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BY KAREN BOSSICK The truth behind the Austrian count who discovered Sun Valley will be revealed on Wednesday when author Michael Huey speaks at The Community Library in Ketchum. Huey will tell the story of Count Felix Schaffgotsche, offering examples from his biography “Unpredictable Weather: The Sunny, Surprising, Sad Case of Count Felix ‘Wetti’ Schaffgotsche 1904-1942,” at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 24. “I couldn’t be more excited to have Michael here to speak about Felix Schaffgotsche,” said Kristine Bretall, the Community Engagement Manager for the Wood River Museum. “While there have been stories circulating about the Count for decades, this new biography reveals the truth behind the man who “discovered” Sun Valley and unexpectedly left his mark in what was a small unknown Idaho town.”
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It was a shirtless Count who declared that Sun Valley had all the important attributes for a world-class ski resort.
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Ketchum was a tiny town with few prospects for its future in January 1936 when Averell Harriman, the board chair of Union Pacific, began hatching a plan to create a ski resort somewhere on his railway lines. Deep into the Depression, Ketchum had shrunk from more than 2,000 residents in the 1880s to a winter population of a few hundred people. Harriman handpicked Schaffgotsche to scour the West for the perfect place combining snow, sun, little wind and an altitude less than 6,000 feet. Most importantly, it had to be close to his rail lines. After a months’ long search the Count proclaimed that Ketchum boasted the most qualities for what would be America’s first destination ski resort. “This without doubt is the perfect place. Salt Lake and Denver no good,” he wired Harriman.
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Count Felix Schaffgotsch on his first explorations of Ketchum, likely in January or February 1936: COURTESY: Michael Huey and the Witt-Dorring Family Archive.
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The count reveled in a marvelous run in 10 centimeters of powder—“All long, open slopes.” “Place perfect … ideal snow and weather conditions,” he said in another telegram. Huey has scoured family archives to weave a complex tale of a man born to wealth and influence who died a Nazi on the Russian front—a story that is complicated and rooted in history, family and world politics. The Count also had an indelible influence on how Sun Valley’s culture was developed by Austrians. Huey, is a dual U.S./Austrian citizen who was born in Traverse City, Mich., and graduated with a B.A. in German Studies from Amherst College. Armed with a M.A. art history degree from the University of Vienna, he created his art pieces and published a book on art history “Viennese Silver, Modern Design 1780-1918.”
The book weighs six pounds and is a thousand pages long but well worth every page, said Bretall. It will be available for sale after the lecture. Reserve your seat at https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/16564237. The program will be livestreamed at https://vimeo.com/event/5865777 and available to watch later on The Library Archive.
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