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We are now fully engaged in Phase 2 of the History of Dartmouth Skiing Project.  This involves the creation of a documentary film of some 52+ minutes in length to cover the highlights in the book and to further promote the historical information relating to the role of Dartmouth College, its 3 graduate schools and the folks from the Hanover-Norwich region in the development of Modern Skiing.... The full status is outlined below. 

Regards to all,

Stephen Waterhouse '65 T'67,

Leader, History of Dartmouth Skiing Team

6/1/11 

Status/Plans to complete the Passion for Skiing Project 

Below, we have outlined the status and plans for our efforts to complete the Passion Project, including:

1) The Status of the Passion for Skiing book.

2) One page statement of "what" we are trying to do on the Passion for Skiing documentary film, and "why" we are doing it....

3) A brief summary of the activites we will complete to make the documentary film.  We will look to a number of you to help with finding old film, providing personal insights in to specific great moments in skiing history, etc.

4) This section contains most of the verbiage in this ski wiki as we need everyone's help with the financial support to complete this project by personal contributions and spreading the word to other interested parties.  This outlines where gifts should be sent, and our incentive plans for individuals, classes and other organizations such as foundations and companies. 

5) The movie making team involved in Passion is staffed by a number of experienced professionals who between them have created many award winning ski movies and documentary films on various subjects.  They are providing the experience we need to achieve a truly outstanding film.  

As from the beginning, this is a group effort.  If you are reading the details contained in this web site, you are part of the team. Please scan thru this to see what we are up to, and step up to help in anyway you can.

1) The Passion for Skiing Book

The book was published on Feb 12, 2010 at a Reception in the Hanover Inn to celebrate the 100th Dartmouth Winter Carnival.  It has since been on sale via the Internet at http://www.passionforskiing.com/, at several Ski Museums across the country, and at several book stores (including the Dartmouth Bookstore in Hanover, NH).  Sales have been strong, but we recognize that only a limited audience will ever have copy in their hands which is one of the reasons we are proceeding to Phase 2 and creating the documentary film.  The book received the Ullr Award - 2011 for its contribution to the knowledge of the history of skiing from the International Ski History Association (ISHA) at ISHA's annual gathering on April 1, 2011 which this year took place in Sun Valley, Idaho and helped celebrate the Resort's 75th Anniversary.  This is just one of the many major ski areas with a strong Dartmouth contribution. 

2) The What and Why of The Passion for Skiing Documentary Film

The team of alumni and friends that produced the book, Passion for Skiing, (Ullr Award - 2011 from the InternationalSki History Association) is now working to reach a wider universe by creating a documentary film fortelevision/Internet/movie audiences, one that portrays Dartmouth’s amazing achievements leading to the development of the 25-billion dollar a year U.S. ski industry. The film will highlight specific successes achievedthroughout the College’s long history, told in microcosm via a popular sport that encapsulates the spirit of Dartmouth,using action footage, personal interviews, and visual documentation. We expect the film to reach a much largeraudience than the recently published book, which serves as a massive compilation of the relevant historical facts, andto contain much new material which was not possible to include within its 440 pages.  Moreover, this film willdemonstrate what Dartmouth is all about far beyond the sport of skiing.  Few people appreciatethe multitude of contributions to winter snow sports through business, engineering and medicine that have come fromalumni/staff of Dartmouth, the Tuck School, the Thayer School and the Dartmouth Medical School, plus residents ofHanover, NH and nearby towns.  This single group has pioneered, developed and shaped the global reach of modernskiing and significantly fostered the sport’s growth in the United States. We believe there is no better example ofDartmouth using its diverse capabilities to provide the unique leadership sustained by this single institution for over100 years.  Here is a representative sampling of those achievements:

·         Dartmouth alumni, staff and local residents have dominated the development of ski racing by initiating the first race days (1910); starting the first U.S. college ski team (1921); creating  the first alpine races in the U.S. (slalom, giant slalom and downhill from 1925); running the first U.S. National Downhill (Mt. Moosilauke, 1933); building the first U.S. overhead cable ski lift (Oak Hill, 1935); and producing the most athletes/staff for the Winter Olympics  

·       Dartmouth alumni founded, developed, or managed most significant U.S. ski areas (40); early U.S. ski clothing/ski equipment makers; many early ski retail shops, restaurants and hotels; and substantial housing/other facilities in ski resorts.

·      Dartmouth alumni started/managed companies that have provided technical support (lift engineering, trail design, snow making and business consulting) to over 450 significant ski areas in the U.S., Canada and other countries.

·      Dartmouth doctors/other medical staff have been the most prevalent medical support in U.S. ski communities from 1900, including starting the massive 900-doctor Hitchcock Clinic (1927) that covers needs throughout New England ski areas.

 ·      Dartmouth writers/moviemakers have been among the most prolific leaders in promoting skiing via stories in magazines/movies, often stimulated by first-time extreme skiing exploits by alumni skiers.

·       Dartmouth has led international developments through racing/training skiers or developing facilities around the globe from Canada (1910s), Europe (1920s),  and Japan/New Zealand/Australia (1930s) to Korea/China (1980s); and even winning the first international race south of the equator (Chile, 1937).

·     The National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame (NSSHF) has inducted 36 of Dartmouth alumni/staff plus another 12 with strong family connections amongst its 367 members.  This group of 48 is several times the number from any other institution.

The book project was supported by skiers/non-skiers and alumni/non-alumni alike because this fascinating storydeserved to be told, not just to show Dartmouth’s role but to add a previously unwritten chapter to the history of skiing.  Much pro-bono help, plus tight cost management, enabled the book to be produced for under $60,000. To makethe film, we need to convert historic, but fragile, old film to digital before it disintegrates; film the comments oflegends of skiing before we lose their personal tales; and edit all the raw film footage in to an Emmy-quality, hour-plus length film.  We are finding ways to reduce cost every day, and hope to complete the film for another $150,000,much less than initially projected.  We rely totally on the friends of Dartmouth to finance the film so this story can be immortalized before much of it is lost for posterity. 

3) The specific steps we are following to the Film

Like every other undertaking of this sort, there is a process to be followed to achieve a successful endpoint.  I will briefly discuss these three issues below.…..

What is the principal product we intend to generate?     We will complete a creditable, 52+ minute ski film which is appropriate for an hour long television broadcast.  We may have a longer version for use in documentary movie situations.  To complete it, we are undertaking the activities listed below.  Some involve volunteer help (as all of the book creation effort has) and some involves serious expenditures (as designing and printing the book has)…. 

1)   Locate all available film footage that we may be able to reuse at minimal cost for “rights”.  This means determining what is actually covered in some 150 old films that are at Dartmouth’s cold storage facility in Maine, learning of other old film available elsewhere, and gaining a full appreciation of interview footage and other new filming undertaken in the past 3 years. You can help by alerting Clark Griffiths '57 )Email:  clarkgrif@comcast.net ) about any sources of film and arranging to get a copy to him (Mailing address: Clark and Happy Griffiths, 74 Prospect Street, Lebanon, NH 03766)

2)  Based on the content of all the film we know of and the Passion for Skiing book, create a master script to use to guide the film creation and editing process.  Lisa Densmore '83 and Steve Waterhouse '65 are leading this effort right now, and hope to complete this by the end of the summer.

3)  We have now completed new filming that we thought was needed to fill in the gaps of what our script calls for.  Lisa Densmore '83, Roger Brown '57, Jim Butterworth T'91 and many others have worked on this aspect over the past 5 months.

5)   Edit all the HD ready film into the finished 52+ minute documentary film. This work will be undertaken by a top flight professional edit house and is extremely complex as we blend many types of film footage together. 

6)   Produce copies of the resulting 52 minute DVD as needed to fulfill various uses

7)   Produce for distribution to our major financial supporters a special version of the 52 minute DVD with additional outtake footage that is unavailable thru any other source  

  4) The fundraising effort to enable the film to be completed

When we started the entire History of Dartmouth Skiing Project, we estimated a total spend of some $750,000 would be needed to complete the necessary research, write/produce the book, and complete the film.  With a committed total pro-bono effort by all parties plus the helpful contribution of excellent writing or research from some of the serious ski historians supporting our effort, we completed the book for an actual spend of roughly $ 60,000.  We have spent as needed to complete the new filming and have about $ 50,000 in hand from remaining gifts from our initial fund raising and book sales.  We project that we will need as much as another $100-150,000 to reach a satisfactory end point for Phase 2. This is what we will target to reach in our fund raising effort over the next few months.  If we achieve success with this plan we will have completed the whole project for less than 50% of what one might normally spend on such an extensive endeavor.

Some may ask "What happens should we have excess funds left over from this entire project?"  We have undertaken this Project to bring an appropriate level of credit to folks from Dartmouth College, its 3 graduate schools and locals from the Hanover region for their outstanding contributions to the development of modern skiing.   Should we be fortunate to have any funds left over after we complete the film and its distribution, we have stated from the beginning that these excess funds will be used to support the activities of the Dartmouth Outing Club (the real hero in the development of modern skiing) and thru it, the first American college ski team (and one of the most important contributors to modern ski racing), the Dartmouth Ski Team.  In other words, this is a charitable project in all ways and not a profit making activity for any of us.  We would expect that this film will also be of use in future fund raising endeavors of Dartmouth and its various ski related programs.  Because this is a broader story of the development of the ski industry and has involved much non-Dartmouth connected support, this story may also be of use for generating support for other ski industry activities. 

If you are taking the time to read thru this write-up, we hope you will join all of us in making this happen by contributing as generously as you can.  We outline below Where to Send Gifts and Funding Incentives Available for gifts of $ any amount to $25,000+ for individuals, Foundations, Companies and Classes.     

Where should Gifts to Support this Project be sent?

    We are not a professional fund raising operation.  That is probably very clear from our attempts to outline fully what we are trying to do.  However, this is a team effort and we hope there are no mysteries in our objectives or approach.  As we have stated before, all of you reading this summary represent our fund raising team.  We are all in this together so we ask your consideration, and hopefully support, in completing the very important second Phase of this project.  That means providing personal support if you are able and/or bringing this Project to the attention of others you think might have an interest in supporting what we are trying to achieve.  We need help from other Dartmouth, Tuck, Thayer and DMS alumni; locals from the Hanover region; non-affiliated folks who simply respect what we are presenting; Foundations with an interest in skiing or the uniqueness of this achievement; Corporations with a wish to be part of the supporting group; or any other individual or organization with a potential interest.

If you are interested to help, you can simply write out and mail a check to our money receivers…. John Walters ’62  who will make sure that it is deposited in the account controlled by our Project Treasurer Mike Gonnerman ’65.  Although we cannot guarantee it, we do believe that you can take a charitable deduction for your gift.

Gift checks should be made out to History of Dartmouth Skiing Project and mailed to John Walters '62 at this address….

     John Walters ’62 - History of Dartmouth Skiing, P.O. Box 286, Grantham, NH 03753  

Funding Incentives for Supporters of the Documentary Film           

In recognition of your level of support for this project, and the creation of Passion for Skiing, the film, we have the intention of providing a number of incentive items as noted below.   And if we can dream up more, you will hear about them in the months ahead. 

You should note that we reference providing two different DVD creations below.  A personal copy of the regular 52 minute DVD will probably only be available via this effort.  This is the version that we would plan to make available to PBS and other media outlets.  It is possible it will be sold later to support this project, or other DOC or skiing related projects.  The special, extended length DVD (the 52 minutes plus selected out-takes and short films) will definitely only be available via this gift giving effort. 

-  For Individuals, Foundations and other Organizations: 

1)   For a Gift of $250 or more, we will provide a free copy of the 52 minute commercial DVD, and provide a listing in the film credits as a “Bronze Contributor”

2)    For a Gift of $1000 or more, we will provide a free copy of the Special Limited Edition DVD which will include the 52 minute main Passion for Skiing film and selected out-takes and short films.  We will also list this contributor in the film credits as a “Silver Contributor”

3)  For a Gift of $2500, we will provide a free copy of the Special Limited Edition DVD which will include the 52 minute main Passion for Skiing film plus selected out-takes and short films, a copy of the soft book version of the Passion for Skiing book, and list the contributor in the credits of the movie as a "Gold Contributor"

4)  For a Gift of $5000, we will provide a free copy of the Special Limited Edition DVD which will include the 52 minute main Passion for Skiing film plus selected out-takes and short films, a copy of the Limited Edition hardcover version of the Passion for Skiing book (until they run out), and list the contributor in the credits of the movie as a “Underwriter”.

5)  For a Gift of $10,000, we will provide a free copy of the Special Limited Edition DVD which will include the 52 minute main Passion for Skiing film plus selected out-takes and short films, a copy of the Limited Edition, hardcover version of the Passion for Skiing book (until they run out), and list the contributor in the credits of the movie as a “Platinum Underwriter”.

6)  For a Gift of $25,000+, we will list the contributor at the front of the movie as a "Co-Executive Producer" as well as provide a free copy of the Special Limited Edition DVD which will include the 52 minute main Passion for Skiing film plus selected out-takes and short films, and a copy of the Limited Edition, hardcover version of the Passion for Skiing book.   This contributor will also be invited to participate with the team at any film festival events should the film attract such involvement.  

- For Classes:

Eleven Dartmouth Classes (1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1981 and 1985), or sufficient individual classmates with personal gifts, stepped up to help finance the creation and printing of the Passion for Skiing book; and to gain Class recognition as Underwriters of the book.  We hope these Classes, and several more, will undertake a Class Project type effort to help us complete this second Phase of the History of Dartmouth Skiing Project. We are totally in your hands on this, and fully recognize that initiating this kind of support requires a very special kind of leadership from one or more members of a Class.  It is a case of where your “passion” for this project can make it happen.  From a Class standpoint, this is a highly unique Project.  In the history of the College, I am aware of no other situation where a Class has participated in this way in the creation of a film, and particularly a film that provides such a significant historical recognition to Dartmouth College.  If the Class is able to muster a gift at the levels noted below, we will provide the incentive recognition as noted…..

1)  For a Class Gift of $5000, we will provide the Class for its use a free copy of the Special Limited Edition DVD which will include the 52+ minute main Passion for Skiing film plus selected out-takes and short films, and list the Class numerals in a special category of “Class Supporter”.

2)   For a total Gift of $10,000 or more from all Class sources, we will list the Class numerals as an “Underwriter” plus provide the items in category (1). 

3)  For a total Gift of $20,000 or more from all Class sources, we will list the Class numerals as a “Platinum Underwriter” plus provide the items in category (1).

4)  For a total Gift of $50,000+ from all Class sources to both phases of this project, we will list the Class at the front of the movie as the Major Project Leader for this undertaking as well as provide a free copy of the Special Limited Edition DVD which will include the 52 minute main Passion for Skiing film plus selected out-takes and short films, and present the film at a future Class Reunion.   The members of this Class will also be invited to participate with the team at any film festival events should the film attract such involvement.  

5) Background of The Passion for Skiing film production team

In a strange way for me, the making of the documentary film for Passion will bring me full cycle on an event that kicked me in to gear on completing the whole Passion for Skiing project. Several years ago, I came across an English version of a limited edition re-issued book, championed by a leading contemporary artist and skier Peter Doig, which outlined the best techniques for skiing in the 1920s. It was based on a ski film ("Das Wunder des Schneeschuhe," or The Wonder of the Skis, that was filmed in 1920-21).  This film and book had been created by early movie maker, Dr. Arnold Fanck, and one of the all-time great ski legends, Hannes Schneider. They had created the first Alpine ski film to show Hannes Schneider's innovative ski techniques which helped the sport evolve from its original Nordic tradition.  Over time, Fanck and Schneider put together several ski films and greatly influenced American skiers. While Schneider was the father of modern Alpine technique, Fanck was, in many ways, the conceiver of the ski film. They had used still images from the first movie of Hannes skiing to illustrate how best to make ski turns in the book that I had uncovered.  This, perhaps, obscure fact combined with my own modest knowledge of Dartmouth's early start in skiing over the first 20 years of the 20th Century led me to the basic question of How important was the Dartmouth and Hanover role in developing alpine, or what I define as modern, skiing?  Passion for Skiing the book contains the answers to this question, and we hope our documentary film movie will add to an even greater understanding of these answers.

We are fortunate to have many Award winning makers of films, particularly ski films, on our team.  If I were to write another book on Dartmouth history, another possible topic would be the influence of Dartmouth connected people in the world of film making.  The list is a long one and we mention several for their contributions to skiing in our book. These include Lisa Densmore '83 (our documentary film team leader), Rick Moulton, Jim Butterworth T '91, Roger Brown '57, Nick Brown '90, and Satchele Burns plus many others.  And of course, we are blessed to have the advice and guidance, where needed, of the master of modern ski movies, Warren Miller, who wrote one of two Forewords for Passion for Skiing. Warren has impacted the growth of skiing worldwide his amazing ski movie productions over the last 6 decades.  Lisa Densmore is the person I have asked to serve as our movie team leader.  Together, we have taken a first crack at the highlights to include in the documentary film.  And now, Lisa is working with all the sources of existing film to collect as much of the available raw film footage or summaries of contents that she can find.  Then she will use our highlights summary and this available raw film footage to complete the script that will serve as the basic guide for what the film will consist of.  Where needed, we will fill in the gaps with new film footage before we engage with a top class film editor to create our final film.

To provide just a brief sense of the skill set of our team, I have made a few comments on several of these individuals below..... 

Lisa Densmore '83 is a multi Emmy Award winning field producer and on camera host.  She is co-host of Wildlife Journal with Willem Lange which is seen regularly on PBS.  She has made documentaries on important historical ski venues like Tuckerman Ravine, appeared in promotional films for many ski areas, and is a regular participant in ski instructional/technical shows for the RSN ski cable channel. Lisa is also a fine arts photographer of outdoor imagery from flora to people in action on the hiking trails of the world.  Her photography is featured in Backpacker, Vermont Life and Ski Racing International. She has authored several, highly respected books on hiking in the mountains. Lisa is still an active ski race competitor and is possibly the most prolific winner of all time in Masters Ski Races with some 55 US and International Championships to her credit.  And she is still racing.....

Rick Moulton - Born and raised in Hanover, NH, Rick is the son of Dick, a Dartmouth '49, and Virginia Moulton who feature as the models in the fantastic 1948 Winter Carnival Poster. Rick learned to ski in the Ford Sayre Ski Program in Hanover, and has become one of the most knowledgeable experts on ski movies in the world.  He has access to or knowledge of many of the old films that will feature in Passion for Skiing, the film.  Rick began his career in the late 1960s with the surf films Oceans and Freeform, shot in Hawaii and California; worked as a director for Vermont Public Television in the 1970s; produced the New England Emmy Award-winning Vermont Memories I and II; and as an independent filmmaker in the early 1980s he made Legends of American Skiing, winner of the 1984 Banff Mountain Film Festival. The film was aired nationally on PBS. Since then, Rick has produced a number of ski history documentaries such as Change and Challenge in 1994, Thrills and Spills in 1998 and a recent documentary on Lowell Thomas. Rick has a deep interest and extensive experience working with vintage ski film. He set up the Care Collection Archives for the New York Public Library, and serves as a film consultant for the film archives of the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame as well as for the restoration of films in the archives of New England Ski Museum. We will lean extensively on Rick’s knowledge of available film that might fit our needs.  

Jim Butterworth T'91 - A graduate of Georgia Tech, Jim is one of the pioneers in the development of streaming audio and video over the Internet. He is also the producer and director of Seoul Train, founder and principal of Incite Productions, as well as being a technology entrepreneur. Seoul Train was his debut film and told the story of North Korean refugees secretly escaping in to China to try to avoid the harsh life in their homeland, only to be captured by the Chinese and returned to Korea to face an uncertain fate.  This involved filming in closed off North Korea with secret cameras and securing damning footage of Chinese brutality to these North Korean émigrés, facing considerable personal danger.  Just in the past few days, Jim unleashed another amazing documentary called War Don Don on HBO2 on September 29, 2010.  Jim serves as Executive Producer for first time film maker Rebecca Richman Cohen’s story of the war crimes trial of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel leader Issa Sesay in the Sierra Leone.  War Don Don puts international justice on trial for the world to see.   Jim has been a valuable member of the Executive Committee for the Dartmouth Club of the Vail Region for several years.  During the research for Passion, he teamed up with Tom Washing '63 to organize the filming of interviews with alumni skiing legends like John Litchfield '39 and industry legends with a Dartmouth connection such as former Dartmouth ROTC leader, war hero and long time Vail Mountain Manager, Sarge Bill Brown.  Clips from these interviews will feature in Passion the film.

Roger Brown '57 has created some of the greatest pure ski movies of our time.  Roger plus his long time Partner, Barry Corbet '58, dazzled audiences with their unique films. Their innovative camera and editing techniques brought a new excitement to the adventure film industry with Award winning movies such as Ski the Outer Limits, Moebius Flip, and The Great Ski Chase.  All are available on DVD today.  Roger has also made many, many promotional movies for Ski Companies across the country.  Currently, Roger is working on a project to produce a 50th Anniversary film for Vail Resorts to celebrate the opening of Vail Mountain in 1962.  He expects to be assisted by his son, Nick Brown ’90, who is a highly successful movie maker for the BBC in England right now, and probably others in this undertaking.  With the help of Roger, Satchele Burns (Vail's highly skilled, professional staff movie maker) and the Vail Management team, we have been blessed to have the opportunity to film some of the Dartmouth activities at CarniVAIL the past 2 years for possible inclusion in our upcoming film as well as the Vail 50^th Anniversary film.  You can see some of Satchele’s work where he films some freestyle skiers strutting their stuff in Vail’s Special Riding Park on the link http://www.freeskier.com/videos/video.php?video_id=2859