Books for the Skier in Your Life

Union Pacific Railroad's Averell Harriman had a bold vision to restore rail passenger traffic decimated by the Great Depression: create ski tourism in Idaho's remote Wood River Valley. A $1.5 million investment opened Sun Valley in December 1936 with a lavish lodge, luxury shopping, Austrian ski instructors and extensive backcountry skiing. Prestigious tournaments featured the world's best skiers. Chairlifts invented by Union Pacific engineers serviced skiers quickly and comfortably. Ski instructor and filmmaker Otto Lang recalled that seemingly overnight, it became "a magnet for the 'beautiful people,' a meeting place for movie stars and moguls, chairmen and captains of industry, Greek shipping tycoons, and peripatetic playboys--and playgirls--of the international social set." After World War II and Harriman's departure, Union Pacific's willingness to pay the $500,000 yearly subsidy waned. Bill Janss purchased it in 1964 and reimagined it as a year-round resort but lacked the capital for growth. Sinclair Oil owners Earl and Carol Holding acquired it in 1977, revitalizing it into a premier resort with international status. Award-winning ski historian John W. Lundin celebrates America's first destination ski resort using unpublished Union Pacific documents, oral histories, contemporaneous accounts and more than 150 historic images.

While Mohawk Mountain is known as a small, family-friendly ski area, many are unaware of the large impact this mountain had on the sport. Its founder, Walt Schoenknecht, changed the face of modern skiing when he helped create the first snowmaking machine in 1950. That “artificial snow” machine, first tested at Mohawk, received the first U.S. patent for such a device. Today, Mohawk is one of the few surviving family-owned ski areas in the United States, and Schoenknecht's daughter, Carol Lugar, remains its president. Mohawk has had to survive a devastating tornado, challenging weather and economic headwinds to compete with larger corporate-owned ski resorts. Today, the small mountain in Cornwall, Connecticut remains a favorite, with new lifts, expanded snowmaking, more ski school lessons, snowtubing and night skiing. Local author James Shay reveals the unique contributions of Mohawk and Walt Schoenknecht to the sport of skiing.

The mountain that saved a dying town.
Long before Mount Bachelor became one of the country's largest ski areas, the booming timber mills drew workers to Oregon's forested hills. In the early 1920s, Scandinavian immigrants started a community ski club, and their passion for the mountains created a vibrant outdoor culture centered on skiing and winter recreation. As the timber industry collapsed in the 1950s, Bend businessman Bill Healy opened a small ski hill on the slopes of Bachelor Butte. That resort, set in the heart of the Deschutes National Forest, helped turn a fading logging town into a hub for tourism and outdoor recreation.
Join author Glenn Voelz as he explores how Mount Bachelor became a vital part of the region's culture, history and economy.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Lake Tahoe and the Donner Summit region became California’s first developed winter sports areas. Plentiful snowfall and newly built highways opened up the summer playground for visitors year-round, and skiing flourished. The Sierra Ski Club formed in 1925, attracting members eager to experience everything the mountains had to offer. People flocked to the slopes, visiting places like Clair Tappaan Lodge in Soda Springs, boasting one of the summit’s earliest ski tows, and the Yuba Gap Lodge, a pioneer in night skiing. Join Ingrid P. Wicken, award-winning author and ski historian, as she recounts the fascinating beginnings of this celebrated ski hub.

Some of the northern Adirondacks' most beloved ski areas have sadly not survived the test of time despite the pristine powder found from the High Peaks to the St. Lawrence. Even after hosting the Winter Olympics twice, Lake Placid hides fourteen abandoned ski areas. In the Whiteface area, the once-prosperous resort Paleface, or Bassett Mountain, succumbed after a series of bad winters. Juniper Hills was the biggest little hill in the North Country" and welcomed families in the Northern Tier for more than fifteen years. Big Tupper in Tupper Lake and Otis Mountain in Elizabethtown defied the odds and were lovingly restored in recent years. Jeremy Davis of the New England/Northeast Lost Ski Areas Project rediscovers these lost trails and shares beloved memories of the people who skied on them."

The snow-laden slopes of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains have beckoned Southland skiers since the 1930s. Many once-cherished ski areas have disappeared, yet their history remains. A short drive from the sun and sand, places like Rebel Ridge and Kratka Ridge offered snowy escapes. Thrilling races were held at the First International Pine Needle Ski Tournament in North Hollywood, while the San Diego Ski Club boasted Dorothy McClung Wullich, the first female member of the National Ski Patrol. Ingrid Wicken, ski historian and founder of the California Ski Library, chronicles Southern California's lost mountain getaways and the vanished ski areas that introduced everything from rope tows to artificial snow.

Colorado's central and southern mountains still draw droves of skiers to the slopes. However, many of the historic runs and areas that were popular over the past century--some near the current resorts of Aspen, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Purgatory, Telluride and Vail--no longer exist. Local hills like Whittaker Ranch near Eagle featured little more than a rope tow and warming hut. Now underneath Lake Dillon, Prestrud Jump hosted tournaments where Olympian Anders Haugen broke ski-jumping world records. From Lands End near Grand Junction to Sugarite near Trinidad, from swanky Hoosier Pass in Summit County to Stoner in Montezuma County, authors Caryn and Peter Boddie take readers on a tour of the lost ski areas of central and southern Colorado.

Dozens of towering ski jumps once dotted the landscape across the northeastern United States. Introduced by Norwegian immigrants in the late 1800s, ski jumping became popular in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. From Lake Placid to Salisbury, crowds thronged to the jumps to watch. Youngsters like the Tokle brothers and Roy Sherwood rose to stardom. All of that changed in the 1980s, though, with the end of college jumping. Today, only a handful of jumping clubs remain. But in a rare few communities, a strong sense of tradition keeps the spirit alive. Join author and coach Ariel Picton Kobayashi as she examines ski jumping's fascinating identity as both a small-town tradition and thrilling sport.

Nestled amid California's High Sierra Peaks, two valleys have captured the imaginations of skiers and mountain explorers year after year. Squaw Valley made a name for itself on the world stage as the host of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, just over a high ridge, Alpine Meadows was developed by devoted local skiers and Bay Area families. Discover the stories of Wayne Poulsen, John Reily and Alex Cushing as they battle avalanches, fires, floods, public opinion and the whims of mountain weather. This revised edition celebrates these two North Lake Tahoe locales, now united and looking to the future. Local award-winning author and ski historian Eddy Ancinas shares the history of these two valleys as no one has done before.

In 1938, developer Harvey D. Gibson rented a rope tow from ski shop founder Carroll P. Reed and moved it to Cranmore Mountain. This was the humble beginnings of what would become a booming ski industry in North Conway, New Hampshire. Snow trains of the 1930s would transport skiers and snowsport enthusiasts to this idyllic winter playground nestled in the White Mountains. Cranmore has been home to numerous ski legends, including Austrian ski great Hannes Schneider, renowned as the Father of Modern Skiing"; his son, U.S. Ski Hall of Famer Herbert Schneider; and Toni Matt, winner of the 1939 Mount Washington Inferno. Join author Tom Eastman as he takes on the history of the snowy trails of the Cranmore Mountain Resort."

Join author and longtime Cannon skier Meghan McCarthy McPhaul to learn about the history of this historic mountain that is steeped in legends and lore.

Rising at the western edge of New Hampshire's magnificently beautiful Franconia Notch State Park, the granite-domed mountain has been the playground of skiers since the 1930s. Here, the country's first down-mountain ski trail was cleared in 1933, the first aerial tramway was built on the mountain and the first professional ski patrol was established. More than a dozen members of the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame--whose contributions to the sport include historic racing feats, the development of ski techniques and designing countless ski areas across the country and around the world--have called Cannon their home hill.

Discover the ghosts of former ski areas that made the White Mountains the destination it is today.

The White Mountains of New Hampshire are world-renowned for the array of skiing opportunities offered to every skier, from beginner to gold-medal Olympian. Today over a dozen resorts entice tourists and locals each year with their well-manicured trails, high-speed lifts and slope-side lodging. But scattered throughout this region are long-forgotten ski areas that can still be found. In the White Mountains alone, 60 ski areas have closed since the 1930s. Author Jeremy Davis has compiled rare photographs, maps and personal memories to ensure these beloved ski outposts that have been cherished by generations of skiers are given recognition for transforming the White Mountains into a premier ski destination.

Jeremy Davis of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project brings lost locations back to life, chronicling their rich histories and contributions to the ski industry.

Hidden amongst the hills and mountains of southern Vermont are the remnants of sixty former ski areas, their slopes returning to forest and their lifts decaying. Today, only fourteen remain open and active in southern Vermont. Though they offer some incredible skiing, most lack the intimate, local feel of these lost ski trails. Jeremy Davis, creator of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project, looks into the over-investment, local competition, weather variation, changing skier habits, insurance costs and just plain bad luck that caused these ski areas to succumb and melt back into the landscape. From the family-operated Hogback in Windham County to Clinton Gilbert's farm in Woodstock, where the very first rope tow began operation in the winter of 1934, these once popular ski areas left an indelible trace on the hearts of their ski communities and the history of southern Vermont.

The Berkshires of Massachusetts have long been known as a winter sports paradise. Over the years, many of these ski areas faded away and are nearly forgotten.

Forty-four ski areas arose from the 1930s to the 1970s. The Thunderbolt Ski Trail put the Berkshires on the map for challenging terrain. Major ski resorts like Brodie Mountain sparked the popularity of night skiing with lighted trails. All-inclusive resorts - like Oak n' Spruce, Eastover and Jug End - brought thousands of new skiers into the sport between the 1940s and 1970s. Jeremy Davis of the New England/Northeast Lost Ski Areas Project brings these lost locations back to life, chronicling their rich histories and contributions to the ski industry.

"Wherever two or three Norwegians gathered together, they constructed a jump and held competitions.'? -Harold "Cork'? Anson

Ski jumping, once Washington's most popular winter sport, was introduced by Norwegian immigrants in the early twentieth century. It began at Spokane's Browne's Mountain and Seattle's Queen Anne Hill, then moved to midsummer tournaments on Mount Rainier in 1917 and expanded statewide as new ski clubs formed. Washington tournaments attracted the world's best jumpers--Birger and Sigurd Ruud, Alf Engen, Sigurd Ulland and Reidar Andersen, among others. In 1941, Torger Tokle set two national distance records here in just three weeks. Regional ski areas hosted national and international championships as well as Olympic tryouts, entertaining spectators until Leavenworth's last tournament in 1978.

Lawyer, historian and award-winning author John W. Lundin recreates the excitement of this nearly forgotten ski jumping heritage.

Before it became home to generations of skiers, Gunstock Mountain began as a Works Progress Administration recreation project during the Great Depression that transformed the small farming community of Gilford into one of central New Hampshire's most renowned skiing resorts. Join local ski historian Carol Anderson as she takes on the triumphs and defeats of four high-altitude jumps and the history of the snowy trails of the Gunstock Mountain Resort. Approaching its seventy-fifth anniversary, Gunstock has molded the careers of champion skiers and Olympians, including two-time silver medalist Penny Pitou, ski icon T. Gary Allen and the ski jumping sensation Torger Tokle. Anderson pays tribute to those individuals who have worked, skied or played a part in this iconic mountain of the Lakes Region.

Relive the exciting early days of skiing when Snoqualmie Pass was the epicenter of the sport. Ski jumping tournaments attracted world-class competitors to Cle Elum, Beaver Lake on the Summit and the Milwaukee Ski Bowl. The Mountaineers' twenty-mile race from Snoqualmie to Stampede Pass, dubbed "the world's longest and hardest race," was a pinnacle of cross-country skiing. Alpine skiing began in private ski clubs and expanded in 1934 with the country's first municipal ski area, known as the Seattle Municipal Ski Park. And the sport peaked when the Milwaukee Ski Bowl at Hyak opened in 1938. With train access, a modern ski lodge, an overhead cable lift and free ski lessons from the Seattle Times, the Ski Bowl revolutionized local skiing. Lawyer and local ski historian John W. Lundin follows the historic tracks through the genesis of American skiing.

Ski historian Jeremy Davis chronicles the history of vanished ski areas of the Adirondacks.

The Adirondack region has long been a favorite of skiers, as its beautiful mountains and deep snow cover provide it with the perfect landscape. Downhill ski areas developed during the Great Depression, when New Yorkers looked for an affordable escape to beat the winter blues. Over the coming decades, ski areas expanded with new lifts, lodges and trails. Despite the popularity of the sport, many ski areas have disappeared, yet countless people still hold fond memories of them. Ski historian Jeremy Davis chronicles the history of these vanished ski areas with photographs and memories from those who enjoyed them, while also paying homage to restored and classic skiing opportunities still available in the Adirondacks.

Avid skiers have flocked to the northern reaches of the Centennial State for over a century. While the prized powder remains the same, the top skiing destinations bear only a faint resemblance to the resorts of previous generations. Neighborhood slopes, such as Tabernash Hill, featured little more than a rope tow and a storage shed. Other spots like Estes Park's Old Man Mountain held tournaments and contests with Olympic participants. From the Cathy Cisar Winter Playground in Craig to Cheyenne Mountain's Ski Broadmoor and everywhere in between, join authors Caryn and Peter Boddie on a tour through the lost ski areas of northern Colorado and the Front Range.