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Skiing High
From the moment people figured out they could go downhill on skis and survive, they’ve been trying to be the first to ski from ever-higher mountains. Here are some of the biggest moments in first...
Excellence on the Escarpment
Small vertical, big results: A 750-f00t-high ridge in Ontario has spawned many of Canada’s Olympic and World Cup champions. By Lori Knowles Creative Canadian marketers call it the Blue Mountains but...
The World’s Weirdest Ski Lift
In a region of Norway rich with military history, skiers can ride a NATO train through a tunnel to the top of the mighty Gaustatoppen. BY JIMMY PETTERSON A few odd ski areas exist in a time warp—...
Long Queue for U.S. Hall of Fame
Next winter, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame will induct up to eight new honored members, selected from a ballot of 15 nominees. But the ballot of 15 was chosen from a list of 71 skiers...
The First that Flopped
Installed at a small New York ski area, the world’s original high-speed detachable quad had the right idea with the wrong execution. BY JEREMY DAVIS The opening of the Doppelmayr Quicksilver...
The (Abridged) History of Snowless Skiing
Who needs powder? A Minnesota resort goes to the mat for its future. By Greg DiTrinco There is an annoyingly capricious component of the sport of skiing. It’s called snow. Both skiers and resort...
St. Moritz
In this historic Swiss resort town, visitors are immersed in the wellspring of winter sports. By Everett Potter A case can be made that the origins of modern winter sports lie in the Swiss resort and...
The He-and-She Stick
The cover of New Love Magazine (February 1948) celebrated the intimacy of riding uphill on the relatively new T-bar, famously known as a He-and-She Stick Artist: Gloria Stoll Karn. By John Fry Skiing...
Populism Heads into the Backcounty
A new coalition of volunteers, ski areas and landowners team up nationwide to restore historic ski trails—and launch a backcountry movement. By Jeremy Davis The power of the people is gaining...
A minefield of moguls for investors
Skiing has always been a perilous journey for public companies. By SETH MASIA If you had put $1,000 into Vail Resorts stock in 2004, your investment would have grown to $14,000 by August 2018. Vail...
Stenmark vs. Vonn: Who was best?
In a poll of Skiing History readers, 59 percent put Stenmark first. Lindsey Vonn’s decision at the beginning of February 2019 to retire, four victories short of Ingemar Stenmark’s 86 World Cup wins,...
Vail CEO Rob Katz on leadership
In a talk to Park City's annual forum on leadership, Vail chairman/CEO Rob Katz explained his take on running North America's largest ski resort enterprise. Katz is an impressive guy, but his take on...
Skijoring’s Wild History
Getting dragged across the snow by horses, planes, reindeer and dogs is a unique sport that’s at least 1,000 years old. By Jay Cowan Skijoring, one of skiing’s oldest activities, has become one of...
The end of the single pole
The sport underwent a revolution more than a century ago, when skiers gradually shifted from a single shaft to holding a pair of poles. By Luzi Hitz with Seth Masia At a military cross country race...
Manhattan Project Skiers: Los Alamos Ski Club Celebrates 75 Years
In 1943, Manhattan Project scientists took to the snow. They’ve never quit. By Seth Masia In July 2018, newspapers around the American Southwest noted the 75th anniversary of the founding of Los...
First Ski Boots Without Laces
Who made the first ski boots without laces? Henke in 1955, right? Wrong. In the postwar years, Joseph Mauron, a 21-year-old Swiss shoemaker, had had it with frozen laces on double-laced boots. He...
Skiing and Surfing: Separated at Birth
Two of the world’s most popular adventure sports have inspired and influenced each other for more than half a century. By Jay Cowan LIFE magazine was likely the first national publication to...
The impact of soaring season pass sales on ski and snowboard participation rates.
By John Fry For 35 years, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has reliably measured the volume of winter visits at U.S. areas. The statistic—one skier or snowboarder on the slopes for one day...