Skiing Sun Valley: A History from Union Pacific to the Holdings

by John W. Lundin

Overview

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 Award-winning ski historian John W. Lundin celebrates America's first destination ski resort using unpublished Union Pacific documents, oral histories, contemporaneous accounts and more than 150 historic images.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467143936
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	11/09/2020
Series:	Sports
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	1,061,659
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

The great-grandson of early Wood River Valley pioneers, John W. Lundin is an attorney, historian and author. He has written extensively on the histories of Washington and the Wood River Valley. In 2018, his book Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass received an award as outstanding regional ski history book from the International Ski History Association. John is a founder of the Washington State Ski & Snowboard Museum and serves on its board. His website is www.johnwlundin.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 11

Introduction 13

Part 1 Union Pacific and Averell Harriman Struggle with the Great Depression

1 Harriman Fortune Was Based on the Union Pacific Railroad 24

2 1932: Averell Harriman Becomes Union Pacific's Board Chair, Looks for Ways to Increase Passenger Revenue 30

Part 2 Averell Harriman and Union Pacific Build an American St. Moritz

3 1935: Harriman Decides to Build a Ski Resort and Sends Count Schaffgotsch to Find a Site 36

4 Harriman Begins a Fast-Track Process to Acquire Property, Plan a Ski Resort, and Convince the Union Pacific Board to Approve His Project 52

5 Harriman and Friends Plan the Sun Valley Resort 66

6 Sun Valley Lodge Is Built, Chairlifts Are Designed and Installed on Dollar and Ruud Mountains 75

Part 3 Sun Valley Opens December 1936, Changing Skiing in This Country

7 December 1936: Sun Valley Resort Opens to Great Acclaim 96

8 Skiing on Proctor and Dollar Mountains and in the Backcountry around Sun Valley 111

9 1937: Sun Valley Sponsors the Country's First Major International Alpine Ski Competition and Is a Success in Its First Year 122

10 Summer and Fall 1937: The Village and Challenger Inn Are Built: A Ski Jump and lift Are Built on Ruud Mountain 138

11 1938: Challenger Inn and Village Open; Women Race in Harriman Cup; Dick Durrance Locates Race Course on Warm Springs 154

12 Sun Valley Expands Its Backcountry Skiing with Sno-Cats and Huts 183

13 Harriman Finds His Man: Pat Rogers Is Hired as Sun Valley's Manager 197

14 1939: Friedl Pfeifer Takes Over Ski School; Harriman Cup Downhill Is Held on Bald Mountain 203

15 Bald Mountain Is Prepared for Skiing: Three Chairlifts Are Installed; Otto Lang Joins Ski School 219

16 Sun Valley Attracts the Rich, Famous, and Top Skiers 229

Part 4 Bald Mountain Opens for Skiing as World War II Looms on the Horizon

17 1940: Bald Mountain Opening Begins a New Era in American Skiing; Durrance Wins His Third Harriman Cup 252

18 Ski Season of 1941 Is Busy as War Looms: Harriman Leaves for War Work 279

Part 5 Sun Valley during World War II

19 Skiing Continues but War Begins to Affect the Country; Sun Valley Closes in December 1942 294

20 1943: Sun Valley Becomes a Naval Rehabilitation Center; Skiers Join Army Mountain Troops 304

21 Union Pacific Must Decide Whether to Reopen Sun Valley after the War 311

Part 6 Sun Valley after World War II

22 Sun Valley Reopens in 1947 to Changed Social and Economic Conditions 320

23 1947: U.S. Olympic Alpine Team Is Selected and Trains at Sun Valley for the 1948 Games 336

24 1948: Gretchen Fraser Wins Two Olympic Medals at St. Moritz and Becomes an American Heroine 347

25 1949: Upgrades Are Made to the Ski School, Mountain, and Village; French Ski Team Races in Sun Valley 360

26 Counter-Culture at Sun Valley: Warren Miller's Life as a Ski Bum, 1946-1949 370

27 1950: FIS World Championships Bring Europe's Best Skiers to Aspen and Sun Valley 380

28 U.S. Olympic Team Is Selected at Sun Valley: SVSC Skiers Dominate; Ski Club President Al Lindley Is Killed 386

29 1952: Olympic Games Held in Oslo; Killer Avalanche at Lookout Bowl; Pat Rogers Leaves 394

30 Warm Springs Canyon Is Developed 406

31 1953-1964: Harriman Cup Attracts Top Racers; Hemingway Commits Suicide 413

Part 7 Sun Valley after Union Pacific

32 1964: Continued Decline of Passenger Travel Leads to Sun Valley's Sale to Janss Company 434

33 Amtrak Ends Passenger Service Nationally; Rail Service into the Wood River Valley Is Canceled 452

34 Holding Family Buys Sun Valley in 1977, Restores the Resort to International Status 456

Epilogue 465

Postscript 469

Appendix A Union Pacific Land Purchases for Sun Valley 471

Appendix B Sun Valley Skiers Inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame 475

Appendix C Bald Mountain Ski Run Names 477

Notes 485

Bibliography 495

Index 505

About the Author 511

Editorial Reviews

"Skiing Sun Valley is a deeply re-searched, scholarly book about the connections between the Sun Valley of today and the people, places, cultures, economics, wars, inventions, wilderness, ecology, risks, and personal relationships in the 19th and 20th centuries that made it what it will be in the 21st. Every aspect of the story is accompanied by an abundance of photos that on their own are worth the price of the book. Every person with a connection to and love for Sun Valley will be better informed, inspired and wiser after reading it." Skiing History July/August: "A Must Read for Sun Valley Fans," 2021. - ski racer and author, Dick Dorworth

"There have been many attempts to tell the story of Sun Valley, but this book does so with a thoroughness and flair that this iconic resort deserves. With over 150 photographs and the benefits of extensive research, this book unfolds a history that dazzles with tales of celebrities...and icons of American skiing...Here is the storied past of a one of a kind place in a book that does its heritage justice." Skade award from the International Ski History Association

From the Publisher