Alpine Touring / Ski Mountaineering History of Sun Valley Idaho

byBasil Service

It was on the slopes of Sun Valley that the division between Alpine Skiing, riding a lift uphill to ski down, and Alpine Touring, walking or skiing uphill before descending, first became clear. Before 1936 and the invention of the chairlift, nearly all downhill skiing relied on Alpine Touring techniques. But with the construction of chairlifts on Proctor and Dollar Mountains in 1936, Ruud Mountain in 1937, and Bald Mountain in 1939, Alpine Touring began a rapid decline, while Alpine Skiing quickly became the dominant way to experience downhill runs.

Sun Valley’s Ski School recognized this pivotal moment in skiing history. Rather than following trends, it led the way by adapting its curriculum to suit the American impatience for learning to ski quickly, emphasizing efficiency and accessibility.

The Alpine Touring history of Sun Valley includes contributions from many individuals, not just Austrians, and from diverse nationalities. To trace the true beginnings of Alpine Skiing, one must look back to its European roots: either to the Swiss in Mürren, Switzerland, and Sir Arnold Lunn, or to the Austrians in the Arlberg region and Hannes Schneider, whose pioneering methods shaped the sport worldwide.

I am a third‑generation Idaho native and a graduate of Idaho State University in Pocatello, holding degrees in Business and History. For 45 years, I have been a fully certified Level III member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America, including 25 years with the Sun Valley Ski School, and today I serve as an adaptive ski instructor and trainer.

My skiing journey has taken me across more than 100 Idaho peaks and nearly every major ski resort in the United States, as well as in New Zealand, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Canada. Along the way, I have contributed to numerous publications, including Idaho Yesterdays: Journal of Idaho and Northwest History, Sun Valley Magazine (three features), Rock and Ice Magazine, Exploring Idaho’s Mountains and Idaho: A Climbing Guide (Tom Lopez), Nordic West Magazine, Sun Valley: An Extraordinary History (Wendolyn Spence Holland), Second Chances (Elise Lufkin), Twin Falls Times‑News, Fur Fish and Game Magazine, Rocky Mountain Game and Fish Magazine, Instructor’s Edge, Washington Fishing Holes Magazine, and Idaho Magazine. My photography has appeared on the covers of two magazines.

This history is the culmination of 40 years of journeys through alpine skiing’s most historic regions and interviews with some of its most iconic figures. Among those I have spoken with are:

Friedl Pfeifer – Austrian ski pioneer and Sun Valley’s 2nd Ski School Director
Otto Lang – Austrian ski pioneer and Sun Valley’s 3rd Ski School Director
Andy Hennig – Author and Sun Valley alpine touring pioneer
Alf Engen – Utah and Sun Valley ski pioneer
Dick Durrance – American ski pioneer and the first U.S. champion to compete successfully with Europeans
Willie Hemling – Sun Valley instructor and World War II 10th Mountain Division veteran
Leif Odmark – Sun Valley Nordic and alpine skiing pioneer
Toni Sailer – Austrian ski champion and Harriman Cup winner
Konrad Staudinger – 50‑year Sun Valley Ski School member and Assistant Director
Rainer Kolb – Sun Valley’s 8th Ski School Director and Austrian instruction pioneer
“Iron” Mike Hughes – 50‑year Sun Valley Ski School member

These voices, combined with my own experiences, form a living record of alpine skiing’s evolution and Sun Valley’s enduring place at its heart.

About the Author

Schneider's San Anton Austria above / Lunn's Jungfrau Switzerland below

Walter Prager racing in 1931 World Ski Championships in Murin Switzerland

The Swiss argue that they hold the true roots of modern alpine skiing, pointing to the Jungfrau region and specifically the alpine town of Mürren, where the first organized alpine ski races were held in 1922, and the first World Alpine Championships took place in 1931. That inaugural championship was won not by an Austrian but by a Swiss, Walter Prager.

Swiss historians further credit Sir Arnold Lunn, the English ski mountaineer, alongside Swiss greats such as Walter Prager, Hans Georg, Jules Fritsch, and Fred Iselin, as the sport’s true pioneers. They note that Lunn later partnered with Austria’s Hannes Schneider to organize the famous Arlberg Kandahar alpine ski race, nearly a decade after the Swiss had already staged their competitions.

They also emphasize that alpine skiing predates Austria’s Arlberg tradition, citing St. Moritz as a proving ground. The 1928 Winter Olympic Games were held there, followed by the 1934 World Alpine Championships. While no alpine events were included in the 1928 Games, at the time considered a “suicidal sport”, the first demonstrations of alpine skiing’s potential were revealed, foreshadowing its eventual acceptance into the Olympic program.

Jules Fritsch

Hans Georg

Walter Prager

Fred Iselin

Sir Arnold Lunn

The Austrian case for the roots of modern alpine skiing begins with Hannes Schneider, whom many historians credit as the father of Alpine Skiing. Schneider started working as a mountain guide in the Arlberg region of Austria in 1907, and by 1921 had formalized the beginnings of a true Alpine Ski School, distinct from the Telemark tradition.

Traveling to St. Moritz, Switzerland, on several occasions, Schneider repeatedly defeated the best Swiss downhill racers, who were still relying on Nordic techniques to execute turns. His fame grew from his ability to descend faster and in one piece than any other skier in Europe.

By the early 1920s, his racing accomplishments caught the attention of a resort owner in St. Moritz. Seeking to transform profitless winters into lucrative seasons, the owner envisioned promoting his hotel as a ski resort and invited Schneider to teach guests. He offered free board, lodging, and a daily wage of three francs. Schneider was astonished—no one had yet conceived of ski instruction as a profession—and began to realize that a livelihood might be made from this infant sport.

Word spread quickly that Austria’s finest skier was being “exported” to Switzerland. In response, the newly formed Arlberg Ski Club of St. Anton invited Schneider to attend their meeting. Karl Schuler, the club’s founder and owner of the Hotel Post in St. Anton, matched the Swiss offer and secured Schneider’s services.

Schneider’s first winter at the Hotel Post was a resounding success. So successful, in fact, that Schuler asked him to return the following year, sweetening the deal by granting Schneider the entire revenues of the ski school. Schneider accepted, and thus the occupation of the professional ski instructor was born on the slopes of St. Anton, Austria.

Hannes Schneider and Sir Arnold Lunn in San Anton

Schneider

Ski Class heading up the slopes

San Anton Austria

Hannes Schneider

San Anton Austria

It can also be argued that Lunn’s Swiss races were more akin to telemark competitions than true alpine downhill events. Yet it remains a historical fact that Hannes Schneider and Sir Arnold Lunn were the prime driving forces behind alpine skiing’s introduction as an official event at the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch‑Partenkirchen, Germany. By the early 1930s, it was evident that Schneider’s Arlberg Method of downhill skiing was superior, and nearly all competitors relied on it to win their medals.

In 1928, Rudolph Lettner, an engineer from Salzburg, invented and patented the first steel ski edges, allowing skis to grip the snow with far greater control in turns. This innovation sparked the first real challenge to Schneider’s Arlberg technique, as the need for stemming and the low crouch became less essential for racers with exceptional skill. Ironically, the challenge came from Austria’s own Anton (Toni) Seelos, who had briefly taught skiing in St. Anton under Schneider.

Born in Seefeld, Tyrol, Seelos would later coach both the French and American teams, greatly enhancing their bids for Olympic medals in 1936. Among his students were Dick Durrance of the United States and Émile Allais of France. Seelos’s coaching reached its pinnacle with Christl Cranz of Germany, whom he guided to Olympic victory in 1936 and an astonishing 15 World Championship titles, a record unmatched to this day.

A four‑time World Champion himself, Seelos revolutionized slalom technique by replacing the traditional stem turn with the parallel swing, a breakthrough that evolved into the “French Technique” and Allais’s distinctive ruade. Remarkably, Seelos continued to coach and direct the ski school in Seefeld until the early 1980s, leaving a legacy that reshaped the very character of alpine skiing.

Anton Toni Seelos

Emile Allais

Jungfrau Region of Switzerland

Switzerland’s Fred Iselin was regarded as one of Europe’s finest ski racers before immigrating to the United States, where in 1939 he became Sun Valley’s assistant Ski School Director under Friedl Pfeifer, the resort’s second director. Iselin would later emerge as one of the most prolific publishers of Arlberg “how‑to‑ski” books and articles in America, helping to popularize alpine technique nationwide.

Iselin’s racing prowess was legendary; he still holds the fastest time in the Grand Prix de l’Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix, France, a race discontinued due to its treacherous and often fatal reputation. Alongside his wife, Ellie Staller, the first female instructor at Sun Valley’s Ski School, Iselin spent summers in the Sawtooth Valley, running the Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch and guiding guests on ski descents through the Boulder, Smoky, White Cloud, Salmon River, and Sawtooth Mountains.

Together with Sun Valley instructors Andy Hennig and Willi Helming, Iselin accomplished descents of Castle Peak and most of the major summits in the Sawtooths. In 1947, Hennig and Helming completed descents of Glens Peak, deep in the Sawtooth range, and Mount Borah, Idaho’s highest peak. Remnants of a ski hut used by Hennig and Iselin in the Cabin Creek drainage at 9,000 feet can still be seen today.

Many guests experienced their first taste of skiing Idaho’s rugged backcountry under the guidance of Iselin, Staller, Hennig, Helming, Victor Gottschalk, Leif Odmark, and Utah’s Alf Engen. Iselin, Hennig, and Helming also authored the Sawtooth Mountain Guide, which documented skiing and climbing routes across the Sawtooth, White Cloud, Salmon River, and Lost River ranges.

After World War II, Iselin and Staller followed Pfeifer to Aspen, where Fred became Ski School Director of Buttermilk Mountain and Aspen Highlands. He remained in Aspen until his death in the late 1970s, remembered today as one of the town’s most historic and influential figures.

Alf Engen with a client in Sun Valley's Boulder Basin / 1948

Alf Engen flying in Sun Valley's Boulder Mountains / 1948

Alf Engen flying on Ruud Mountain with Sun Valley's Bald Mountain on the horizon

Throughout his career, Hannes Schneider proved to be a pragmatic innovator, embracing new technologies and techniques as the sport evolved. As ski terrain became smoother and equipment more user‑friendly, the stem turn grew less essential in executing a downhill turn. In response, Schneider’s Arlberg Technique adapted with the times. By the early 1930s, it was clear that the alpine method of skiing, shaped by Schneider, was far more functional than the traditional Nordic telemark turn.

It is a historical fact that Walter Prager, Jules Fritsch, and Fred Iselin all worked under Schneider as instructors in Austria. Prager later immigrated to the United States, where he coached the Dartmouth Ski Club alongside future Sun Valley ski guide Florien Haemmerle, and also advised Sun Valley during its early indoctrination into alpine skiing. Fritsch traveled to the U.S. as well, directing the Yosemite Ski School from 1928 to 1935. Notably, Sun Valley itself did not begin alpine operations until the winter of 1936.

Meanwhile, Hans Georg, though never a Schneider disciple, made his mark in the Sierra Nevada. In 1938, he completed the first known ski descent of Mount Whitney and published Skiing Simplified: The St. Moritz Method. This method was essentially a slightly modified version of Schneider’s Arlberg Technique, underscoring the enduring influence of Schneider’s approach even as others sought to refine it.

Fred Islein

Friedl Pfeifer Ellie Staller

Sun Valley's Sawtooth Mountains

At the onset of the First World War, Hannes Schneider and his instructors trained Allied troops on a massive scale, further cementing the value of alpine skiing as both a skill and a discipline. After the war, the St. Anton Ski School gained worldwide recognition when Dr. Arnold Franck’s 1931 film White Ecstasy (The Ski Chase) captivated audiences. Often described as the Warren Miller film of its day, Franck’s production set the standard for future ski filmmakers such as Otto Lang, Dick Barrymore, and Warren Miller.

Although Schneider gave preferential treatment to local Austrians when hiring, he also employed the best talent from around the world. More importantly, he encouraged his finest instructors to leave St. Anton and establish Arlberg schools across Europe and eventually beyond. This spirit of expansion, combined with the disruptions of the Second World War, led to the first mass exodus of Schneider’s core instructors to the United States—a migration that coincided with the birth of America’s first destination ski resort.

It is important to recall that before Sun Valley and the invention of the chairlift, nearly all alpine skiing was accomplished through alpine touring techniques, climbing uphill before skiing down. The first surface lift in the Arlberg was constructed in 1938, but chairlifts, gondolas, and trams did not appear there until after World War II. Thus, if you had traveled to the Arlberg to take a lesson with Schneider’s ski school before the war, you would have been climbing the slopes yourself.

White Ecstasy

Sun Valley's Sawtooth Wilderness

In the Jungfrau Region of Switzerland at the turn of the 20th century, cog‑trains scaled the North Wall of the Eiger through a tunnel to elevations above 11,000 feet, and climbed the near‑vertical walls of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, the famed Waterfall Valley, to reach the alpine towns of Wengen and Mürren, perched thousands of feet above the basin floor. Incredibly, before the Second World War, none of these trains was used for alpine skiing. Why? Because nearly all downhill skiing was accomplished by alpine touring techniques—climbing up the slope before skiing down.

Even at the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch, Germany, the first to recognize alpine skiing as an official event, competitors had to climb to the start of their venues. There were no lifts. As Andy Hennig, Sun Valley’s famed backcountry skier, once remarked: “The ski lift killed the sport of alpine skiing by placing serious limitations on where one can and will ski.” His partner, Willi Helming, a Sun Valley instructor and veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, often teased me in my early years at the Sun Valley Ski School: “You need to explore when you are young and write about it when you get old.”

While both the Austrian and Swiss traditions of alpine skiing have valid claims to their establishment, there is no disputing that Europe possessed the greatest concentration of skiing talent before World War II. And it is a historical fact that much of this talent eventually found its way to Sun Valley. Whether fleeing Nazi aggression or immigrating in search of a better life, these pioneers made Sun Valley the chief benefactor of alpine skiing’s migration. Importantly, they arrived with little concept of using a ski lift to accomplish a downhill run. They were all alpine touring experts—true ski mountaineers who carried the old world’s traditions into the new.

Sun Valley's Alps

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