National Ski Patrol at 75
This story appears in the March-April issue of Skiing Heritage Magazine. Subscribe...
This story appears in the March-April issue of Skiing Heritage Magazine. Subscribe...
An obscure Austrian accountant invented the steel edge in order to save lives. Racers found it more valuable for winning gold medals. By John Fry Rudolf Lettner, an office worker who liked to ski, invented a piece of equipment which, more than anything, revolutionized the...
Photo: Gary Cooper (center) with Clark Gable (right) on Dollar Mountain, with their instructor, Sun Valley's Sigi Engl. Sun Valley photo. Imagine a small-size ski area with a 200-room hotel and a crowd of week-long guests hanging around – say, Robert Redford, Bruce Willis,...
At first a gimmicky convenience, the boot buckle took ten years to earn its place among the sport’s enduring inventions. By John Fry Fifty-seven years ago a former stunt pilot and Swiss inventor named Hans Martin sold the world’s leading ski boot company, Henke, his...
A letter from Sven Coomer Over the past couple of years, with the return to commercial success of "three-piece" or "open-throat" boot designs, popular magazines and newspapers have run a number of articles containing a misleading account of the origin of the concept. The...
By Luzi Hitz, Switzerland Although the spiritual roots of “modern” skiing are found in the 19th century in Norway, it was the British, fascinated by the image of the naturally virtuous mountain folk and the alpine scenery—described among others by Jean-Jacques...
This story was published by HistoryLink.org, a free online encyclopedia of Washington state history. By John W. Lundin and Stephen J. Lundin March 16, 2012 [caption id="attachment_1057" align="alignleft" width="260" caption="Milwaukee Ski Train (image courtesy of...
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Haystack and Hartland Mountain Ski Areas In Litchfield County and West Peak in Meriden never realized their potential as ski resorts for various reasons. Published by the Windsor Patch By Philip R. Devlin January 19, 2012 As a decade, the 1930s is readily associated with...
Boulder’s backyard playground hits its stride, and plans for growth By Seth Masia During the winter of 2010-11, Eldora Mountain Resort held a series of meetings to explain its growth plans to local residents. The resort wants to extend the trail system a few hundred feet...
December 30 will mark the 100th anniversary of a watershed event inColorado’s history: The founding of the first Winter Carnival to feature real Norwegian-style skiing.GrandCounty will celebrate the anniversary with a six-week series of events beginning, on Dec. 30 in Hot...
Fernie Alpine Resort celebrates its 50th anniversary this winter, with special events culminating in a Fernie Heritage Week in late March. But first there's the matter of a new lift. The Polar Peak fixed triple goes to a new summit at 7,050 feet elevation, serving a steep...
A 19th century Rennaissance Man—and yes, eccentric—this Austrian’s extraordinary achievements were largely responsible for the sport we know today. By E. John B. Allen, PhD If modern skiing owes its development to one extraordinary...
Boyne Mountain, the Midwest’s largest ski resort, has a further distinction: it is virtually a museum of lifts. The collection started in 1948, according to lift historian Kirby Gilbert, when Boyne’s shrewd, machinery-savvy owner Everett Kircher bought the original 1936...
Skied for 55 or more years, Ruthie’s Run on Aspen Mountain has been the venue for classic, hotly contested World Cup and Roch Cup races. On the mild upper section, the whims of wind and waxing have often decided the downhill winners over the years. If you’re an intermediate,...
Once in awhile even a trivial challenge can change your life. By Seth Masia 1983 was the 80th anniversary of the “tourist” route from Chamonix to Zermatt, a high traverse of about 100km across the glaciers, cols and couloirs through the Waliser Alps. To celebrate, the...
The factory made its first skis in 1907—and has been an industry leader ever since. Now the future is murky. By Seth Masia Rossignol, the oldest surviving brand name in skiing, can also claim to be the oldest surviving factory in skiing—for now. Ski production began...
From pine pitch to perfluorocarbons, ski waxing has come a long way since the days of Scandinavian ski-sport and Sierra longboard racing. By Seth Masia During the Vancouver Olympics in February, skiers contended alternately with slush and bumpy ice—basically, refrozen...
