Ski season has arrived in Southern California, and since the 1930s when skiing became a major sport in the U.S., ski resorts have lured customers to their slopes with bold, attractive advertisements, promising breathtaking scenery and exceptional facilities.
In the early years of skiing, the resorts used the era’s proven method of attracting customers by commissioning and distributing beautifully styled travel posters and brochures. The advertisements depicted mountains blanketed in glistening snow and happy skiers dressed in fashionable apparel.
Winter sports took a serious foothold in the United States in the 1930s and fledgling ski facilities began cropping up nearly anywhere there was an open, snowy slope.
The first powered rope tow for skiers in the U.S. began operation in January 1934, in Woodstock, Vermont.
Southern California’s first rope tow opened in 1935 in the San Bernardino Mountains, on the slopes that would later become Snow Valley. The first rope tow in the San Gabriel Mountains began operating in 1937 at Table Mountain, today’s Mountain High North Resort.
The first chairlift in Southern California was built in 1942, at Mount Waterman, in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Many of the early East Coast and Rocky Mountain ski resorts had connections with the railroads. They developed a mutually beneficial advertising arrangement that provided the railroads with passengers and the resorts with skiers.
The railroads had a long history of creating alluring advertisements, and the blending of skiing with rail travel was a natural progression. The railroads also had big advertising budgets. They hired the finest artists to create inviting images that attracted attention to the sport of skiing.
Skiing began as a means of winter transportation. As it evolved into a sport, the promotional artwork helped skiing become a driving force in fashionable winter apparel.
The commercial ski artists were brilliant at creating winter scenes of sparkling sun on shimmering snow, highlighted by people dressed in stylish, colorful, and warm, yet sporty clothing.
Ski equipment manufacturers quickly joined the advertising movement, and they had commercial artists blend their products into posters that combined equipment, fashion, and the romance of travel.
Like many other advertisers, the producers of ski posters created beautiful “stock images” of generic ski slopes and skiers, that could be used by a variety of resorts. The resort could simply have their name printed on the poster at a relatively low cost, and enjoy the advantages of using the best available artists to promote their area.
One of the most talented and influential ski artists was Sascha Maurer (1897-1961), a German-born immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1925. Maurer’s work caught the attention of the New Haven Railroad who operated the “Snow Train” lines in the Northeast. Maurer created several famous posters for the Snow Trains, as well as other railroad tourist destinations.
The Wrightwood Museum has an excellent collection of skiing memorabilia from the area, and it has two original Sascha Maurer posters on display. The posters are stock images, advertising the Wrightwood ski area, and Splitkein skis.
The Wrightwood posters are two of Maurer’s best-known works. One features a woman in colorful winter ski wear, holding a pair of crossed Splitkein skis, in a gleaming, snow-covered landscape.
The second Wrightwood poster shows two smiling airborne skiers stylishly dressed, against a snowy mountain backdrop. This poster advertises Splitkein skis and the Corpe Cottages in Wrightwood, where the phone number is simply “10.” Like most ski art subjects from the period, Maurer’s skiers are happy, and somewhat formal – the airborne male skier is wearing a tie.
Great examples of Southern California’s ski art can also be found at the California Ski Library in Norco. The library has an original poster advertising Splitkein skis and the Big Pines ski area, today’s Mountain High ski resort. The poster was painted in 1938 by commercial artist Harald Damsleth.
Damsleth’s poster depicts an airborne skier with chiseled features, wearing stylish 1930s sportswear, against the backdrop of a remote, snowy mountainscape. The poster seamlessly integrates advertising for Splitkein Flexible Flyer wooden skis.
Vintage ski posters are now highly collectible and Maurer’s original posters sell for $1,000 to $6,000.
Information on local ski art and history:
• Wrightwood Museum, 6000 Cedar St., Wrightwood | Open Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m., admission is free https://wwhistory.org/
• California Ski Library, 3321 Aryana Ave., Norco | Open by appointment only http://www.skilibrary.com
Mark Landis is a freelance writer. He can be reached at Historyinca@yahoo.com
