Founders Day celebration honors key figures in Big Mountain skiing

Family and friends of the men who pioneered skiing on Big Mountain gathered Thursday morning at Whitefish Mountain Resort to honor their legacy during the ski hill’s 70th birthday.

Lloyd Muldown, Ed Schenck and George Prentice were honored during the Founders Day celebration at the Lift Plaza for their role in creating Big Mountain Ski Resort, now known as Whitefish Mountain Resort. Thursday marked 70 years since the resort ran ski lifts for the first time.

Muldown led the way in ski coaching and education on the mountain, and Schenck and Prentice co-founded the resort and, alongside the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce brought together the initial investments to get the project going.

About 40 people gathered for the ceremony, and just as was done on opening day in 1947 coffee and doughnuts were served.

During the event, Whitefish Mountain Resort CEO Dan Graves said he can’t imagine what the mountain looked like 70 years ago when the founders began work on the resort.

“The big reason why we’re here today is to honor three men, along with their families, that had the vision of putting a ski area in the hinterlands of northwest Montana 70 years ago,” Graves said to the crowd.

“My guess is it was a little quieter, a little bit less touristy and probably a very sleepy little town, for lack of a better word,” he added. “And to have their vision, their guts, determination and drive - to say they worked long hours, to say they sacrificed does not do it justice.”

The resort installed a commemorative plaque near Chair 1 dedicated to Muldown, Schenck and Prentice, detailing the role each played in bringing their dream for a ski hill into reality.

Notable family and friends in attendance included: Muldown’s son, Mike Muldown; Schenck’s wife Marguerite and his children; Mary Anne Miles, Karl and Eric Schenck; Prentice’s son, Tom Prentice; Jack Collins, last surviving member of the original Hellroaring Ski Club; and Jane Seely Solberg, the first person to ride the T-Bar on the original opening day.

Mary Anne Miles read the plaque dedicated to her father.

“In the late 1940s, Ed Schenck knew there was a future in skiing and thought Whitefish was the perfect location for a ski resort,” she said. “It was tough going, yet Ed persevered for more than 30 years as general manager doing whatever it took to keep the ski area going. From its humble beginnings to its place as one of the most renowned resorts in the west, Ed’s vision and determination paved the way to the resort’s success.”

The plaque says George Prentice “took a chance and invested his savings, sweat and long hours to establish this ski area. From hard labor knocking on doors selling shares to make ends meet, George made many sacrifices. It notes that in 1953 he was obligated to vacate his post to support his family, but when he retired he and his wife Phyllis returned to Whitefish wokring at the mountain and skiing through their retirement.

The plaque honors Lloyd “Mully” Muldown as “The Father of Skiing Whitefish” noting that he moved to Whitefish in 1928 with “a pair of maple skies and a thirst for winter adventure.” He helped establish the Hellroaring Ski Club and taught many residents to ski and coached teams. After his retirement as Whitefish Schools superintendent, he taught in the mountain’s ski school.

The Founders Day celebrations continued in the afternoon with an open house event at the Ski Heritage Center Museum of Skiing in the old Saddle Club building on Wisconsin Avenue in Whitefish. The open house featured a photo gallery celebrating the first five decades of skiing in Whitefish, an exhibit on the Hellroaring Ski Club Ski Cabin and new renovations to the historic Saddle Club building.