Mystery Glimpse: Young Racer
Who Is This Racer?
Major hint: O, Canada! This one should be easy. This week, we all need an easy one. Can you tell us about her history? Her extraordinary career? Thanks to the New England Ski Museum for this picture.
Credit: Dorothy Crossley, New England Ski Museum
Last Week
T
his photo was taken at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in 1963, showing off the installation of their new Carlevaro-Savio, Silver Queen Gondola.
Crested Butte Mountain Resort opened in 1960 when two men—Fred Rice and Dick Eflin—purchased a ranch on Mt. Crested Butte. An operating permit enabling the resort to be built was approved by the United States Forest Service the following year.
In 1963, Crested Butte constructed a top-to-bottom gondola from the base area to near where the bottom of the High Lift is today. The resort was the second resort to open a gondola in Colorado, after Vail Ski Resort opened theirs in 1962. Constructed by Carlevaro-Savio, the three-person Silver Queen Gondola was notorious for being cramped, and the cabins were known to have frequent collisions. The gondola lasted until 1972, when a bubble double chairlift replaced it.
Special thanks—again—to Dana Mathios, curator and Director of Collections, at the Colorado Snowsports Museum, located in Vail, CO.