Ski museum opens for summer with number of projects on tap
Toni Matt takes to the air. A former Austrian National Junior Champion, Matt was the ski school director at Big Mountain from 1949 to 1955. He was also instrumental in laying out the downhill race course when Big Mountain hosted the 1949 and 1951 US National Championships. A prominent ski run at Whitefish Mountain Resort bears his name. (Courtesy photo)
The Whitefish Ski Heritage Museum is opening for the summer season on Thursday, and has a number of projects in the works also.
The museum is open Thursdays through Saturday’s from noon to 5 pm., but hopes to add more days depending on volunteer availability.
The museum is operated by the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation in the historic Saddle Club cabin adjacent to the Stumptown Ice Den in Mountain Trails Park on Wisconsin Avenue. The museum features a photographic exhibit portraying the history of skiing in the Flathead Valley, a Hall of Fame honoring the ski pioneers and local skiing legends, a life-size cutaway reproduction of the interior the Hellroaring ski cabin circa 1935 and a video library featuring rare footage of skiing in the valley and around Montana in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Work is currently underway to add a 10th Mountain Division “Ski Troops” exhibit featuring the Flathead Valley men who served in this winter warfare unit in WWII, and to record the personal recollections of local skiing pioneers.
The museum has received two grants to help fund exhibit development.
A grant from the Denver, Colorado, based 10th Mountain Division Foundation is helping to fund a new multimedia exhibit honoring the 10th Mountain Division from World War II and celebrating its impact on skiing history in the United States and here in the Flathead Valley. The exhibit will commemorate the legacy of the 10th Mountain Division, the Montanans who served, and their heroic exploits in World War II and the post-war impact of its veterans in building and re-shaping the entire ski and outdoor industry in America. A grant from the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau is helping to fund the “First Descents'' project to record firsthand accounts of surviving early-day skiers and employees of the Big Mountain Resort.
Both grants require that matching funds and operating reserves be committed to support the allocation of grant funds. The campaigns to raise these matching funds were launched in 2020. “Clearly, raising the funds to provide a match for these grants is our highest priority”, said FVSEF Director Tim Hinderman. “We are encouraged that there is abundant community support for documenting these important parts of our history and culture.”
As a nonprofit organization relying solely on volunteers, FVSEF is always seeking new members interested in being a part of documenting and disseminating this important chapter in the history of the region. Volunteers are currently needed for exterior painting, landscape planting and hosting during operating hours with training provided.
The museum is also seeking old ski lift chairs to complete its outdoor exhibit of “Ski Lifts From the Past.” The museum currently has chairs from original Chairs 1 and 2, a T-Bar from the first T-Bar lift circa 1947, and the drive engine from the Hellroaring Ski Club rope tow circa 1935. They are looking for chairs from Chairs 3, 4, 5 and 7.
Whitefish Mountain Resort has donated numerous photographs and artifacts from the original ski area to the museum. The Stumptown Historical Society has provided funding for the building renovation and the “History in Photos” exhibit.
Annual memberships in the Ski Heritage Center are available.
For more information, contact Tim Hinderman at 406-885-2730 or tim.hinderman@fvsef.org or visit fvsef.org/ski-museum.