EDITOR’S NOTE: In honor of the 2025 World Cup Finals being held in Sun Valley, John W. Lundin is taking a look back at Sun Valley’s Harriman Cup, which for years was the most prestigious race in North America, bringing racers from Europe. Here is the final piece. The first two parts ran in Eye on Sun Valley on Nov. 22 and 23.

BY JOHN W. LUNDIN

In 1950 the F.I.S. World Ski Championships were held in this country for the first time. The Nordic World Championships were held at Lake Placid, N.Y., in January and the men’s and women’s Slalom and Downhill World Championships were held at Aspen, Colo., in February. The events brought the world’s best skiers to this country to compete.

Most of the racers came to Sun Valley for two major races after Aspen: The Harriman Cup March 4-5 and the National Downhill and Slalom Championships March 25-26.

Sun Valley Resort installed a new snowmaking pipe on Upper Greyhawk this summer in preparation for the 2025 World Cup Finals in March. COURTESY: Sun Valley Resort

“Never has the Harriman Cup field seen so many superb International skiers—11 nations represented in all,” wrote Lang in the Sun Valley Ski Club Annual. “The courses were magnificent and they were raced by the brilliant field in a flawless manner. Both slalom and downhill were witnessed by more spectators than had ever before crowded in to watch a race at Sun Valley.”

Given the rare treat, Lang designed a downhill course giving every competitor the opportunity to display his formidable prowess in competition. The Warm Springs course, once a severe test and highly respected racing trail, had become somewhat obsolete in its present shape. It was fearfully fast but didn’t offer any challenges from a technical point of view, as most racers took it plumb straight.

Olympic was “a superior run in many ways,” Lang said, but it had a flat spot after the Roundhouse slope which was frowned upon by the international racing community. Lang wanted a new downhill course to offer “a supreme test of speed, stamina and technical chicaneries.”

He incorporated Exhibition into the downhill course, to “provide the piece de resistance,” which also offered excellent spectator opportunities. The course was foot-packed by the Ski Patrol, instructors and employees.

Buddy Werner finally won the Harriman Cup title after enduring bad luck the first four tries. COURTESY: The Community Library

Exhibition presented a major challenge, said ski racer Dick Dorworth. The precipitous run, which bristled like a hedgehog with jagged bumps, got its name because skiers coming down it could exhibit their skill and daring to riders on the chair.

“Exhibition’s unrelenting steepness over a distance makes it America’s most formidable mogul run today,” Dorworth said. “You may gasp at the idea of someone schussing straight down it, but world champion Emile Allais did so, and America’s daredevil Mad Dog Buek once did it 10 times in succession, cartwheeling in spectacular crashes more often than not.”

The River Run downhill course was 1.8 miles long, with a vertical drop of 3,000 feet. It started on top of Baldy, followed the upper section of the lift line, then went straight over the hump to the Roundhouse corner, which required two exacting high-speed turns in the narrow passage.

Skiers then went under the chair at the Roundhouse onto a traverse leading to Exhibition, where four control gates guided racers into the prescribed line down the treacherous Exhibition slope. At the bottom of Exhibition, the course joined River Run. The women’s downhill course started above Rock Garden and went down Canyon, finishing on River Run.

Christian Pravda was one of two men to retire the Harriman Cup by winning three titles. COURTESY: The Community Library

One of the greatest highlights of the Harriman Cup races run over the years came in 1950 when Austrian’s Hans Nogler--the “Clown Prince of Skis”--won the event, beating the great international stars of the day, including Zeno Colo, Jean Pazzi, Georges Schneiger, Olle Dalman, Francois Baud, Toni Matt and Christian Pravda.

When Zeno Colo cut a magnificent schuss down exhibition for the fastest time, the crowd went wild. Nogler shaded the Italian avalanche to snatch the downhill crown and on the following day ran two superb slaloms to capture the combined and win the 1950 Harriman Cup. He later became an instructor at Sun Valley.

Eighteen-year-old Andrea Mead became the youngest racer ever to win the women’s Harriman Cup that year with “a spectacular, calculated and well-nigh perfect run” in the downhill and “an outstanding display of first-rate skiing and competitive spirit” in the slalom. “She had no peer that day in sheer determination, fairly burning up the course with her locks flying in the wind like a possessed creature.”

After 1950 In 1951, in a break of tradition, Sun Valley hosted the Olympic Tryouts in Downhill and Slalom for the 1952 Games in Oslo, Norway, a year before the Games, instead of the same year. The physical requirements of skiing are such that it is necessary to select the squads a full year ahead of time, said officials.

Andrea Mead Lawrence won a mile-long race through Canyon and Lower Exhibition in 1953. COURTESY: The Community Library

This led to one of the most exciting weeks in Sun Valley’s history. All during the week the nation’s foremost skiers had been working out on Baldy’s famed terrain, threading their way down slalom courses and executing practice runs for the Downhill. The tenseness that pervaded the contestants was beyond description, for a place on the Olympic Team is the dream of every American racer. The eyes of the entire skiing community were focused upon Sun Valley and upon the 40 men and 20 women readying themselves for the big test.

Five days of snowfall before the Downhill made for exceptionally rough going in the practice sessions. The snow led to injuries to two of the West’s brightest lights--Seattle’s Jack Nagel, who the week before captured the National Combined Championship at Whitefish, Mont., and Ketchum’s Jimmy Griffith, generally regarded as one of the greatest downhill racers of all time. The sidelining of these two favorites was keenly felt by the local fans.

The men’s downhill started at Baldy’s summit and went down Roundhouse slope and Exhibition. The 1.6-mile course dropped 3,000 vertical feet with 11 control gates, including six on Exhibition, permitting a line that was “fast and fluid but commensurate to the racers’ over-all ability.”

Jack Reddish “cut a perfect line down through the gates and roared into the flats at close to 50 miles per hour,” winning the downhill, followed by Dick Buek who like Reddish had “the best understanding of Exhibition’s exacting requirements.”

The highlight was Darrell Robison from the University of Utah, who finished seventh after he almost lost his pants on Rock Garden. Dick Dorworth said Robison finished the downhill despite breaking the belt on his pants coming off Exhibition and finishing the toughest downhill in America in his underwear with his pants piled around his boot tops.

The crowd loved it. How high he might have placed had he worn a belt is a matter of conjecture, although many observers maintained that his near calamity may actually have saved him a second or two since it served to keep him hunched forward over his skis.

The 1951 Harriman Cup came one week after the Olympic Tryouts at Sun Valley, with the downhill course held on the River Run side. Rudy Matt set the men’s two-mile downhill course on River Run with a 3,000-foot vertical drop.

In 1952, the downhill was again held on River Run, where men skied down Exhibition on a course set by Barney McClean to challenge the best of them. The bottom two-thirds of Exhibition was “one long, whistling schuss,” according to Sun Valley publicist Dorice Taylor.

The women raced down Canyon. Ernie McCullough, from Mont Tremblant, Canada, skiing for the Sun Valley Ski Club, had the greatest run of his career as he won the downhill by six seconds, the largest spread since the war.

After the 1952 Olympics, Averell Harriman invited three of the biggest names in international skiing to join the Sun Valley Ski School--Norway’s Stein Eriksen, who won a gold medal in Giant Slalom & silver medal in Slalom; Austria’s Christian Pravda, who won a bronze medal in Downhill and a silver medal in Giant Slalom, and Jack Reddish. Other top instructors included Emile Allais from France, Corey Engen from Norway, Yves Latreille from France and Ernie McCullough from Canada.

The 1953 Harriman Cup downhill on River Run, was, according to Dick Dorworth, a race of superlatives. The fastest. The most dangerous. The worst weather. The most injuries. The toughest field.

The downhill was run in a driving blizzard with fewer gates than usual on Exhibition. There were many falls and serious injuries. It might have been worse. According to Nelson Bennett, gates were placed on Rock Garden for the first time because Pravda was seen practicing a line through some trees that was very fast.

Said Bennett: “We felt Pravda could have made it, but we were concerned about some of the others so we put gates in to slow the racers.”

The men’s downhill was “an exacting Ridge-Rock Garden-Exhibition course--probably the fastest course of any Harriman Cup downhill.” The racers put on one of the most spectacular performances ever seen on Sun Valley’s slopes, many of the skiers literally flying into space as they roared out of the big schuss on Exhibition and bounced over the bumps in the transition above the “bottleneck” into River Run.

The run down Exhibition produced devastating crashes, including a leg-breaking, career-ender for Toni Matt. Christian Pravda was the fastest, taking an absolutely perfect line down Exhibition’s awesome face. American Dick Buek was second, almost catching Pravda. Dartmouth’s Ralph Miller, the North American and National Downhill champion, finished third and Austria’s Olympic slalom gold medalist Othmar Schneider finished fourth.

Andrea Mead Lawrence won the women’s downhill, “running in her own inimitable style,” narrowly beating Seattle’s Jannette Burr down a mile-long route through Canyon and lower Exhibition.

A problem emerged over conflicts during the Olympic and FIS championship years when top U.S. skiers traveled to Europe and Europeans stayed home. This led to a decision to hold the Harriman Cup on alternating years, skipping the years of the Olympic or FIS competitions.

The 1956 Harriman Cup was described in lyrical terms in the Sun Valley Ski Club Annual: The event’s prestige is such that racers “regard a Harriman invitation as the ultimate honor in skiing. And to win the big cup--well, that is to take a place in the sun.”

But the Harriman stands for even more than tops in ski racing. There is something almost magical about this famed classic--some intangible quality which sets it above, and apart from all other ski competitions. It is possible the answer lies in the fact that the Harriman brings to skiing a touch of grace and elegance not generally associated with sports events. In these days when top-level athletics are subject to so much turmoil, the Harriman goes serenely along, expressing a quiet but unmistakable dignity.

The 1956 Harriman Cup lacked balance, since Christian Pravda was the prohibitive favorite. Pravda was the world downhill champion and one of the finest alpine skiers of the time. The downhill saw 18 men start but only 11 finished.

Pravda won, beating the second-place finisher by seven seconds. Wrote Blakslee in the Sun Valley Ski Club Annual: Christian ran the entire course in masterful fashion, whizzing down the schusses as if guided by a plumb line and setting himself up to reach the control gate so as to reduce drift to an absolute minimum. So perfect was the skier’s line that it seemed he, too, was unaware of these obstacles and was simply racing down the slope in a track of his own choosing. Here was downhill skiing in its ultimate form, serving once more to confirm the fact that Christian Pravda is one of the truly great stars of all time.

The women’s downhill started at the Roundhouse, went down Olympic Run and ended at the men’s finish, a mile in length with a vertical drop of 1,500 feet.

The 1957 Harriman Cup had one of the most exciting fields of foreign racers in the history of the race. The best Alpine competitors in the world from Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France competed, along with the United States’ Buddy Werner. Two words describe the event: “Toni Sailer.”

Ever since his triple win in the ‘56 Olympics, the famed Austrian had become the Ben Hogan, the Lew Hoad and the Mickey Mantle of skiing, all rolled into one. Even among the hard core of super skiers, this personable young man from Kitzbuhel constituted the color, the glamour, the focal point which set this tournament apart, noted the Sun Valley Ski Club Annual.

The two-mile downhill course on River Run with 2,500 feet of vertical drop had 11 control gates--six on Rock Garden and five on Exhibition. Buddy Werner took a spectacular fall on Exhibition after running the top portion in beautiful style. “A big bump tossed him into a violent egg-beater, thrashing him around for another 40 yards or so.”

He finished but was out of contention. Sailer won the downhill in characteristic style, seemingly relaxed and out for a little fun skiing. He had every foot of the course firmly photographed in his mind, and his descent of Exhibition was one that will always be remembered at Sun Valley--not simply because of the precise nature of his line but even more because of the masterful control displayed throughout.

“He had the moguls working for him, floating over them rather than fighting the way through... I  doubt if I shall ever see a finer downhill run than that displayed by this great champion,” said one.

Christian Pravda was eight seconds behind. That a skier--even a Sailer--could pick up eight seconds on Christian Pravda in a 2.5-minute downhill is something no one could ever believe if he had not actually seen it accomplished.

“Toni Sailer took all events in the men’s race and made history by his superb form and speed. In the slalom, Sailer had two magnificent runs...Toni’s slalom is truly something to watch--powerful and driving.”

Pravda and Kitzbuhel’s Anderl Molterer tied for second, and Buddy Werner was fourth, finishing more than 10 seconds behind the leaders.

The 1959 Harriman Cup was a contest between Christian Pravda and Bud Werner. Werner’s bad luck continued when he took a line onto the top of Exhibition he couldn’t hold and fell. Austria’s Putzi Frandl won the women’s downhill and Linda Meyer won the slalom with Frandl winning the combined.

Pravda became the second man to retire the Harriman Cup by sweeping all the races and winning his third combined title. In 1960, there was a special running of the Harriman Cup after the Olympic Games at Squaw Valley, Calif., and Olympic skiers made it “the most brilliant field to compete in a Harriman Cup.”

The downhill course on Baldy was in excellent shape after the Ski Patrol and Ski School worked feverishly to pack out the new snow. Ski School Director Sigi Engl set another magnificent course embracing Ridge, Rock Garden, and Exhibition” with 12 gates--six on Rock Garden, one on Roundhouse Slope and five on Exhibition—that permitted plenty of speed within the limits of safety.” The course was shortened to eliminate a flat area on River Run, with the finish 100 yards up the hill opposite the outrun of Olympic.

Dorworth said the 1961 Harriman Cup was a “portent of things to come” for American skiing. The 1961 Harriman cup will go down in history as the tournament in which youth manifested its right to compete on even terms with the elite of ski racing,” as young American racers dominated the events.

University of Colorado’s Buddy Werner won the downhill in his inimitable, wide-open style. However, Werner fell in the slalom on Ruud Mountain, which was won by 17-year-old Billy Kidd from Stowe, Vt., who was called one of the coolest competitors ever seen on the local slopes.

Seventeen-year-old Jimmie Heuga of Lake Tahoe Ski Club won the combined, Kidd was second and Werner was third. The .35 seconds separating the top four finishers was far and away the tightest Harriman competition ever staged and attested to the balance of strength existing among the top-seeded entrants.

Sixteen-year-old Barbara Ferries from Michigan, skiing for the Aspen Ski Club, won all the women’s events.

No Harriman Cup was held in 1962. The 1963 Harriman Cup not only attracted an outstanding field but was significant in that it represented only the third time in 21 tournaments that both the men’s and women’s winners managed clean sweeps.

Giant Slalom competition was included for the first time. For Buddy Werner, the event was the culmination of a long and trying road where perseverance finally triumphed. After first racing in Sun Valley in 1953 he fell in the downhill in 1959 after taking second in the slalom and he fell in the 1961 slalom after winning the downhill. This time he swept the downhill and slalom, winning the Harriman Cup title in his fifth try.

Werner was so far ahead after the first run of the slalom that his supporters told him to take an easy second run. He ignored them and took the title after another very fast run, winning the cup the way he wanted to win it. And so, after 10 long years, Werner had his Harriman Cup.

The 1965 race was the last of the true Harriman Cups competitions, said Dorworth. Austrian superstar Karl Schranz and the French phenom Marielle Goitschel won that year. Schranz, among the best Austrian downhill racers in history, proclaimed the Harriman “the most difficult downhill in the U.S.” That would be a fitting epitaph for one of America’s great ski race traditions.

Sadly, the Harriman, like the Roch Cup, Snow Cup, Silver Dollar Derby, Silver Belt and other races have  been abandoned--all casualties of the demands and schedules and requirements of the newer World Cup circuit. But the 2025 World Cup Finals at Sun Valley, which will feature one of the most demanding downhill courses in North America, is a fitting sequel to the classic Harriman Cup downhills that captivated the country’s attention for so many years.

More about the history of Sun Valley and Wood River Valley can be found in John W. Lundin’s books, Skiing Sun Valley: A History From Union Pacific To The Holdings, and Sun Valley, Ketchum and The Wood River Valley. His website is https://www.johnwlundin.com/.