jean Claude Killy
• William Lash
• Caroline & Serge Lussi | Adirondack Foundation
• Juliette Clagett Maclennan
• Thomas & Diane Malmgren
• Seth Masia
• Stephanie Mclennan
• Marvin & Renee Melville
• Trygve & Vicki Myhren
• Carolyn Nally
• Thomas Pierce & Luann Dillon
• Barbara Thornton
• Lawrence Walsh | In memory of Walt “The Wordsmith” Roessing
• Carmen Yonn

2021 Corporate Sponsors
ISHA deeply appreciates your generous support!

World Championship ($3,000 and up)

• Gorsuch
• Polartec

World Cup ($1,000)

• Aspen Skiing Company
• BEWI Productions
• Bogner
• Boyne Resorts
• Dale of Norway
• Darn Tough Vermont
• Dynastar | Lange | Look
• Fairbank Group: Bromley, Cranmore,
• Jiminy Peak
• Gordini USA Inc. | Kombi LTD
• HEAD Wintersports
• Hickory & Tweed Ski Shop
• Intuition Sports, Inc.
• Mammoth Mountain
• Marker-Volkl USA
• National Ski Areas Association (NSAA)
• Outdoor Retailer
• Rossignol
• Ski Area Management
• Ski Country Sports
• Snowsports Merchandising Corporation
• Sport Obermeyer
• Sports Specialists, Ltd.
• Sun Valley Resort
• Vintage Ski World
• Warren and Laurie Miller
• World Cup Supply, Inc.

Gold ($700)

• Gold ($700)
• Race Place | BEAST Tuning Tools
• The Ski Company (Rochester, NY)
• Thule

Silver ($500)​​​​​​​

• Alta Ski Area
• Boden Architecture PLLC
• Dalbello Sports
• Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners
• Fera International
• Holiday Valley
• Hotronic USA, Inc. | Wintersteiger
• MasterFit Enterprises
• McWhorter Driscoll, LLC
• Metropolitan New York Ski Council
• Mt. Bachelor
• New Jersey Ski & Snowboard Council
• Russell Mace Vacation Homes
• Schoeller Textile USA
• Scott Sports
• Seirus Innovations
• SeniorsSkiing.com
• Ski Utah
• Swiss Academic Ski Club
• Tecnica Group USA
• Trapp Family Lodge
• Western Winter Sports Reps Association
• World Pro Ski Tour

ISHA Heritage Partners
These museums and organizations actively support ISHA by providing our journal, Skiing History, as a benefit to their members and donors. We’re proud to share our mission of preserving skiing history with these institutions, and we encourage you to support them!​​​​​​​

• U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame & Museum www.skihall.com
• Canadian Ski Museum and Hall of Fame www.skimuseum.ca
• Alf Engen Ski Museum www.engenmuseum.org
• North American Snowsports Journalists Association nasja.org
• Swiss Academic Ski Club sas-ski.ch

INTERNATIONAL SKIING HISTORY ASSOC. HONORS 14 OF THE BEST HISTORICAL BOOKS AND FILMS OF 2020

MANCHESTER CENTER, VT (Feb. 8, 2021) – The International Skiing History Association (ISHA), the nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve and advance the knowledge of ski history, today announced the 14 recipients of its annual awards honoring the best works of history published during 2020.

First established in 1993, the ISHA Awards include the year’s best creative works of ski history, including books, films, websites and other media projects.

From the frozen spine of the Colorado Rockies to the icy steeps of Riva Ridge in Italy; to ski tourism in Idaho's remote Wood River Valley; Arapahoe Basin in the Rockies; the Arlberg region; and the history of handicapped skiing; to movies about the American men’s downhill team; and a book the size of a coffee table that covers skiing around the world, these winners exemplify the best in ski communications.

“We like to think of these as the Pulitzers of snowsports history, projects that honor the people and places that have made skiing so memorable for millions of current and past enthusiasts,” says Seth Masia, ISHA president.

“Few sports have impacted so many people as passionately as skiing.”

The awards will be presented during an online event to be held in April 2021. To see the 2020 Awards Presentation Program, and for details about ISHA Awards, go to https://skiinghistory.org/events Meanwhile, watch for reviews of the winning books and films in the Media Reviews section of the magazine accessible through skiinghistory.org.

 The 2020-21 winners are:

ISHA Ullr Award

Maurice Isserman: The Winter Army: The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division, America's Elite Alpine Warriors  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019

Janez Kavar (ed). Američani na Mangartu 1945: smučarska tekma 10. gorske divizije na Mangartu 3. Junija 1945   Slovenia.
Zdruzenje vojaskih gornikov Slovenije, 2020 [Title in English: Americans on Mount Mangart 1945: Ski race of the 10th Mountain Division at Mount Mangart, Slovenia June 3, 1945]

Maurice Woehrlé Les Peuples du Ski: 10,000 Ans d’Histoire Books on Demand, 2020  [Title in English: Skiing Peoples: 10,000 Years of History]

ISHA Skade Award

John W. Lundin Skiing Sun Valley: A History from Union Pacific to the Holdings  The History Press, 2020

Nancy Campbell Stone Buck Hill: Let's Give it a Whirl! A History 1954-2015  Printed by Smith Printing Co. LLC, 2019    

Cathleen Norman with Alan Henceroth Arapahoe Basin: A Colorado Legend Since 1946  The Donning Company Publishers, 2020

Martin Rhomberg and Christof Thöny (Hg.) Sichtbar: Eugen Heimhuber - Fotografien am Arlberg und Hochtannberg  Lorenzi Verlag, 2019 [Title in English: Eugen Heimhuber’s Vision - Photographs of the Arlberg and Hochtannberg]

Robin Morning For the Love of It: The Mammoth Legacy of Roma and Dave McCoy  Blue Ox Press, 2020

Donald A. Johnston Hotel Kosciusko: The History and Legacy of Australia's First Planned Alpine Resort  Produced by The Perisher Historical Society, printed by Hogan Print, 2020

Ingrid P. Wicken Lost Ski Areas of Tahoe and Donner  The History Press, 2020

ISHA Baldur Awards

Jimmy Petterson  Skiing Around the World II: Collecting Ski Resorts  Skibum Publishing Company, 2019

ISHA Film Awards

Fresh Tracks Produced by: TFA Group + Leimkuehler Media       Producers: Mo Finn and Lena Moss Glaser   Executive Producers: Jeremy Snyder, Katie Leimkuehler and Mallory Weggemann  Director: Hans Rosenwinkel [*Note all the "producers" (as listed in the film credits)]                                                                                                                       

[The] American Downhiller: The Legend of the Men's Team Produced by Claire Brown and Scott Lyons  Editors: Susie Theis and Claire Brown Narration: Steve Porino  POC, Ski Racing Media and Jalbert Productions

About ISHA

The International Skiing History Association (ISHA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve and advance the knowledge of ski history and to increase public awareness of the sport’s heritage. It is recognized worldwide as an important resource for comprehensive, accurate information on the history of ski resorts, personalities, equipment, technique and events. ISHA’s 1,400 members  – including resort and industry leaders, World Cup and Olympic racers, leading authors and historians, and passionate skiers from two dozen nations – share a love of the sport and its rich past. The association publishes the magazine Skiing History six times a year. For more information, including details on membership, view www.skiinghistory.org.

Please go to https://www.skiinghistory.org/lives

During the Covid19 shutdown, ski resorts went into shock, and at this writing have not yet recovered. Nonprofit organizations of all sorts faced financial crisis as corporate sponsors retrenched. ISHA faced a cash-flow crunch: we couldn’t be sure of the revenue to support production and mailing of the magazine, the website and the next round of ISHA Awards.

And so, in October, we asked ISHA members to dig deep and contribute early to our annual fourth-quarter fundraising campaign. And you did! By year’s end, ISHA’s loyal and generous donors beat the previous fundraising record by 15 percent, contributing more than $136,000 in gifts by individuals and families. And most of our corporate sponsors renewed their commitment to ISHA’s mission.

As a result ISHA completed its fiscal year with only half the deficit we forecast last March, at the beginning of the Covid19 shutdown. On behalf of fundraising chair John McMurtry, and campaign leaders Christin Cooper and Penny Pitou, ISHA thanks its donor-members, its sponsors and the dedicated readers of Skiing History.

Look for details of ISHA’s fundraising and financial status in the upcoming March-April issue.

ISHA Awards 2021

ISHA’s Awards Committed has announced the winners of the 2021 ISHA Awards, honoring the best works of history published during 2020. They are:

Ullr Awards

 Maurice Isserman for The Winter Army, a history of the 10th Mountain Division.
 Janez Kavar for Americani na Magartu 1945, recounting a 10th Mountain Division race in Slovenia.
 Maurice Woerhlé for Peuples du Ski, a 10,000 year history of the skiing peoples of Eurasia.

Skade Awards

 Donald A. Johnston for Hotel Kosciusko, a history of the Australian ski resort.
 John W. Lundin for Skiing Sun Valley, a history of the resort from its beginning.
 Robin Morning for For the Love of It, the story of Roma and Dave McCoy.
 Cathleen Norman with Alan Henceroth for Arapahoe Basin, a history of the ski area.
 Nancy Stone for Buck Hill, a history of the ski area.
 Martin Rhomberg and Christof Thöny for Sichtbar, Eugen Heimhuber’s photos of the Arlberg, 1900 to 1930.
 Ingrid Wicken for Lost Ski Areas of Tahoe and Donner

Baldur Award

 Jimmy Petterson for Skiing Around the World II, stories about exotic ski areas.

Film Awards

 Kate Leimbuehler, Jeremy Snyder and Hans Rosenwinkel for “Fresh Tracks,” about pioneer amputee skier Paul Leimbuehler.
 Claire Abbe Brown, Scott Lyons and Susie Theis for “The American Downhiller,” the story of U.S. men who won classic downhills.

The Awards will be presented during an online event to be held in April. To see the 2020 Awards Presentation Program, and for details about ISHA Awards, go to https://skiinghistory.org/events Meanwhile, watch for reviews of the winning books and films in the Media Reviews section of the magazine.

Changing of the guard

Kathleen James joined ISHA in 2009 as editor of Skiing History. She expanded her role in 2015, overseeing ISHA’s day-to-day operations, including membership services and fundraising. The continuing success of the magazine and ISHA’s infrastructure is largely due to Kathleen’s wisdom, diligence and expertise.

Two years ago, Kathleen was elected to the Vermont General Assembly, representing her hometown of Manchester and several nearby communities. She was re-elected in November 2020. With increasing responsibility in the Education Committee and several caucuses—focusing on climate action, tourism, and the rural economy—she recently resigned from ISHA to focus on her political work. If you’d like to reach Kathleen, she still receives email at kathleen@skiinghistory.org.

In 2019, ISHA hired Kathe Dillmann as Business and Events Manager, and Laurie Glover as Membership Services and Marketing Manager. They may be contacted at kathe@skiinghistory.org and laurie@skiinghistory.org. They’ve now smoothly assumed all of Kathleen’s administrative duties and I’m sure readers communicating with the office will find them every bit as helpful and informative as Kathleen was.

Throughout the past year, Greg Ditrinco has shared editing duties at the magazine with Kathleen. With this issue, Greg takes the reins. Greg knows ski-magazine publishing inside and out. He joined Snow Country in 1995, then worked at SKI Magazine from 1999 to 2017, first as executive editor and then as editor-in-chief. And he’s familiar with ISHA, as he won an ISHA Award in 2011 for the 75th Anniversary Issue of SKI Magazine. Contact Greg at greg@skiinghistory.org.

Frankly, we’re still figuring out how to fill the hole left when John Fry passed on a year ago. But we’re confident of maintaining the very high standards John set for the magazine.

Late deliveries

Many readers didn’t receive the November-December issue until January. The magazine was mailed December 9, but got caught up in the widespread holiday postal delays. Next year we’ll mail that issue before Thanksgiving. So sorry for the inconvenience. 

Sundance Mountain Resort, the iconic ski resort that Robert Redford developed in Utah, has been sold. Redford announced the deal on December 11, 2020. Broadreach Capital Partners and Cedar Capital Partners were the buyers and the sale includes all assets of Sundance Mountain Resort, including the resort buildings, ski lifts, on-site dining venues, and event spaces. It did not include the Sundance Institute, Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Catalog, Sundance TV, or the Redford Center.

Redford purchased Timp Haven resort in 1968 and expanded it to become the Sundance Mountain Resort. In a statement, said “We knew that at the right time, and with the right people, we could make the transition. Broadreach and Cedar share our values and interest in maintaining the resort’s unique character, while honoring its history, community and natural beauty. This makes them well-suited to ensure that future generations can continue to find solace and inspiration here.” 

Sundance, which lies beneath 12,000 foot Mount Timpanogos, is like no other ski resort. It is the result of Robert Redford’s vision of environmental awareness: a 2,600 acre resort that includes 1,845 acres of conservation land. A pioneering environmental activist, Redford pulled off what was considered suspect, if not downright bad business, in resort operations during skiing’s boom years in the 1960s and 1970s: balancing limited development with a financially successful ski area. It took decades for the ski-resort industry to catch up.

Quietly well-heeled but not Hollywood flashy, Sundance has also managed to cater to locals from nearby Provo. It has offered night skiing since the 1940s, when it was called Timp Haven, offering a single rope tow and a $1 lift ticket. The ski area was an early innovator in school programs and season passes for students, concepts soon embraced by resorts nationwide.

Redford discovered the area that would become Sundance when he was riding his motorcycle from his home in California to college at the University of Colorado in the 1950s. He later met and married a girl from Provo, and bought two acres for $500 in 1961 from a sheep herding family named Stewart who owned Timp Haven. He built a cabin, and lived the mountain lifestyle with his young family between his early films.

But by the late 1960s, developers were circling. Redford scrambled, using some of his movie money and enlisting some friends, and bought another 3,000 acres in 1968, renaming the area Sundance after his role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In doing so, he halted a development of A-frames that would have forever changed the canyon.

Yet the irony was that for Sundance to be financially stable, it had to be self-sustaining, which meant some form of development. Redford started by improving the Timp Haven infrastructure, building the General Store and The Grill Room on the foundation of the former resort’s lodge. The Tree Room, with its signature massive pine tree dominating the interior, was constructed. So was the Owl Bar, centered on an Irish oak bar that had been commissioned by the real Butch Cassidy a century earlier. Redford unearthed it in a biker bar in Wyoming, where it was covered in Formica and shag carpeting before undergoing a restoration. He put the resort on the map when he used it as the backdrop for his film, Jeremiah Johnson, in the 1972.

Sundance suffered from low elevation and a short ski season. To make the resort financially viable, in the 1970s Redford created the Sundance Institute as a way to attract film producers, directors and actors. In 1985, the Sundance Institute took over operations of the United States Film Festival, and in 1989 changed its name to the Sundance Film Festival. In the late 1980s he built the first of the 95 cabins of what was now the fledgling Sundance Mountain Resort.

In time, his movie buddies and pals bought land and built their own houses. They included Jake Eberts, the producer of the Redford-directed A River Runs Through It, as well as Sydney Pollack, who directed Redford in Jeremiah Johnson, Three Days of the Condor and Out of Africa, among other films. Eventually, more than 200 private homes would be built, mostly out of sight and tastefully nestled in the trees.

What does the future look like? While Broadreach Capital Partners, based out of Palo Alto, California, and Cedar Capital Partners, out of London and New York, both have extensive international portfolios of luxury hotels and resorts, neither has a direct connection to the ski business. They have stated that they plan to build a high-speed lift, a day lodge and an inn.

The upgrades are planned to enhance, but not alter, Redford’s longtime mission at his resort. “As stewards of this unique place, it has always been my vision that the Sundance Mountain Resort would be a place where art, nature, and recreation come together to make the world a better place—now and in the future,” said Redford in a statement.  

In a fitting final act, the Sundance Kid entered into a partnership with Utah Open Lands to put over 300 acres of pristine wildlife habitat, streams, and wetlands into permanent protection at the base of Mt. Timpanogos. He named it the Redford Family Elk Meadows Preserve and anyone who’s been to Sundance knows that it’s the scenic heart of the resort—and now will remain that way. 

(Photo top of page by Milan Norling)

SKI ART

Edwin Hermann Richard Henel (1883-1953)

Carl Luther, the long-time editor of the German Ski Association’s Der Winter, employed Edwin Henel to scatter small drawings throughout his magazine, as well as regularly commissioning him for larger format drawings and paintings. Undoubtedly, Henel came to Luther’s notice before the start of World War I in 1914 because he had become a mainstay illustrator for the famous Munich firms of Loden-Frey and Sporthaus Schuster.

Henel had been born in Breslau, then within the German Empire (after the Nazi defeat in 1945, the city was transferred to Poland and called Wrocław). He studied for two years, 1908-1910, at the Breslau Academy taking architectural courses, among other art classes, before moving to Munich’s Fine Arts Academy. In his early years he was known for his aviation posters, some of which were turned into popular postcards. Once in Munich, he became enraptured with the growing sport of skiing and specialized in artistic country scenes while continuing to do advertisements.

He moved to Garmisch in 1934, where he produced watercolors of the mountainous countryside and became particularly well-known for his tourist posters. His graphic style set the era’s standard for depicting alpine tourism. This was something that appealed to the Nazis.

In 1936 he provided the cover of “Winter in Germany” for the Reich Committee for Tourist Travel. Against the Kreuzeck massif background, the featured skier resembled German ace Christl Cranz, alpine gold medalist at the Garmisch Olympics that year.

Henel was later commissioned to create a promotional poster for the 1940 Olympic Games, scheduled for Sapporo, Japan but cancelled due to the war. Henel lived in Garmisch until his death in 1953. —E. John B. Allen

Snapshots in Time

125 years ago 1896 Big year for books and bindings
In Austria, Mathias Zdarsky completed work on Alpine Lilienfelder Skilauf Technik, the first influential book of alpine ski instruction, and applied for a patent on a ski binding with a hinged and spring-loaded steel sole-plate. In Norway, Fritz Huitfeldt published Larebog I Skilobning (Skiing Textbook) and began selling the first nordic binding with steel ears to secure the boot toe.

100 years ago 1921 First national championship alpine race held by the British
On 5th January, 1921, fifteen competitors started together on the Lauberhorn . . . and raced down to a point some distance below the Scheidegg. Leonard Dobbs won by a comfortable margin from his brother Patrick, and on the combined competition finished ahead of a young Canadian, R.B. McConnell. Miss Olga Major was fifth in the Open Championship, and won the Ladies’ Competition with consummate ease. . . . It was not until 1929 that the Austrians, 1930 that the Swiss, and 1932 that the French, and 1933 that the Germans awarded national championships for Downhill racing. —Sir Arnold Lunn, The Story of Skiing (1952) pages 47-48.

75 years ago 1946 Aspen Skiing Corporation formed
AP reported: Aspen, Colo., is being developed into a year-round recreational site by a group of Denver men in cooperation with others from the middle west and east, George B. Berger Jr. said today . . . those backing the project had no intention of making the historic mining community . . . in[to] a Sun Valley type of recreational area. “What we want is a simple, attractive resort for year ‘round use. We expect to have accommodations for 350 to 400 people.” The Aspen company is headed by Walter P. Paepcke, Chicago industrialist, and a skiing corporation has been formed by . .Friedl Pfeiffer, former Sun Valley instructor.  —Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, May 12, 1946

50 years ago 1971 Ski instructors discover carving
Like wedeln a decade ago, carving is catching on – everyone is talking about the incredible control carving gives on ice and in heavy crud, the excitement and zap in it adds to skiing. . . . Actually, carving isn’t really new. The hotshots, the racers in particular, have been talking about carving for years. Some of the elements . . . were described four of five years ago in what was then called the round turn; and our better powder skiers have probably been carving for years without suspecting they were doing anything significant. —Sven Coomer and Doug Pfeiffer, “Carve that turn!” Skiing, February 1971

25 years ago 1996 First-ever FIS Snowboard World Championships
Ross Powers, who doesn’t turn 17 for another 2 ½ weeks, led a 1-2-3 American sweep Wednesday in halfpipe at the inaugural FIS World Snowboard Championships. U.S. women also collected the silver and bronze medals as the Yanks went 5 for 6 on Day One in Lienz [Austria]. —Paul Robbins, Rutland Daily Herald, January 24, 1996.

Paul Post’s “Back to the Future” (November-December 2020) brought back fond memories of the early days at West Mountain, of which my family was a major part. I faintly recall the opening day, December 25, 1961, when the first rope tow started spinning. The Brandt brothers (Mike, Claude and Paul) had commissioned my father, Tom Jacobs, to open the ski school and ski shop. The following season he started the junior race program at West and helped organize the Southern Adirondack Junior Racing League.

When Tom hired Izzy Ture in 1966 to take over the ski school and race program, West Mountain racing was well on its way to becoming a significant player on the New York scene. However, the pivotal moment came when Mike Annett was hired by Izzy in 1969 to run the race program.

I agree with Steve Lathrop that history may well repeat itself under his race department directorship. The program is blessed with the full support of West Mountain’s managers, Sara and Spencer Montgomery, who are providing a unique opportunity for high level training and racing at a very reasonable cost, something unique at resort and academy settings throughout the nation. It’s most gratifying to see the race program at West Mountain continue to flourish!

John Jacobs
Glens Falls, New York

Alta is for…?

The Goldminer’s Daughter’s matriarch, Elfriede Shane, recently departed this life at the age of 97. (See Remembering, page 31). Hers was a life lived with passion, purpose, generosity, wisdom and a boundless appetite for fun! 

When my parents, Neef and Shirlee Walker, took over operation of Alta’s Watson Shelter, Jim and Elfriede were among our family’s most constant friends. One afternoon during the 1966-67 season, Elfriede invited me, an eighth-grade student, to help her devise a suitable slogan for Alta. Elfriede kicked the discussion off with a suggestion I’ll never forget: “Alta + Skier = Happy!” After a short lull, my mother suddenly volunteered “Alta is for Skiers.” Elfriede’s face alit with a smile as telling as it was enthusiastic. “That’s it!” she proclaimed.

Tom Walker
Alta Historical Society
Alta, Utah

Gone Fishing

I greatly enjoyed the excellent article on the Seigniory Club (“Canada’s Forgotten Ski Center,” September-October). It’s entirely appropriate, of course, that an article on the Seigniory Club in Skiing History should focus on skiing and other winter activities, but the Club also catered to people with a passion for fishing and hunting.

As it happens, the father of a childhood friend contributed a team of horses to haul the many logs of which the main club building was constructed. His reward was access to Seigniory Club grounds for fishing and hunting. This gave my friend and me the chance to do a little fishing. Using only bits of white bread on a hook crudely knotted to a thick line on a rod and reel set bought for $1.49 at a Canadian Tire store, we were able to catch some decent brook trout. We would kill for an experience like that at the fishing club in Quebec to which I have belonged for more than 40 years.

Ivo Krupka
Canadian Ski Hall of Fame & Museum

Thank you, ISHA

I joined Skiing History in 2009 as a part-time freelance assistant editor at the invitation of John Fry to start training and learning under editor-in-chief Dick Needham, who stepped down in 2010. Over the years, my duties expanded as I took on duties as Director of Operations and eventually Executive Director.

In 2018, I decided to toss my hat in the ring and run for the Vermont House of Representatives. I won. Then I won re-election in November 2020. I am passionate about public service and the role that grassroots community leaders can and must play in guiding us to a more equitable and unified future. So while I will dearly miss my daily involvement with ISHA, I look forward to my new role as a legislator. (Learn more at my website: kathjamesforstaterep.com.)

I loved my years at ISHA for many reasons. I am a passionate skier, having spent most of my life as an enthusiastic alpine skier but switching in recent years to the peace and serenity I find in classic nordic. So it was an honor to learn about, and help to preserve, the history and heritage of the world’s most wonderful and fascinating sport and lifestyle.

But for me ISHA has always been about the people—the chance to work and learn from my mentor and dear friend John Fry, to work with a fantastic board of directors, to meet lifelong ski journalists and historians who are the most knowledgeable stewards of our sport’s past, and to connect almost every day with our wonderful members around the world. I’ll hang onto my email—kathleen@skiinghistory.org—and I hope my ISHA friends will stay in touch! 

Kathleen James
Manchester Center, Vermont