Vintage ski days a big boost for museum

The inaugural Hellroaring Ski Heritage Days swooshed into the history books last month with a smashing gala and weekend of retro events at Whitefish Mountain Resort.

With the help of sponsors Don K Subaru, Fun Beverage and Glacier Bank, the event took in over $10,000 in gross receipts, earmarked for the new Ski Heritage Center Museum of Skiing in Whitefish.

Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation executive director Tim Hinderman and Whitefish Mountain Resort president Dan Graves used the occasion to christen the Heritage T-Bar Lift (formerly the Slalom T-Bar) in honor of the new museum which is scheduled to open Phase I in late 2014.

More than 40 skiers participated in the Heritage Days Ski-A-Thon in support of the new museum and the Foundation’s Race Team. Other highlights included a vintage ski outfit contest where more than 30 participants promenaded down the Toni Matt run to the Hellroaring Saloon for an awards ceremony.

Ski Heritage Days culminated with a tribute at Ed & Mully’s to the 10th Mountain Division, a legendary group of Flathead Valley men who pioneered skiing at Big Mountain and served in World War II, and to the late longtime civic leader Norm Kurtz, a tireless promoter of Big Mountain.

Under the guidance of the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation, Ski Heritage Days was created to help fund the museum that will serve as a gathering place to showcase the colorful history and soul of Whitefish — the culture and charisma of skiing.

As the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation website states, “Old Times Go on Forever and the Memories Never End.”

The vision is to build the museum in the historic Mountain Trails Saddle Club facility on Wisconsin Avenue owned by the city of Whitefish. The museum will house a Hall of Fame and has already inducted its first five Big Mountain ski pioneers at a ceremony last November. The inductees were Ed Schenck, Lloyd “Mully” Muldown, Toni Matt, Martin Hale and Oystein Boveng.

The foundation, formed 40 years ago to help organize and fund youth skiing in the Flathead Valley, is the muscle behind the development of the Ski Heritage Center Museum. Organizers are collecting artifacts, design exhibits, interview surviving ski pioneers and have launched a capital campaign to ultimately expand the existing facility to accommodate future growth.

For more information, contact Tim Hinderman at 885-2730 or visit www.fvsef.org and click on Ski Heritage Center.  

Community editor Carol Marino may be reached at 758-4440 or by email at community@dailyinterlake.com.