Congratulations Andrew Solod on correctly identifying the photo as Otto Schniebs (I still don’t know how you guys do this so fast).
A disciple of ski maestro Hannes Schneider, Schniebs came to the United States from Germany in 1928, with an eye on opportunities in ski instruction and coaching. A tireless promoter, he founded his own system of ski instruction with his “American Ski School,” published an excellent how-to and travelogue book “American Skiing,” and also promoted what he thought were the best places to ski tour in the country, including in 1939 a ground breaking exploration in the Elk Mountains between Aspen and Crested Butte. It was here where Schniebs and other skiers such as famed racer Dick Durrance skied high on Star Peak and Castle Peak (the latter one of Colorado’s fourteeners).
Perhaps most importantly to us ski culture boys and girls, it’s pretty much agreed that Schniebs coined the phrase “Skiing is Life.”
The contest photo is from the Schniebs book.
*****************original contest post below
Going deep today. I love this old photo, with the pipe smoking rake looking on as the ski guru expounds on waxing. Back in the days of wooden planks, wax was huge — if you didn’t have the right “dope” you’d stick to the hill like industrial grade Velcro. For a free pack from Backcountry Access, ID the guy giving the waxing lesson.
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This is the last of our six “Win a Pack” contests. Previous contests:
Aug 8 Contest, Terry Skjersaa, near the summit of Mt Bachelor.
Aug 15 Contest, Bill Briggs in Canada
Aug 22 Contest, Scott Schmidt in Outside Magazine
Aug 29 Contest, Dick Barrymore with proto helmet cam.
Sept 5 Contest, Bela Vadasz at Ellery Lake, California Sierra, on Chuteout
Fine Print:
If you win, I’ll leave a public comment identifying your comment as the winner, and I’ll contact you in private via the private email you leave on your blog comment. If we have no winner by 9:00 MST the Monday after I post the photo, there will be no winner and the prize will wrap to the next Friday. For extra karma, if you know the answer, please comment with some story as well.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
