Vintage Skis

[CurtEgerer]

I think it was the first manmade ski hill. John Bintz was an apple farmer and needed an irrigation pond for his orchards. So he dug the pond and used the excavated material to make a ski hill in the early 1960s. At it's prime in the late 60/70s, it was a very busy place. There was an awesome ski shop, a top-rated steakhouse, the ski lodge, etc. We skied 6-7 days a week throughout Jr. High and High school. It was normally all ice and crud. So the first time I went to Colorado, I was told by the locals that the snow was the worst they had seen in years. Huh? It was the best I had ever seen Learn to ski on ice and you can ski anywhere. The place went bankrupt 15 years ago, was bought out by some developers and is now a luxury golf course, restaurant and banquet center. And the ski hill is still there - now with a chair lift!

They also pioneered some of the early snowmaking equipment and SMI Snowmakers (one of the worldest's largest) is still headquartered nearby.

John is now 80 years old and my neighbor. He still drives around in his Fiat X-19 that he bought new. Next time I see him, I'm going to ask if he has any Dynamic VR17s or other goodies squirreled away in his basement

This is the original newspaper clipping:

billy kidd 1970.jpg

[tfmcmahon]

I couldn`t resist taking this pic this morning.These are my Molitors from 1967 bought at Gart Brothers down on Larimer st. in Denver.I used then with my Rossi`s 215 downhills.This was before I-70 and the tunnel and I made it to Vail and Aspen in a 67 Austin Healey.I have no right to be alive! I did a sports show for the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and had Billy Kidds boots and skiis that he gave me.He was at the house one morning for coffee to pick them up.My wife wanted to know who was coming over and I replied Billy Kidd.There was a conversation about having had too much scotch the night before or something to that effect.I guess I`m stuck with the Molitors.My wife said she could use them for planters and the kids give me a strange look when I asked if they want them.If they only knew what those boots witnessed in Aspen after the lifts stopped-----------------

[Jens]

I love the photo with Billy's VR17s and Bob Beatty. Cool candid moment. They both did so much for US skiing. Great shot.

[CurtEgerer]

Yeah, and you can just see Bob's ID card in the corner!

Love the shot of the 912

Tom, those Molitors are an interesting evolution of the ski boot - between the true lace ups and the buckle boots.

[Jens]

Today.....

[CurtEgerer]

All bow to the shrine:

SKI+SHRINE.jpg

[steve shea]

Jens, I see you have Edgewise straps. Say hi to Graham for me. We worked for Rossignol together in the past. The split jet here in Jackson Hole is about to break down and significant snowfall is forecast for this week. The skiing has been good though considering it has not snowed more than about 5" since we opened on Thanksgiving weekend. Just bought a pair of new GS skis, 25 meter turn radius they are freekin' awesome in the extreme. Rossignol of course. I'm planning on doing some masters racing this winter its been a long time since I've been in a race course. I've forgotten how much fun real GS skis are as long as you have an autobahn to ski on which we do here in JH. Berg Heil and ski fast, Steve

[CurtEgerer]

This is about as non-vintage as I can imagine, but damn ... Lindsey has got it going.

<iframe width="750" height="411" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/09GRD0YRnYk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Compare to 1969 - 'Ski Racer' (this is the full movie).

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18127870?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="760" height="570" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>

[Jens]

Steve, Graham is #1. A really good guy and about as technically adept as it gets. He does perfect work and by all appearances quite sucessful. I'm my own technician, but once a year I bring our skis to him to flatten the bases, then I take it from there. I've been around for a while and he's the only one I would trust with our race boards.

I have a pair of US Team 192cm Rossi GS skis that are so fast that if you're on the edge, there's almost no place to run them outside a prepared course. Almost. Hell, my 185 Volkl GSs are train tracks. I think I'll stay with the slalom skis as a self preservation measure.

[Jens]

Curt, that was brilliant. It is so different.

I have to find a pair of those white striped ski pants.