About Wayne D. King: Author, podcaster, artist, activist, social entrepreneur and recovering politician. A three-term State Senator, 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor. His art (WayneDKing.com) is exhibited nationally in galleries and he has published five books of his images, most recently, “New Hampshire – a Love Story”. His novel “Sacred Trust” – a vicarious, high-voltage adventure to stop a private powerline – as well as the photographic books are available at most local bookstores or on Amazon. He lives on the “Narrows” in Bath, NH at the confluence of the Connecticut and Ammonoosuc Rivers and proudly flies the American, Iroquois and Abenaki Flags, attesting to both his ancestry and his spiritual ties. His publishing website is: Anamaki.com. Anamaki is a derivative of an Algonquin word meaning “abiding hope.”
By WAYNE D. KING, NH Secrets, Legends and Lore
A Three-part audio-podcast celebration of the people and events that shaped the birth of freestyle skiing. © Anamaki Chronicles & InDepthNH.org.
Part 1: Monday March 17, 2025. The Dreamers & the Doers; The Early Days of Waterville Valley
The Untold Story of the Birth of Freestyle Skiing at Waterville Valley Hotdog, Skiing Was a Purely American Innovation and a Celebration of Diversity
It is often expressed, regarding American culture and innovation, that California is a primary source for new cultural trends and ideas. Yet in the early 1970s, a little town at the end of the road in the White Mountains of New Hampshire became a focal point for an innovation in alpine skiing; an innovation that in only a few short years would sweep across the nation and the world: Freestyle skiing.
This series is all about the people and events that launched The Birth of Freestyle Skiing.
The Dreamers & Doers
Click below for Wayne D. King’s podcast Part 1
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of excitement and innovation, driven by people from all walks of life. The growth and development of Waterville Valley and the explosion of Freestyle skiing was no exception.
Consequently, telling the story of the birth of Freestyle skiing requires that we open our minds to what happens when we mix blueblood North Country families like Ralph and Grace Bean and their two boys Danny and Dave, Olympic skiers like Tom Corcoran and his friends: Doug Pfieffer editor of “Skiing Magazine,” the Kennedys of Massachusetts, with immigrant-made-good dynasties in the making like the Dunfeys, and college students lured to the “Valley” by a love of the mountains and skiing like John and Donni Hughes, and other accomplished and talented long-timers like Raymond Brox and his family. These were the dreamers and doers.
The Early Days of Waterville Valley
Hotdog Skiing Was a Purely American Innovation and a Celebration of Diversity
You can’t talk about how Freestyle Skiing came onto the scene without at least a little background on Waterville Valley itself. Because one of the most prominent ski areas in the Eastern US did not just emerge by magic.
The deepest roots of Waterville Valley of course lie in 20,000 or more years of history within the domain of the Algonquin Archaic Indians and then their descendants the Abenaki or Wabanaki people.
Early efforts within the colonial era focused on Waterville Valley as a summer resort while the area and economy awaited the days when skiing would become the primary source of “The Valley’s” recreational attraction.
The Waterville Inn, preceded by an even earlier Inn called the Greeley House were part of the summer escape phenomenon in the White Mountains, most famous for the many grand hotels.
Every summer thousands of city dwellers would escape the stifling heat of the cities with their hiking boots and steamer trunks. But sometime in the late 50s and early 60s Waterville’s bread and butter began to turn toward winter sports.
Above, Frank Deboise: America’s First Black Certified Ski Instructor (Courtesy Nadine Hack)
Waterville’s evolution into superstardom began with a small ski area known as “Snow’s Mountain” in Waterville Valley, across the “valley” from Mt Tecumseh where today’s ski resort would be developed on National Forest land.
Though a few earlier owners took some baby steps, Snow’s Mountain came into its own when Ralph Bean, a combat veteran of WWII and sole heir of a Lowell, Massachusetts family in the manufacturing of shoes, who had spent much of his youth working at the mountain inherited about 400 acres, representing most of the private land in the Valley. Ralph and his wife Grace Bean partnered with Raymond Brox, also of the Lowell area.
A previously existing rope tow was already on the land but was not operational.
According to his son Bill Brox, Raymond told Ralph “he could get the old rope tow running” and sure enough he did.
This began a dedicated friendship between Ralph Bean and Raymond Brox. Ralph even gave Ray two acres of land in a prime part of the Valley on which Ray would build a home in Waterville to show his gratitude for Ray’s friendship.
It began with rehabilitating the rope tow where skiers grasped a large rope and were pulled up to the top of a modest little hill standing, as they clung to the rope.
Barely a glorified cow pasture this little “lift” was the center of community activities on winter weekends and the bane of many new skiers who took time to get used to rope tows.
It seems that Ralph and Grace handled the aesthetic side of the partnership – what today they refer to as the “public-facing” side. Raymond was the engineer who quickly grew Snow’s Mountain with the addition of, first, one and then a second T-Bar, one above the other. The first T-Bar serviced the intermediate level skiers and the second for those ready for the challenge of expert terrain.
Raymond purchased the T-Bars from a Utah ski area and supervised the re-construction of the T’s after they were shipped to New Hampshire.
A few years later, Dartmouth graduate and Olympic superstar Tom Corcoran partnered with Ralph Bean and Raymond to develop the Waterville Valley ski resort, with the moral and financial support of several other iconic American families who were also involved from the beginning: The Kennedy Family of Massachusetts and the Dunfey Family of New Hampshire. Later the Sununu family would lend their support making it a bi-partisan affair.
Looking back, What few people know about the phenomenon that began as “Hotdog skiing” or just plain “hotdogging”; and in less than a year morphed into the more sexy and urbane “Freestyle Skiing,” is that its rise was a joyful, generous and welcoming celebration of America’s diversity in a sport that had only recently been the “lily-white” domain of a small elite group of Americans.
Until the 1970s skiing had evolved gradually, beginning with its European roots followed by a migration of famed European skiers imported into the US specifically to bring their expertise. With the exception of the legendary Stein Erickson, most of the others were still skiing and instructing in the traditional, albeit evolving, manner and method.
So, what was so revolutionary about Waterville Valley?
It was the people; their common humanity and openness to one another. In short it was their generosity of heart, spirit, and their love of skiing and the land.
Tom Corcoran was the commander of the works, but he was also the public face of Waterville, traveling the country to evangelize on behalf of the new resort. As Tom Corcoran traversed the country on behalf of the Waterville Company its reputation grew.
Meanwhile, back in the “Valley” a group of exciting, and sometimes outrageous, skiers were birthing the most exciting new development in Alpine skiing.
Before even Corcoran saw the behemoth that was being created at Waterville Valley, Doug Pfieffer, Editor at Skiing Magazine, who viewed the industry from an even higher plain, saw that something huge was taxiing down the runway.
Wayne Wong conveys the story of a bet between Corcoran and Doug Pfieffer, made at the Boston Ski Show, that led to the first official competition.
Following on the heels of the bet between Corcoran and Pfeiffer, in the spring of 1971 Waterville held the National Championship of Exhibition Skiing.
Just to make sure they were sealing the leadership position Corcoran and Pfeiffer, secured as the main judge Jean Claude Killy, three event Gold Medal Olympian.
Just like that, the fire had been lit.
Hot Dogging, already morphing into the more mainstream “Freestyle” was catching fire all over and many resorts were hustling to be sure they caught a piece of the action. One of those resorts was Stratton Mountain in Vermont. They tried to step out ahead of other mountains by holding an exhibition of aerial skiing in 1970, looking to jump the queue, but the very technical job of designing the jumps for an aerial competition was more complicated than they had realized. Freestyle was catching fire, and it looked like aerials were going to be the “big show” but in one terrible moment on Mount Stratton in 1970 a crippling accident involving aerialist Dirk Douglas quite literally broke the back of Douglas and, nearly, the fate of Freestyle skiing. . .
About Wayne D. King: Author, podcaster, artist, activist, social entrepreneur and recovering politician. A three-term State Senator, 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor. His art (WayneDKing.com) is exhibited nationally in galleries and he has published five books of his images, most recently, “New Hampshire – a Love Story”. His novel “Sacred Trust” – a vicarious, high-voltage adventure to stop a private powerline – as well as the photographic books are available at most local bookstores or on Amazon. He lives on the “Narrows” in Bath, NH at the confluence of the Connecticut and Ammonoosuc Rivers and proudly flies the American, Iroquois and Abenaki Flags, attesting to both his ancestry and his spiritual ties. His publishing website is: Anamaki.com. Anamaki is a derivative of an Algonquin word meaning “abiding hope.”
In the part 2 on InDepthNH.org Tuesday, we’ll meet the protectors and mentors who saved freestyle in its darkest hours and assured its future.
Contact Wayne D. King: 603-530-4460
waynedking9278@gmail.com
