Neither downhill racing nor running slalom gates was the most popular winter sports In the early days of downhill skiing in America. It was ski jumping—brought to America by Norwegian immigrants.
Ski jumping tournaments attracted as many as 10,000 spectators during the 1920s and ‘30s. And Sun Valley Resort Founder Averell Harriman capitalized on that, enlisting jumpers Sigmund Ruud and Alf Engen in finding the ideal location for a ski jump in Sun Valley. Harriman wanted to host four-way competitions involving jumping, downhill, slalom and cross country skiing.
Learn about that part of Sun Valley’s early history when Karen Bossick and Ketchum historian John Lundin take you to Ruud Mountain in today’s Eye on Sun Valley video.
Then, learn more in John Lundin’s new book titled “Skiing Sun Valley: A History from Union Pacific to the Holdings.” The book is available at Chapter One bookstore, Iconoclast Books, Ketchum Kitchens, the Sun Valley Lodge, the Sun Valley Ski Museum and nationally through Amazon. Lundin is donating the profits to the Center for Regional History at The Community Library.