How to Aspen: A History of Skiing and America’s Premier Resort

Part 1: 4500BC – 1889

Introduction, ancient history of skiing in Scandinavia to the first recored use of skis in North America and skiing's beginnings in California with the Gold Rush, Snowshoe Thompson, skiing developments in Europe, development of the North American West and early Aspen — (Flash | 10.8 MB)

Part 2: 1890 – 1936

The growth of skiing's popularity, industrialization of Aspen, develoment of modern ski in Europe, influence of immigrant Scandinavian's in Aspen, WWI, The Quiet Years in Aspen, skiing images become part of popular culture and the development of skiing as we know it today, development of Sun Valley in Idaho and of the Highland-Bavarian near Aspen — (Flash | 14.1 MB)
Part 3: 1937 – 1947 Early skiing and ski-racing personalities, development of tows and lifts, establishment of the ski patrol, improvements in equipment and ski clothing, WWII and the10th Mountain Division, Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke arrive, establishment of the Aspen Ski School, the first Roch Cup race, 1947 dedication of Aspen Mountain — (Flash | 9.9 MB)

Part 4: 1947 – 2005

The Mystique: Aspen's golden years, Aspen becomes Ski Capital USA, development ot the Highlands, Buttermilk and Snowmass, flourishing of ski fashions and equipment, to skiing in 2005 — (Flash | 15.2 MB)
Wrap-up & Credits (Flash | 610 K)
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Thanks to the following businesses and individuals for making this presentation possible:

Aspen Music Festival & School
Aspen Skiing Company
Franz Berko
Colorado Historical Society
Computer Techs | Archie Maclean
Miggs & Dick Durrance
Larry Fredrick
Charles Grover
JJ Gerbaz Collection
Patrick Henry
Ann Hodges | Ann Hodges Graphics
Fritz Kaiser
John Kelly
Joan Lane
Ken Missbrenner
Orthopaedic Associates of Aspen & Glenwood Springs
Jackie Mastrangelo
Loey Ringquist
Sport Obermeyer
Team Russell
U.S. Forest Service
and anonymous donors

Special thanks to Dick Osur

© 2005 Aspen Historical Society

How to Aspen Bibliograhy and Image Use
Sport Obermeyer | Aspen CO
1960s fashion
Skier jumping off a cliff
Skiers at the Aspen Highlands
Two boys carrying skis
Hot-dogger
Paraglider on skis
American Skiing | Craig Peterson
Snowshoe Thompson on skis
Two women racers
Dick Durrance at the finish line
Maria Bogner
The Art of Skiing, 1856 – 1936 | Gary H. Schwartz | Wood River Publishing, Tiburon, CA 1989
Cave drawing of a skier
Early Norwegian hunters
Bear hunt
Snowshoe Thompson’s and his Route
Laporte, CA race illustration
Racers working on skis
Racers ready to start
Telemark poster
Breaking with poles
Fridtjof Nansen illustration
Harpers Weekly cover
The Graphic cover
Members of the Swiss Army
Jumping in Ishpeming
Dartmouth Winter Carnival
Dartmouth Ski Club
Swiss Skiers
French troops going to battle
German WWI posters
Women's Home Companion cover
Puck Magazine cover
Harper’s Bazaar cover
Coke-a-Cola ad
Saturday Evening Post magazine cover
“Why Do Men Ski?” ad
McCallum Silk Hosiery ad
American Legion Monthly cover
Judge Magazine cover
Ladies Home Journal magazine cover
Pictorial Review magazine cover
Burberry ad
The New Yorker magazine cover
Sun Valley ad
LIFE cover for Sun Valley
1936 Olympic posters
Hannes Schneider with skis
First Rope Tow
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The Book of American Skiing | Ezra Bowen
J.B. Lippencott Company, Philadelphia & NY 1963
Buy this book
Come Ski with Me | Stein Eriksen
Edited by Marin Luray
W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., NY 1966
“Bog” Ski
“Flight of the Birchlegs”
Norwegian ski personalities
The Graphic cover, jumpers
Jumpers with reed bindings
Buy this book
Dick Durrance: The Man on the Medal | The Life and Times of America’s First Great Ski Racer, as told by John Jerome | Durrance Enterprises, Inc., Snowmass Village, CO 1995
Buy this book
Nice Goin’, My Life on Skis | Friedl Pfeifer with Mort Lund | Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Inc., Missoula, MT 1993
Rocky Mt. News article “…A Ringing Success.”
Buy this book
Nine Thousand Years of Skis | Ted Bays | Ishpeming, Michigan: National Ski Hall of Fame Press, 1980
Sondre Nordheim’s Osier binding
Ski: Fifty Years in North America | Richard Needham | Harry N. Abrams, Inc., NY 1987
Fall on rope-tow
First US chair-lift, Sun Valley
Union Pacific test for lift
Sun Valley instructors
The first Lange boot
The Lady Lange
Skiing The Americas | John Jay | MacMillan Company, NY 1947
Early ski fashion, young man
Dick Durrance holding skis
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Skiing Heritage Magazine | various editions from AHS archives
Dick Durrance receives the Harriman Cup
Freidl Pfeifer teaching in Sun Valley
Otto Lange greets a crowd in Sun Valley
SATURDAY EVENING POST cover by Horace Quick
Steve Knowlton on patrol in Italy
Visit this site
A Pictorial History of Downhill Skiing | Stan Cohen | Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1985
HVAM safety binding ad
Cable binding illustration
The first buckle boot, the Henke
Buy this book
Web Sources
Polar map: antiqueprints.com
Scandinavia & Northern Areas: alte-landkarten.de
Skiing hunters by Olaus Magnus: wildsnow.com
Finland/Norway/Sweden map: lib.utexas.edu
Gustav Vasa: wikipedia.org
Military skiers by Olaus Magnus: dogstar.com
270 & 210cm skis: elverumske.no
Shooting soldiers: elverumske.no
Sking soldier: elverumske.no
1808 War illustration: elverumske.no
Beloit WI historic map: wisconsinhistory.org
California Gold Rush handbill:wikipedia.org
Webbed snowshoes: lakesuperior.com
Colorado historic map: jhuapl.edu
Hayden Survey drawings: fortlewis.edu
Austrian map: alabamamaps.ua.edu
Mathias Zadrasky: aeiou.at
Lillianfeld Ski School: mathias-zdarsky.de
Ishpeming, MI historic map: wisconsinhistory.org
Oak Hills J-Bar: nelsap.org
German tanks: battletanks.com
Canon Mtn. aerial tram: firsttracksonline.com
Mt. Cranmore Skimobile: firsttracksonline.com
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs poster: allposters.com
Stowe: greenmountaininn.com
Mt. Snow: visitvermont.com
Whip Jones & Bob Lang: skimuseum.net
WhipJones, Bob Lang and Bob Beattie photos:skimuseum.net
20th Century Fox logo: 20th Century Fox
Gondola (sm): skiaspensnowmass.com
X-Games: stayaspensnowmass.com
Squaw Valley Olympics images: tahoesbest.com
Cortina Olympics emblem and image: dolomit.org
Lake Placid pin: classicpins.com
Murren Switzerland poster: art.com
First Slalom Race: skimuseum.net
Sutter's Mill: museumca.org
California map: lib.utexas.edu
Kandahar racer: kandaharlodge.com
Vintage Eruopean ski posters: allposters.com
Vintage fashion image: allposters.com
1936 Summer Olympics images: ushmm.org
All other images are from the archives of the Aspen Historical Society

© Aspen Historical Society 2005


Learn more about the history of skiing:

Re-creation Through Recreation: Aspen Skiing From 1870–1970
by Anne Gilbert. A detailed history of the development of skiing in Aspen from the days of the miners to the boom-town of the 70s.

From Tip to Tale—A Brief History of The Development of Ski Equipment: A comprehensive report compiled and written by AHS 1998 research intern Allysun Bryden. ©Aspen Historical Society

Silver Ingots to Silver Lamé—The Birth of the Ski Industry
Originally published by the Aspen Chamber of Commerce, c. 1980, and written by Candida Harper.

For kids:
Skiing Games

What will skiers of the future look like, color in an illustrated map of Aspen, learn wonderful words from skiing's past and present, make your own snowflakes and pinecone people, write your own "Powder Poetry," and learn important "dos" and "don'ts" for skiing etiquette.

Support the Aspen Historical Society and projects like this.
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