Just stumbled across this vintage promotional film for Sun Valley Resort that was produced in 1956. It shows that A LOT has changed both in skiing, and in society.
Give it a watch below:
Let’s talk about the skiing first. I love that we get a glimpse of the multiple single chairs that ferried skier’s to the top of Baldy back in the day. Those chairs were revolutionary for the ski industry, and seeing them in their natural glory is really cool.
I also thought it was funny that the lifts were so slow, and the clothing was so poor that they installed blankets on the chairs. I’ve seen images of that before, but it still cracks me anytime I see those damn blankets.
This video definitely has some misogynic undertones that can’t go unnoticed. It was made back in 1956, and things were definitely different to say the least. With that being said, I’m sure there were plenty of women who could ski really well back then, and there certainly are now.
I’m just a really big fan of skiing history. I love any glimpse I can get into the ways of skiing of yesteryear. Things have changed for the better since this video was made, but I still enjoyed the historical context it provided on Sun Valley!