SKIING HISTORY
Editor Seth Masia
Managing Editor Greg Ditrinco
Consulting Editor Cindy Hirschfeld
Art Director Edna Baker
Editorial Board
Seth Masia, Chairman
John Allen, Andy Bigford, John Caldwell, Jeremy Davis, Kirby Gilbert, Paul Hooge, Jeff Leich, Ron LeMaster, Bob Soden, Ingrid Wicken
Founding Editors
Morten Lund, Glenn Parkinson
To preserve skiing history and to increase awareness of the sport’s heritage
ISHA Founder
Mason Beekley, 1927–2001
ISHA Board of Directors
Rick Moulton, Chairman
Seth Masia, President
Wini Jones, Vice President
Jeff Blumenfeld, Vice President
John McMurtry, Vice President
Bob Soden (Canada), Treasurer
Einar Sunde, Secretary
Richard Allen, Skip Beitzel, Michael Calderone, Dick Cutler, Ken Hugessen (Canada), David Ingemie, Joe Jay Jalbert, Henri Rivers, Charles Sanders, Christof Thöny (Austria), Ivan Wagner (Switzerland)
Presidential Circle
Christin Cooper, Billy Kidd, Jean-Claude Killy, Bode Miller, Doug Pfeiffer, Penny Pitou, Nancy Greene Raine
Executive Director
Janet White
janet@skiinghistory.org
Membership Services
Laurie Glover
(802) 375-1105
laurie@skiinghistory.org
Corporate Sponsorships
Peter Kirkpatrick
(541) 944-3095
peterk10950@gmail.com
Bimonthly journal and official publication of the International Skiing History Association (ISHA)
Partners: U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame | Canadian Ski Museum and Hall of Fame
Alf Engen Ski Museum | North American Snowsports Journalists Association | Swiss Academic Ski Club
Skiing History (USPS No. 16-201, ISSN: 23293659) is published bimonthly by the International Skiing History Association, P.O. Box 1064, Manchester Center, VT 05255.
Periodicals postage paid at Manchester Center, VT and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to ISHA, P.O. Box 1064, Manchester Center, VT 05255
ISHA is a 501(c)(3) public charity. EIN: 06-1347398
Written permission from the editor is required to reproduce, in any manner, the contents of Skiing History, either in full or in part.
Ads from the Past: Stowe, 1961
Vermont’s first chairlift opened at Mt. Mansfield on November 17, 1940. Management claimed it was the longest in the world, at 6,330 feet, rising 2,033 vertical feet. It delivered 200 skiers per hour to the summit after a painfully slow (and freezing) half-hour ride. Riders on the single chair huddled under woolen blankets, with no one to talk to or cuddle with. As early as 1943, skiers complained of waiting in two-hour lift lines. Across the road on Spruce Peak, a faster double chair arrived in 1954, carrying 500 skiers per hour, but that didn’t solve the Mt. Mansfield waits. So it was big news when the Ski Capital of the East boasted about its “NEW double chairlift” in this 1961 SKI Magazine ad. The new double more than tripled capacity to the summits, and lift lines evaporated for a couple of seasons. But overcrowding returned, and in 1986 the original single chair was replaced by New England’s first high-speed quad, hauling 1,500 skiers per hour.
Coming Up in Future Issues
- Whatever Happened to ruade? Remember hopping your ski tails up and sideways to start a turn? Ron LeMaster explains the “mule kick” turn.
- Aspen’s 75th Anniversary Most of us know how Friedl Pfeifer and Walter Paepcke brought ski lifts to Aspen. We look at the locals who actually built the lifts and lodges.
- The History of Yellowstone on Skis In the late 1880s, Army ski patrols chased poachers in America’s first national park. Add skiing mailmen and tourists, and Yellowstone quietly became a hub of skiing in the West.
- Where Are They Now? He raced for Italy on the World Cup tour from 1981-89, was a teammate of Alberto Tomba and was the 1990 Rookie of the Year on the U.S. Pro Tour. We catch up with Marco Tonazzi.
PLUS
- Spider’s Web More than four decades after his death, the delayed induction of Spider Sabich into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame illuminates his life.
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Table of Contents
Corporate Sponsors
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HEAD Wintersports
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Fera International
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Hotronic USA, Inc. | Wintersteiger
MasterFit Enterprises
McWhorter Driscoll, LLC
Metropolitan New York Ski Council
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New Jersey Ski & Snowboard Council
Russell Mace Vacation Homes
Schoeller Textile USA
Scott Sports
Seirus Innovations
SeniorsSkiing.com
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Swiss Academic Ski Club
Tecnica Group USA
Timberline
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Western Winter Sports Reps Association
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Yellowstone Club