STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
John Lundin has chronicled much of the history of the Harriman Cup in his award-winning book “Sun Valley Skiing: A History from Union Pacific to the Holdings.”
Sometimes, it seems, he’s so busy accepting awards that it’s a miracle he can keep researching and writing the way he does.
He was honored with the Skade Award for his book “Ski Jumping in Washington State: A Nordic Tradition,” at the annual gathering of the ISHA International Skiing History Association held at Sun Valley in conjunction with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame ceremony in March 2022.
And he recently collected the Western Ski Heritage Prize, which recognizes the best effort over two years to communicate the contributions of snow sports to the community at large, for his multi-year “Work to Preserve Ski Jumping History, Expressing Norwegian Identity and Its Role in the Development of Skiing in America” from The Far West Ski Association and Steamboat Springs Resort.
“Part of that award was based on my work in the Wood River Valley, which encompassed an exhibit at the Regional History Museum called ‘Skiers in Flight: Sun Valley’s Ski Jumping Roots,’ ” said Lundin.
Lundin’s book “Skiing in Sun Valley” also won the Western Ski Heritage award in 2021, meaning he has won it two times straight. It was co-winner of the prestigious Harold S. Hirsch Award for Excellence in Snowsports Journalism.
The Sun Valley Ski Club was also recognized as a Historic Ski club at that conference held in Steamboat Springs based on work Lundin did. And he led a workshop at the convention about how to preserve the history of ski clubs.
Interestingly, freestyle pioneer and Hot Dog Legend Genia Fuller-Crews, who launched her career in Sun Valley by winning the World Women’s National Aerial Title in 1973, was honored as the Snowsports Builder Award recipient for her advocacy for more inclusive recognition in snow sports.
Lundin has delved into the history of the Wood River Valley, covering everything from the railroad that helped put the Central Mountains of Idaho on the map to water rights since retiring from a career that included serving as a lawyer for the Department of Transportation and a trial lawyer in the Civil Rights division of the U.S. department of Justice.
But the bulk of his writing has focused on skiing.
Lundin, who divides his time between Sun Valley and Seattle, also published “Sun Valley, Ketchum & the Wood River Valley,” “Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass,” and numerous articles about how the ski jumping brought to this country by Norwegian immigrants was for decades the most popular form of skiing, attracting thousands of spectators.
He also prepared an exhibit for the National Nordic Museum and co-founded the Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum on Snoqualmie Pass. Lundin was also recently inducted into the Seattle’s Garfield High School of Hall of Fame where he graduated in 1961.
While on a tour of the Nordic countries in 2022, Lundin got a chance to meet with contacts from a book he wrote about a Norwegian immigrant named Sigurd Hall from Sunndalsora, Norway, a small town at the head of a ford just south of Trondheim. Hall’s life as a ski racer and mountaineer ended tragically in the Silver Skis Race on Mt. Rainier in 1940.
“We explored a farm there that had been in the family since the 1500s, that even had some old Viking graves,” said Lundin who donated a copy of his book on Sigurd to the Norwegian National Laboratory.
He also donated a copy of his book “Ski Jumping in Washinton State: a Nordic Tradition” to the Holmenkollen Ski Museum in Oslo. It was timely as the ski museum was celebrating its 100th anniversary.