Volume 32 Number 6 November-December 2020

Glen Plake, the Pied Piper of Skiing

Edie Thys Morgan’s excellent profile of Glen Plake (“Evolution of Rebel,” May-June 2020) perfectly captured the person I call the “World’s Most Recognized Skier.” I’ve always been proud to call Glen and his wife, Kimberly, friends. I admire his enthusiasm for all things ski—especially the roots of freestyle—and the way he connects with all kinds, and all ages, of skiers.

Not Just Another Mammoth Mountain History

How is it that a young man—raised in the road camps of California’s Central Valley, abandoned at age 15 by his father, deposited with his grandparents in a damp coal-mining town in central Washington by his mother, and thrust into adulthood near the end of the Great Depression—eventually came to build one of the biggest and most successful ski resorts in the country?

Dave McCoy’s work ethic, self-reliance, determination, optimism and ingenuity certainly played roles, but perhaps there was a more determinative influence.

Photo above: In receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Der Schneehase, editor Ivan Wagner acknowledged the book’s previous editors, going back to 1924.

The 28th annual ISHA Awards were presented during an online ceremony on November 7. Originally scheduled for March 26 in Sun Valley, the banquet was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

By the early 1960s, Head was the leading ski brand in the United States and the UK. At one point in the decade, an estimated 50 percent of all skis sold in the U.S. were Head skis. A marketplace leader has the luxury of being able to be subtle in its advertising. (Watch an ad for Apple or Google lately?) That was the approach with this illustrated ad for Head skis in the October 1958 issue of SKI. A blue-bird powder day. First tracks with two friends. And just the tips of a pair of Head Standard skis about to drop in. What more is needed? Nothing, really. Message delivered.