1934—January 28 saw the first rope tow installed in the U.S. by Bob and Betty Royce, proprietors of the White Cupboard Inn, in Woodstock, VT.
1936—Sun Valley, built by Averell Harriman as a Union Pacific project, opens with world’s first chairlifts put in on Dollar and Proctor hills, designed by Union Pacific Engineer Jim Curran, copied from the banana lifts used in Central America to load United Fruit cargo vessels.
1937—First chairlift installed in the East at Belknap, New Hampshire
1938—Mt. Tremblant, Quebec opens in February with the first Canadian chairlift, built by Joseph Ryan at Mt. Tremblant, Quebec.
1938—Dave McCoy sets up rope tow at Mammoth Mt., California.
1939—Otto Lang presents the first American theater release ski film, Ski Flight at Radio City Music Hall on the same bill with the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
1940—T-bar, considered the first in America, is installed at Pico Peak, Vermont
1940—Second single chair in the East installed at Stowe, Vt.
1945—Friedl Pfeifer meets with the City Council at Aspen and outlines the plan for creating a top international resort at Aspen. Later that year Pfeifer opens the Friedl Pfeifer Ski School, with partners Percy Rideout and John Litchfield as co-directors, and only instructors.(Friedl ) Paepcke meets with Friedl Pfeifer and plans begin for Aspen’s first ski lift.
1946—first Pomalift developed in Europe by Jean Pomagalski.
1946—P-Tex base invented by the Swiss firm Muller and Co.
1952—First artificially-made snow is made at Grossinger’s resort in New York; Fahnestock, New York, two years later, becomes first ski area to make snow on regular basis.
1955—Henke Speed Fit buckle boots appear.
1957—The first useful aluminum ski poles are made by Scott.
1958—First U.S. gondola lift installed at the Wildcat area in New Hampshire.
1958—Buttermilk and Aspen Highlands open on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 making Aspen the country’s largest ski resort.
1960—Eighth Olympic Winter Games at Squaw Valley, California. first alpine Games in the U.S.; Penny Pitou wins silver medals in downhill and giant slalom, and Betsy Snite wins a silver medal in slalom. France’s Jean Vuarnet wins men’s downhill on metal skis.
1960—Kneissl, Sailer and Plymold market the first commercially successful fiberglass skis.
1962—Chuck Ferries becomes first American to win a European classic gate race, the Hahnenkamm slalom.
1964—Billy Kidd and Jimmy Heuga become the first American men to win Olympic medals for alpine skiing, being second and third, respectively, in the slalom of the ninth Olympic Winter Games at Innsbruck.
1964—The first Lange all plastic buckle boots are commercially available.
1980—The 13th Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, New York, for second time; third time in USA.
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