Whitefish ski museum opens today

A new museum that showcases the history of downhill skiing on Big Mountain opens today in the historic Mountain Trails Saddle Club log cabin near the Stumptown Ice Den in Whitefish.

The Ski Heritage Center Museum of Skiing will be open this summer through Labor Day from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Admission is free, but free-will donations are welcomed.

The initial displays will include a photographic exhibit showcasing Whitefish’s skiing heritage, a mock-up of the interior of the original Hellroaring Cabin, original movies of skiing on Big Mountain and a selection of books and articles about early-day skiing in the region and around the country.

“It will be a work in progress,” said Tim Hinderman, executive director of the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation that developed the museum. “We kept discovering things to add, and it’s one of those things where we finally had to admit these projects are always evolving and changing.”

Five years ago the foundation secured a long-term lease agreement with the city of Whitefish to use the city-owned Saddle Club building for the museum. With volunteer help and a good amount of in-kind donations of equipment and labor, the group has spent a couple of years renovating the log building.

A kitchen added on decades ago had to be completely gutted and rebuilt, Hinderman said, recalling that the counters tilted so badly a potluck casserole rolled off the counter during the first work party. A new kitchen was built in a different area, he added.

The project took a long time because much of the volunteer work was done during off hours and on weekends, he said.

Hinderman has an office in the log building and will help staff the museum, but said he’s got a committee “that’s been helping me ramrod” the museum effort. The group will be looking for more volunteers as more exhibits are added and hours are extended.

“While work is still progressing on several building improvements and outdoor exhibits, the main exhibit room stands ready for visitors,” he said.

A couple of events were held at the museum last winter in conjunction with Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 70th anniversary, giving locals a sneak peak at the work in progress.

The foundation continues to accept donations of vintage ski equipment, particularly old chairlift chairs, especially the original Chair1 chairs; old wooden skis, leather ski boots and bamboo poles.

When Hinderman broached the idea of a ski museum to the City Council in 2013, he noted that “people have been talking about a ski museum in Whitefish for as long as I can remember.”

Hinderman’s own history on Big Mountain runs deep. His father, Karl Hinderman, started the first ski school on Big Mountain in 1947, while his mother, Nina Hinderman, operated a ski shop at the resort for many years.

“We lived there [on the mountain] until I was through grade school,” Hinderman recalled in an earlier Inter Lake interview. He raced with the Big Mountain Ski Team and the Whitefish High School ski team.

Hinderman was a coach on Big Mountain when the foundation began in 1973, and when he moved back to Whitefish a number of years ago he became a board member and has been involved with the foundation ever since.

The museum is located at 705 Wisconsin Ave. in Whitefish.

For more information contact Hinderman at tim.hinderman@fvsef.org or call 406-885-2730.

Features Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.