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During a brief twelve years, beginning
in December 1956, Walter Foeger was the catalyst, and perhaps the key ingredient,
in a mix of community spirit and local entrepreneurship that propelled Jay Peak
from an obscure corner of Vermont onto the national skiing scene. Starting out
as the mountain's first and only ski pro, Walter was dealt a hand that included
one 'Open Slope', a 'Pomalift', and a recycled 'CCC' (Civilian Conservation
Corps, legacy of FDR's New Deal) barracks for a base lodge. Walter beat these
odds, eventually winning the position of vice-president and general manager
of the mountain corporation. By the time he reluctantly moved on in May of 1968,
he had led Jay Peak's transformation into a major ski center with over 40 trails,
seven ski lifts, including an aerial Tramway, and the beginnings of a year-round
sports complex.
But perhaps even more significant was his maverick and very popular parallel-from-the-start
ski teaching method Natur Teknik that unsettled proponents of the more
established American Ski Technique which taught snowplow, stem, and then parallel.
Natur Teknik earned varied praise and criticism from the press ("Ya,
besser zum press zen no press," quipped Foeger about the negative reports)
but brought crowds to the mountain, and kept them there throughout the week
- taking lessons.
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L., 1958 brochure advertising Walter Foeger
and a revolution in ski teaching;
r., Jay Peak ski school badge |
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Brochure courtesy O'Shea Publishing,
Enosburg Falls |
According to Al Flory of Newport (chief engineer and manager of Citizens
Utilities Co. at the time, and who in 1957 was responsible for putting through
the first power line to the first lift at Jay with the help of a team of horses
from Newport's Jersey Drown): "Without Walter Foeger there would have
been no Jay Peak?" Of course there were many others who made Jay Peak's
success a reality, whose small and large contributions have gone as yet largely
unsung. Why now sing the praises of just one man? For one, logic would suggest
that due to his exceptional efforts on behalf of the Jay Peak and his achievements
in the ski teaching world, Walter Foeger would today be well-known both in
his adopted state and beyond. Not that he would be virtually forgotten here.
And two, Walter Foeger is 86 this year, living in Austria, and virtually forgotten
here. I'll let you do the math.
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