One of the biggest influences on Colorado skiing history was the 10th Mountain Division, U.S. Army men training for high country combat in Europe against Hitler's Nazi forces. Many of these men, based at the massive Camp Hale, just outside of Leadville, Colorado near Vail, returned from duty in Europe to the surroundings they had come to know and love so well during their training, the Rocky Mountains. These men guided the future of skiing in Colorado. One of these courageous pioneers, for example, is Peter Siebert, one of the founders of Vail, and a member of the Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. Groswold Ski Factory

Many innovations came out of those days at Camp Hale. At the Museum, see the white wooden skis, painted for camouflage, and manufactured by the famed Groswold Ski Factory of Denver, renowned for making the finest wooden skis of their time. Plastic boots are nice and warm (although some would argue this!), but they're ovens compared to the wet, frigid leather lace-up boots of yesterday. Loveland Ski Area

Sadly, Camp Hale is gone now. It was demolished by the Army years ago, and although the grounds still remain, there's nothing left there but a monument, a meager portion of one building, and some plumbing connections. Some even say it was a clerical error that led the Army Corps. of Engineers to tear Camp Hale down, and that the orders to demolish another camp were mistyped. However, the memories of the camp, and all of the dedicated people who trained there, live on at the Colorado Ski Museum.

When Skiing Came To Colorado...

Gold was discovered in the mountains west of Colorado in 1859. The early pioneers soon learned that webbed snowshoes, so popular with the Native Americans of the west, and so useful in relatively flat parklands, were useless in the deep powdery snow of the high mountains. They preferred Norwegian snowshoes or skis.

Skis were handmade from pine or spruce trees and ranged in length from 8-14 feet in length. They were usually 1/2 inch thick and about 4 inches wide. They weighed about 25 lbs. One long pole 8-10 feet long was used to steer and to brake (sometimes by straddling it.) Turning was practically impossible on the long boards and one usually had to slow down and step around the pole to change direction.

The first documented use of skis in Colorado, as reported in Frank Hall’s History of Colorado, occurred during the winter of 1859-60 in a snow-locked mining camp along the Blue River near present-day Breckenridge. The 10 men remaining in camp made themselves skis and traveled down-valley where they built a cabin and claimed a town site called Eldorado West. The same history source reveals that the following winter all provisions were being carried over the range from South Park to Georgia Gulch by men on skis.

The Rocky Mountain News reported in the spring of 1860 that a party of prospectors had snowshoed (skied) over the "Snowy Range" to the Blue River diggings. Skis were new to everyone in the party and they fell so often they described their tracks as looking like a "Chinese alphabet."

Father Dyer (Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame) was one of the early settlers in Buckskin Joe (on the eastern slope of Hoosier Pass) in 1861. He braved the blizzards of Mosquito and Hoosier Passes to take the word of God to his wayward and scattered flocks in the Leadville mining district and South Park. In 1863 he signed on to carry the mail and almost perished in an avalanche. His book, The Snowshoe Itinerant, describes the pleasures and perils of traveling alone on skis across the roof of the continent.

It has been estimated by some historians that the State of Colorado would have taken another decade to settle had it not been for skis. The long runners provided a dependable way for the mail to get through when trains were stalled, when telegraph lines were down, and when drifts and avalanches prohibited travel on the primitive roads and trails.

Father Dyer was just one of the mail carriers in Colorado’s early history who provided a lifeline to the outside world. In 1880 there were over 50 skiing mail carriers in the state. These hardy mountaineers carried a compass, rubbed soot or lampblack on their faces to avoid sunburn - wore silk underwear for warmth under their great coats, and were adept at building snow caves for survival in bad storms. But the mail got through!

They traveled fifty miles at a stretch over the mountains on skis with only a simple toe strap and heel block to keep the foot in place. Harrowing tales abound of many being swept downslope by snow slides; becoming disoriented in whiteouts or breaking a ski enroute - a life threatening mishap. Some perished in the line of duty. Others lost toes and limbs to frostbite.

Mail carriers like Al Johnson (Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame) are legendary heroes. Johnson carried the mail from Crystal City, a ghost town above Marble, over Schofield Pass to Gothic, Crested Butte and Irwin. He was known far and wide as one of the best skiers in the Elk Mountains. When the gentlemen of Irwin formed a ski club, Al Johnson became a member.

For years the miners, working high on the sides of the peaks that loom over Crested Butte and Irwin, had challenged each other to races down into town. Last one down the mountain buys the cigars and oysters was the usual refrain. Bragging claims reached such a pitch that finally, in 1886, a call went out to the surrounding mining camps that a contest would be held to determine the best skier in the Rocky Mountains. A series of five circuit races were planned.

On Washington's Birthday in 1886, 25 downhill racers competed in heats on a hill above Crested Butte. Al Johnson was the favorite, but a youngster named Chal Baney who had grown up on shoes was a serious challenger. A carnival atmosphere reigned as school was let out and a special train was run to the race site. The townspeople turned out to cheer wildly for their favorites.

Five heats were run that day with the contestants being paired up by lot. Rivalry was fierce as bets were placed. Al Johnson had the fastest heat of the day, clocking in at almost 80 mph! But the most exciting heat was between Johnson and Baney. Baney was leading, but several times Johnson would be ready to pass him. Then Baney would raise his guide pole clear of the snow, double himself double on his shoes until he seemed only a small ball and instantly shoot forward until he regained the lead. Baney’s tuck, as described by the Gunnison Review Press, won the day and Al Johnson came in second.

In the third circuit race held at Irwin, the day was warm; the snow was sticky and the heroes of the first two races had a wax problem. Al Johnson trailed his competitors and came down the slope “balancing his pole on the ends of his fingers. Two other races were held that year, but no overall winner was determined.

Although Crested Butte and Gunnison staged ski races in 1887, the circuit died out. Already the surrounding mining camps were being abandoned as the gold and silver ores played out.

But people in the Colorado mountain towns from Telluride in the southwest to Steamboat Springs in the north kept on skiing. Winter ski outings were popular; young people organized ski parties; winter carnivals featured cross-country ski races, skating and tobogganing. For the next 25 years Coloradans would ski to school; to work; to mend fences; but they would remain largely unaware of the improvements in equipment and technique being made in the Scandinavian countries and in the Alps.

All that would change in 1911 when Carl Howelsen, a great Norwegian champion, skied down the western slope of Rollins Pass and into Hot Sulphur Springs. There he found a winter carnival in progress and proceeded to demonstrate ski jumping to an awe-struck group of spectators. It was the beginning of the ski-sport in Colorado and it was to change the state forever.

Written by Pat Pfeifer.

Much of the Museum is comprised of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, which is dedicated to those men and women who helped Colorado make great advances in the sport of skiing. Some of the inductees are the great racers of their time, while others are teachers, instructors, innovators, physicians, and more. You can learn more about the Ski Hall of Fame inductees at the Colorado Ski Museum - Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in Vail.

Displays, Exhibits, Films and more...

Many films run continuously at the Museum, and there are lots of exhibits to see. When you are in Vail, please make sure you stop by and say hello. You'll love the Museum...it's an amazing trip through skiing's past that you'll never forget.