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The Birth of Freestyle Skiing at Waterville Valley
Podcast Series Overview
From Anamaki Chronicles and InDepthNH.org
This podcast series was produced in three main parts with ancillary interviews also published. YouTube interviews are included where possible.
Part 1 - The Dreamers and the Doers
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 Northcountry 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.
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| Sunlight Follows Rain on Lupine |
Part 2 - The Mentors and the Protectors
Then there were the Mentors, the Protectors: the men and women who had fallen in love first with skiing and then with Freestyle and its devil-may-care skiers. They brought their wisdom and enthusiasm to the sport, people like JD Nelson, Jack Sanders, and Bernie Weishel who - on more than one occasion - rescued Freestyle from the jaws of extinction in a society increasingly placing bumpers and belts on our lives and bodies to protect us from ourselves.
Nick and Suzy Preston, who provided the pushback by helping the athletes push the envelope safely: building their bodies, confidence and skills to protect them.
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| Birch Tapestry |
Part 3 - The Athletes: Surfers of the Moguls, Pioneers of the Air
The excitement of Freestyle was, ultimately, the domain of the athletes, the hot doggers : Wayne Wong, George Askevold, Floyd Wilkie and Billy Fallon among others. Their defenders: Tom Corcoran, Frank Deboise, the nations first African-American certified ski instructor and Ski School Director Paul Pfosi had the vision to see beyond the back-biting and competitiveness between Racers and Freestylers. They provided the support and cover for Freestyle to continue to grow.
What was created was a Northcountry stew of enthusiasm, fearlessness, talent and determination from which would emerge the most thrilling and innovative changes to alpine skiing since its beginnings.
The men and women who led this revolution in skiing were a diverse, freewheeling and welcoming group of people, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, from every socio-economic level, every religious and non-religious background.
It seemed the epitome of everything that our founders had dreamt of . . . a pluralistic wave moving us forward, to match the other changes taking place all over the country and the world.
We were a country and a people on the move, a people who served as a paradigm of everything we could be; where the athletes, mentors, and dreamers made us excited about the future by providing us with examples of courage, and enthusiasm that matched our own personal vision of that which was best in America.
And the changes were not just social and political. We became aware quickly that as the country advanced and pluralism grew, so too did the economic power of the country. Rope Tows and cow pastures yielded to T-Bars and, then, chair lifts servicing triple black diamond slopes like True Grit and Bobby’s Run named for Waterville Valley’s fallen favorite son Robert F. Kennedy (Sr.), felled by an assassin's bullet during the 1968 Presidential primary.
The changes also led to a thriving and exploding economic sector of the market around winter sports. Suddenly the choice of skis went from Northland and Head to dozens of new companies offering the most innovative skis and the safest of bindings. Even skiwear saw an economic explosion and who can forget Olympian Suzy Chaffee announcing that her new nickname was now “Suzy Chapstick” as the athletes discovered the power of their names and endorsements in the marketplace.
Accompanying Interviews
The Wong Way: Hall of Fame Freestyler Wayne Wong
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/George Askevold
Attitude and Altitude in the Wild West of Skiing
Listen here
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/
Listen Here
Frank Deboise
America's First Certified African-American Ski Instructor
Listen here
Remembering Ray Brox
Bill Brox, Son of Raymond Brox, builder of the T-Bars on Snow's Mountain and
Listen hereJack Sanders
Jack Sanders a brilliant legal mind and protector of Freestyle
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/Tom Gross
Nick Preston calls Tom the Unofficial Mayor of "Waterville Valley".
Athlete, Journalist, Announcer, "Color Man" and Fundraiser for Veterans and Children's Programs
Listen here:
John & Donni Hughes
Understanding the culture of Waterville during the birth of Freestyle. The wind beneath the wings of Freestyle.
Listen here:Bernie Weischel
Bernie Weischel: 75 Years on the Boards and an Exhibition Guy at Heart
Listen here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/Hali Beckman
Hali Beckman Remembers JD Nelson and the early days of Freestyle Skiing at Waterville Valley
Listen here:Elliot S! Maggin: Best selling author of Superman, Teacher at Waterville Academy, Congressional Candidate
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