Ski History in the Berkshires at Catamount Mountain
Catamount Mountain Resort Dedicates a Race Trail to Skiing Legend, Toni Matt
Ski pioneer, Toni Matt, was a champion Austrian and American ski racer who spent his life in the mountains beginning in his childhood home of St Anton, Austria and continuing in America in New England, Montana, and New York. The former Ski School Director at Catamount from 1960-1974 achieved success and notoriety throughout his career culminating with his induction into the United States Ski Hall of Fame in 1967.
Soon after becoming the 1938 Austrian Junior national champion at age 19, Toni Matt came to the United States in 1939 with Herbert Schneider to teach skiing with the Hannes Schneider Ski School in North Conway, NH. In the same year, Matt won his first United States downhill championship and also set a record when he won the Inferno Race on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Matt’s record time still stands today and clocks in at 6 minutes ahead of the previous record time. Toni Matt’s second United States downhill championship would come in 1941.
Later in 1942 with the United States joining the war effort in Europe, Toni Matt enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division in Alaska. A few years after returning from service in WWII Matt became a founder and builder of Whitefish Mountain in Montana in 1947. After moving back to the northeast to raise his family, Catamount owner, Jack Fisher, hired Toni Matt to become Catamount’s Ski School Director in 1960, a position Matt would hold until 1974 when he accepted the same position at Whiteface in Lake Placid, NY.
Toni Matt had a storied career on two continents in skiing, ski racing, coaching, and serving his country when he was needed most. “The Toni Matt racing trail dedication will be a great day for the Toni Matt family, a great day for Catamount Mountain Resort, and a great day for ski history in America” said Richard Matt, son of Toni Matt.
“The ownership of Catamount and I have been involved in alpine ski racing our entire lives. To have Toni Matt, one of the legends of the sport, so connected to Catamount is an honor to be celebrated” said Catamount General Manager Mark Smith. “We appreciate his legacy and the efforts of his family to remind Catamount’s race coaches, instructors, and young ski racers that a man of Toni’s caliber forged a tradition of excellence to be emulated” continued Smith.
There was a dedication of the Toni Matt racing trail at Catamount on Saturday December 14th at 1:00pm.
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As a child and wanna be ski racer Catamount was a relatively easy drive from my childhood home in Westchester. I remember Mr. Matt well: he was encouraging and friendly. I was in awe of the man who shussed Mt. Washington’s Headwall which I would ski a few years later. He is missed and temembered as an athlete and a gentlemen.