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PICTORIAL SKI HISTORY OF SUN VALLEY BY BASIL SERVICE PAGE 6 |
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Virginia Hill |
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A murdered Bugsy Siegel |
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1950 Sun Valley Ski School |
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Tuckerman’s Ravine |
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Toni Matt |
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Emile Allais skiing with Otto Lang |
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John Litchfield |
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Jack Reddish, Stein Erikson, Sigi Engl and Christian Pravda |
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Picabo Street |
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Christian Cooper |
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Suzie Corrock |
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Gretchen Fraser and Andrea Mead |
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Gretchen Fraser |
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Sigi Engl and Groucho Marx |
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Upon arriving in Sun Valley on January of 1950, Virgina Hill’s affiliation with the mob as well as legendary mobster Bugsy Seigel, who was found murdered in Hill’s home just a few years prior, rapidly became common knowledge among Sun Valley’s many employees who were often the benefactors of her generous 100 dollar tips. It was rumored that every week Hill would receive one shoe box filled with 100 dollar bills, presumably as hush money to maintain her silence of underworld figures. With such a dependable means of affluence at her disposal, hiring a ski instructor was no problem and soon the exclusive services of Hans Hauser were acquired. Hauser followed Hill to Colorado where in February 24, 1950, they were married. In November of 1950 Virginia gave birth to their son Peter, however the marriage would soon sour and a divorce ensued. |
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Hauser eventually, in 1966, acquired a job managing a casino in his home town of Salzburg where his brother Max invited him and his ex-wife, Hill to dinner. After dinner, Hill wanted to walk home alone. Her body was found the next morning; cause of death, poison and suspected suicide. In 1974, Hauser’s body was found, also an apparent suicide hanging. Rainer Kolb, Sun Valley ski school director from the mid-1970s thru the late 90s, spoke with Max Hauser several years latter. Max made the peculiar observation that both Hill and Hans had identical smiles on their faces when their bodies were found. |
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Lang continued as Sun Valley’s ski school director thru 1950 where his pragmatic approach to innovative concepts moved America “alpine” instruction to even higher levels. Lang hired Austrian downhill champion Toni Matt (Famous for his 1939 schuss down the head-wall of Tuckerman’s Ravine on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington) and French World Champion Emile Allais, who’s revolutionary skiing methods would circumvent the snowplow to stem to rotation Austrian system and lead people directly into parallel. Allais’s alternative to the “Arlberg” system alleviated the need of upper-body rotation to initiate the turn; however, many of the fundamentals in Schneider’s techniques still ruled supreme and upon Allais’s departure, only minor changes to Lang’s “Arlberg” teaching sequences were noted. |
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Lang was a true legend when it came to American ski instruction, publishing two books on the subject, but soon his passions turned to film and a career in Hollywood’s movie industry. John Litchfield assumed control of the ski school the winter of 1950-51. Being the first non-Austrian to head Sun Valley’s ski school, which by now was bathed in a tradition of attracting the World’s best skiers to its ranks, was a tall order to fill; however, in his short reign as director he served that legacy well.
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Litchfield grew up in Auborn, Main and later joined the Dartmouth ski team where he competed with Dick Durrance and was a pupil of Walter Prager (Swiss skiing Champion in the 1930s). His first visit to Sun Valley occurred in 1937, in an inter-collegiate ski competition between Dartmouth and the University of Washington which, coincidentally, happened to be coached by Otto Lang at that time. Litchfield was overwhelmed with Sun Valley’s treeless slopes and returned in 1939 to cut ski trails under Friedl Pfeifer’s guidance. Litchfield became a Sun Valley ski school member the winter of 1939-40, instructing celebrities such as Gary Cooper and Van Johnson, until the outbreak of the Second World War resulted in his volunteering for the 10th Mountain Division. |
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Litchfield trained at Camp Hale with fellow Sun Valley/Ketchum residence and ski school colleague’s, Florian Haemmerle, Fritz Earle, Sepp Froehlich, Sigi Engl and Ted Handwerk. Litchfield encountered combat during the 10th Mountain’s Italian campaign but managed to endure the war uninjured. Upon his return to the states, Litchfield traveled to Colorado where, for three years, assisted Friedl Pfeifer with his creation of an infant Aspen. 1948 found Litchfield back on Sun Valley’s ski school, as Otto Lang’s head instructor, and upon Lang’s departure, became Sun Valley’s first American born ski school director. As director, Litchfield was a good administrator and charismatic leader, however his greatest accomplishments were revealed through his hiring practices. 1952 Olympic medallist Stein Eriksen, from Norway and Christian Pravda, from Austria both, almost immediately upon winning their emblems, became member of the Sun Valley ski school. |
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Litchfield’s goal as director was to maintain an international flavor with a high degree of skiing excellence which on both accounts, he succeeded significantly. In 1953, upon the outbreak of the Korean War, Litchfield returned to service with the U.S. army whereupon another of Austria’s international skiing champion claimed the title of Sun Valley Ski School director. Sigi Engl, from Kitzbuhel, ruled Sun Valley’s school for the next quarter century pioneering yet another epoch of “alpine” skiing superiority in instructional ingenuity.
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The 1930s truly were revolutionary years in World “alpine” skiing history. Innovations in uphill transportation brought about whole new dimensions in “alpine” skiing techniques which allowed skiers a freedom to concentrate their energies solely on the downhill aspects of the sport. With skiers able to make 10 to 20 downhill runs per day rather than the 1 to 2 runs allotted by more strenuous “alpine touring” techniques, skiers were able to advance their downhill skills much quicker and the sport of “alpine” skiing rapidly gained popularity. |
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Sun Valley’s ski school characterized this unique occurrence in skiing history, not as a follower but as a pioneer, by splitting its forces into two divisions. While the “alpine touring” ski school would quickly succumb to the domineering presence of the chair-lift, advances in “alpine skiing” techniques and the “downhill racer,” both institutes developed their own unique niche in American as well as World skiing history. In the world of “ski racing, Sun Valley’s dominance, as well as influence, to date, has been nothing more than spectacular with more “alpine skiing” Olympic medals reaped from its slopes than any other U.S. ski resort. |
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Olympic triumphs of Gretchen Fraser, Andrea Mead, Suzie Corrock, Christian Cooper and Picabo Street epitomize these traditions of excellence. Promoting Sun Valley’s “alpine” skiing move into the history books were a worldly collection of extraordinary individuals whose incredibly ambitious natures, as well as intriguing lifestyles, funneled to the Wood River Valley’s snow-covered slopes. While the ski school’s limelight in history may have occurred as circumstances of an era, as some might argue, exposed within the soles of its pioneering founders, an everlasting mountain endeared resourcefulness ensued which transcended these historic times in a uniqueness found only in Sun Valley. ….…………To Be Continued……………….
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Gretchen Fraser and Andrea Mead Left / 1948 Woman’s Olympic Team |
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Andrea Mead |