Category Columns

The 1964 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck Austria helped make Stowe’s Billy Kidd a well-known name in the United States. But that wasn’t the only US name that benefitted from the 1964 Olympic spotlight. The US contingent was outfitted in… Continue Reading →

The big news this week is that my book is now available! I compiled some fifty of my columns from the past three years into a book called Retro-Ski: A Nostalgic Look Back at Skiing. The book is available in… Continue Reading →

Until Jean-Claude Killy came along, Stein Eriksen was the most recognizable and influential figure in skiing. Those of us who learned to ski in the 1950s and early 1960s tried to copy his style: skis locked together, exaggerated counter-rotation of… Continue Reading →

I was a senior in college in November, 1967.  One of my skiing buddies asked if I’d be willing to drive into Boston to see a ski movie.  I was up for anything but studying so I said sure! It… Continue Reading →

Are you a Retro-Skier?  In other words, are you a skier who has shared some of the memories included in this column?  Here’s a pop quiz to see how you rate as a Retro-Skier. Yes, I know, once a teacher… Continue Reading →

RetroSki is back for its fourth ski season!  This is going to be an exciting year with more trivia and memories from skiing’s past.  Also this year will include the release of Retro-Ski, the book!  That’s right, I’m publishing a… Continue Reading →

Spring skiing triggers memories from springs past.  This week I’d like to share one that has no particular historical value, but provides a personal example.  Hopefully it will trigger some spring memories for you as well. The first ski season… Continue Reading →

It sounds like a familiar story: a former WWI Austrian military officer who fled the Nazis and came to live in Stowe. Frank Springer-Miller arrived in New York City in the 1920s and got a job as a graphics artist… Continue Reading →

Last week I shared some of my memories of the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics.  This week I’ll cover some of the aspects of those Olympics that made them significant beyond just my memories. Squaw Valley was a long shot at… Continue Reading →

Squaw Valley opened in 1949 making it the oldest major ski area in the Lake Tahoe region.  But this won’t be an article about the history of Squaw Valley.  In my memory Squaw Valley will be forever linked to the… Continue Reading →