The history of the development of the ski industry on Mt. Mansfield in Stowe, VT, the Ski Capitol of the East. Details and anecdotes of the process are told by two of the major players, Sepp Ruschp and Charlie Lord, (in their own words). Each trail, each building and each lift are chronicled. Through these documents donated to the Stowe Historical Society, we learn how trails were cut by hand, men were carried by horse and wagon, buildings (dorms, ski huts, camps, shelters, etc.) were erected as the needs became obvious and how Austrian, Scandinavian, and local natives carved a place in the style of skiing and ski instruction in Stowe, and how safety on the mountain drove the development of the first ski patrol. This is a very compelling story of passion, creativity, engineering, employing state and federal programs available at the time and hard work by a lot of people who came to work and settle in Stowe. There are 35 mini biographies of people who were there. Each are fascinating, educational, and entertaining.
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Author, Researcher, Visionary
Patricia Haslam
A native Michigander, Pat graduated from Michigan State College with a B.S., Class of ‘53, majoring in interior design and decorative arts. But she was always interested in history having been inspired by a mural drawing project studying American history in third grade.
In college she learned to ski at Boyne Mountain, and Cadillac, where she broke her ankle skiing, but was never an accomplished skier. Much later, it was skiing the rope tow and T-bar at Toll House in Stowe on several occasions, and then she decided it was too hard to bring up her small children what with risking another broken bone and so gave up skiing. Later all three of her children were lucky enough to be able to participate in the Friday Afternoon Program for Stowe school children each winter which was generously offered, gratis, by the Mt. Mansfield Company.
In 1967, Pat’s great-aunt gave her a letter about the genealogy of one branch of their family and as she investigated aspects of that, she became further hooked on history. After two graduate courses in library science at UVM, attending seminars, joining several local historical and genealogical societies, and computers came along, she became a board Certified Genealogist (1973-2008) and took clients. “This has been very rewarding what with writing journal articles and publishing books with the Stowe Historical Society and Stowe Cemetery Commission, and publishing otherwise-buried manuscripts because of their genealogical value, all reference-type books. The research and investigation are the most exciting aspects of history, ” she comments.
Pat and her husband Peter live in Stowe enjoying retirement and continuing her research.