Ski History

When Errol Flynn Skied at Alta

When Errol Flynn Skied at Alta

Many famous Hollywood movie stars came to Alta to ski during the 1940s. Two of the best known were Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland, but most famous of all was Errol Flynn, the swashbuckling leading man. My uncle, the late Sverre Engen, was Alta’s Ski School Director in 1946 when the legendary action hero visited Alta for a ski outing.[Read More…]

by March 17, 2023 6 comments Nostalgia, Ski History, Other News
Skiing History Magazine

Skiing History Magazine

The May-June issue of Skiing History will hit the mail around May 13 (a Friday, of course)., but will be posted online about a week ahead of that. Look for these articles: -Skiing Schruns and the Montafon Valley: The old smuggling route between Austria and Switzerland where refugees escaped during World War II. -Marco Tonazzi, the Vail-based entrepreneur recalls his[Read More…]

by April 14, 2022 0 comments Nostalgia, Ski History
Now in the Park City Museum, this "subway" car used to transport skiers into the mountain, where they would enter an elevator and travel to the base of the Thayne's chair.

The Skier’s Subway: Most Unusual Lift in Skidom

Park City, Utah started as a mining camp in the 19th century, transferred business from silver mining to skiing in the early 1960s and never looked back. These days Park City Mountain Resort, owned by Vail Resorts, has about 1,200 miles of underground tunnels and shafts and mining structures all over the mountain that you ski by and over along 348[Read More…]

by March 31, 2022 0 comments Other News, Ski History
1958 National Ski Association Certification Meeting at Alta

Your Next (or Last) Ski Lesson Can Be Traced Back to Alta

The origins of the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s (PSIA) harmonized approach to ski instruction in the United States can be traced back to Alta. When skiing was first taking hold as a participation sport around the Intermountain region in the mid- to late-1930s, ski instruction was informal; limited to tips provided by anyone who had been on a pair[Read More…]

by March 17, 2022 2 comments Nostalgia, Ski History
Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Each issue of SeniorsSkiing.com has a picture to help test your skiing knowledge. Generally, the pictures are from collections in a variety of participating ski museums, which we encourage readers to visit. This Englishman was instrumental in formalizing ski racing in the early part of the 20th Century. 1908, He founded the Alpine Ski Club in 1908, and in 1911[Read More…]

Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Each issue of SeniorsSkiing.com has a picture to help test your skiing knowledge. Generally, the pictures are from collections in a variety of participating ski museums, which we encourage readers to visit. In the 1930s the hill pictured here was a popular New England ski location. The first reader to correctly identify its name and location will receive the new[Read More…]

Skiing History Magazine (March/April)

Skiing History Magazine (March/April)

The March-April issue of Skiing History magazine is scheduled to mail at the end of February. Here’s what you can look forward to: A major tribute to Spider Sabich, the charismatic racer who helped put World Pro Skiing on the map and was shot to death at age 32. Spider will be inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame[Read More…]

by February 17, 2022 0 comments Nostalgia, Ski History
Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Each issue of SeniorsSkiing.com has a picture to help test your skiing knowledge. The pictures are from collections in a variety of participating ski museums, which we encourage readers to visit. The object pictured here was made in the kitchen, but its nothing you’d want to eat. It was available throughout New England in the 1960s and 70s. One more[Read More…]

Skiing History Magazine

Skiing History Magazine

Covid-related delays at the printer and post office caused the November-December issue of Skiing History to mail a month late. The online version posted right after Thanksgiving, and you can read it here. Here’s what you’ll find: Aspen’s Anniversary: 75 years ago, Aspen built its first chairlifts and opened for business. Most of us are familiar with the story of[Read More…]

by January 6, 2022 0 comments Other News, Ski History
Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Test Your Skiing Knowledge

Each issue of SeniorsSkiing.com has a picture to help test your skiing knowledge. The pictures are from collections in a variety of participating ski museums, which we encourage readers to visit. This picture, submitted by The New England Ski Museum, shows a chair that serviced a New England area in the 1950s. It was the upper of two lifts that,[Read More…]

Return To The Rockies

Return To The Rockies

Part Five: Jan and Judy Move To Utah Our residence in Illinois proved to be similar to grad school in Indiana. I progressed in my academic career, we had another baby, and (sigh) there was no skiing. But a phone call changed everything. At SIU-Edwardsville, we were renting from a colleague on sabbatical, and we had just started looking for[Read More…]

by March 9, 2021 0 comments Nostalgia, Ski History
Jan, Judy, Erk, 1962.

Moving To Indiana Then Idaho

Part Four: Jan and Judy Find Lots Of Places To Ski. We returned from Norway in 1957 and headed to Indiana University. We skied Caberfae near Cadillac, MI, a couple of times, but otherwise, our four years at IU were devoted to my studies and having Bloomington’s New Year’s Baby in January 1960. Where and when would we ever start[Read More…]

by March 2, 2021 7 comments Nostalgia, Ski History
Sunburst Six as it approaches the summit. Credit: Okemo Resort

Okemo Mountain Resort: A Mom And Pop Success Story

The Muellers Saw The Potential And Took The Risk. When Tim and Diane Mueller purchased Okemo Mountain  in August 1982, it was a ski area with six Pomalifts and three double chairlifts. Under their mom-and-pop hands-on leadership, it became a year-round destination resort with summer activities and programs as well as a vastly expanded two-mile wide ski area with 667[Read More…]

by March 1, 2021 5 comments Ski History
Kruckenhauser was a ski photographer as well as a pioneer of the Austrian technique.  This photo is by him.

A Brief History Of Skiing “Style”

Author’s Note : I owe much of the following to a close personal friend. This is wholly my interpretation of his observations, it does not necessarily reflect or deny his views. In France In the 1940s/50s France and Austria began competing for increasing skiing tourism. The rivalry was both commercial and political. Each wanted a national “product,” supposedly better than their[Read More…]

by February 22, 2021 11 comments Ski History
Karl and June Acker took over from Janet and continued to expand the resort.

Women Played Integral Role at One of Nation’s Oldest Ski Areas

[Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] Janet Davis Mead, June Aker, Verlene Belden All Kept Pico Going And Growing, Despite Obstacles and Challenges. Vermont’s Pico Mountain survived a war, two owners’ deaths, and a neighbor called Killington to become one of the 30 oldest continually operating ski areas in the country. It’s a feat[Read More…]

by February 15, 2021 12 comments East, Ski History, Ski Heroes
Jan Brunvand, age 3

Growing Up Norwegian-American on Skis

A classic ski poster shows a blonde baby in a quaint wooden cradle, one outstretched hand holding ski poles, with a pair of skis protruding from the other side. The caption is “Norway. The Cradle of  Ski-ing.” This poster reminds me of my roots. I was on skis from before I can remember. An undated snapshot in the family album proves this.[Read More…]

by January 12, 2021 4 comments Ski History, Nostalgia
Mystery Glimpse: Season Retrospective

Mystery Glimpse: Season Retrospective

Last Week This is an Engen family photo, depicting Alf Engen himself ski-joring over a mini-ski jump behind a cantering horse. According to Jon Green, from the Alf Engen Museum, Alf participated in ski-joring quite often in Jackson Hole and Sun Valley in the mid- to late-30s,  While he was most known as a ski jumper, having won the national[Read More…]

by April 23, 2019 0 comments Ski History
Credit: Alf Engen Museum

Mystery Glimpse: Up, Up And Giddy-Up

Horses And Skiing Have A History. Yes, skijoring.  But where, who, when?  Anyone ever skijor? What’s it like? Many thanks to the Alf Engen Museum, Park City, UT, for contributing this spirited photo of skijoring in (hint, hint) the West. The Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation was established in 1989 with a mission to preserve the rich history of skiing[Read More…]

by April 17, 2019 1 comment Ski History
Miss Tweedie Goes Skiing In Norway

Miss Tweedie Goes Skiing In Norway

“Was ever anything so vexatious?” One of the most enthusiastic English Victorian tourists who made a ski trip to Norway was Mrs. Alec Tweedie, author of A Winter Jaunt to Norway (1893). Not only did she sketch a vivid picture of Norwegian skiing equipment, technique, and terrain, but she also reported on the second-ever Holmenkollen Day events. Mrs. Tweedie, then[Read More…]

by April 1, 2019 1 comment Ski History
Credit: New England Ski Museum archive

Mystery Glimpse: This Lady Created The First…

…What? Hints:  New Hampshire. She went to Smith. Her husband’s last name was the name of the creation. Many thanks to the New England Ski Museum, now with an Eastern Slope branch in North Conway, NH, in addition to their home base at the foot of the Cannon Mountain gondola, Franconia. Last Week Yes, Buddy Werner is the skier on[Read More…]

by March 19, 2019 5 comments Ski History, Features
Jubilation at the vintage fashion show at the Hannes Schneider Meister Cup. Credit: Tamsin Venn

History Lives At Cranmore Mountain

Celebrating Hannes Schneider, A Pioneer Of Alpine Skiing In North America. Every year, the Hannes Schneider Meister Cup Race, sponsored by the New England Ski Museum and Cranmore Mountain, NH, celebrates the legacy of the venerable Austrian ski instructor. For 23 years, the Cup has drawn people to Cranmore from all over to race or just cruise on this low[Read More…]

by March 18, 2019 1 comment Ski History, East
Book Review: Boarding Southern Vermont

Book Review: Boarding Southern Vermont

[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com is again asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.  This year, we have a mix of premiums for different level of[Read More…]

by February 21, 2019 0 comments Ski History, East
Two jumpers? Looks like a long time ago.

Mystery Glimpse: More Ski Jumping

[Editor Note: As the new year begins, SeniorsSkiing.com is again asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.  This year, we have a mix of[Read More…]

by February 20, 2019 3 comments Ski History
Lessons From Folk Tale: X-C Ski Adventure

Lessons From Folk Tale: X-C Ski Adventure

[Editor Note: As the new year begins, SeniorsSkiing.com is again asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.  This year, we have a mix of[Read More…]

by February 13, 2019 1 comment Ski History, Features
70s Ski Testing: On The Snow

70s Ski Testing: On The Snow

Step 2: Go Out, Do It. One of the joys of working at Ski Magazine was that I was paid to test skis!!!  Ski manufacturers shipped skis to our lab for testing and when it was completed, the skis were covered with self-adhesive shelf-paper and numbered so the testers couldn’t identify the ski.  Mother Nature dictated our location and we[Read More…]

by January 23, 2019 2 comments Ski History