--- title: Skiing: Photos From the Early Days of the Popular Sport description: LIFE's George Silk hit the ski slopes in the late 1950s to capture the booming popularity of skiing in America. canonical: https://time.com/4163528/skiing-vintage-photos-vermont/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-28T13:00:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:41.669Z og:title: See Photos of the Early Days of Skiing as a Popular American Pastime og:description: LIFE's George Silk hit the ski slopes in the late 1950s to capture the booming popularity of skiing in America. og:url: https://time.com/4163528/skiing-vintage-photos-vermont/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0981f474a119f326/6988771d2dce0106989e7222/151229-winter-ski-resorts-03.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 1957 Vermont Ski Story og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Photos of the Early Days of Skiing as a Popular American Pastime twitter:description: LIFE's George Silk hit the ski slopes in the late 1950s to capture the booming popularity of skiing in America. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0981f474a119f326/6988771d2dce0106989e7222/151229-winter-ski-resorts-03.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Photos of Skiing's Early Days as a Popular American Pastime  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 28, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  Skiers board a chairlift at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957. Skiers board a chairlift at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jan 28, 2016 1:00 PM UTC Skiing is somewhere in the vicinity of [22,000 years](http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20101221-travelwise-where-did-skiing-come-from) old—not as sport or recreation, but as a critical mode of transportation for early hunters. But skiing as Americans know it today, complete with high-speed chairlifts and cozy lodges selling overpriced French fries, only began to boom in the mid-1950s. With the advent of artificial snow and metal skis during that decade and plastic boots the next, more Americans took up the sport. Ski resorts, in turn, introduced new amenities to attract bigger crowds with each passing year. LIFE photographer George Silk hit the slopes in 1957 to capture the building frenzy. A record 3.5 million skiers had made their ways down America’s mountains the previous year, and several of the resorts he visited in Vermont—Stowe, Mount Snow, Mad River Glen—were host to ever more luxurious lodges, high-end apparel and, most of all, epic crowds. “As the peak late-February season approached,” LIFE declared, “the question was where all the skiers would find room to ski.” The more skiers there were, the more the businesses rose to meet their demands. Mount Snow served up almost 20,000 hot dogs in a single weekend. Equipment rentals, previously unavailable, now came with free lessons. At Mad River Glen, skiers at the end of a long run could shed their gear and slip into a Catholic Mass. The only ones who weren’t pleased were the “old-line ski addicts,” who viewed new adopters of their sport as “a nuisance that crowds the slopes and inns they once had to themselves.” But the newcomers were there to stay. The record 3.5 million who hit the slopes in 1956 pale in comparison to statistics for the 2014-2015 winter season, during which [53.6 million people](http://www.snowsports.org/research-surveys/snow-sports-fact-sheet/) made tracks in the powdery white stuff. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Caption from LIFE. On Spruce Peak, VT., Harry Larsen climbs from her new lodge. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Skiers unload from a train at Stowe, Vermont, 1957. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Skiers board a chairlift at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion on the ski slopes at Mt. Snow, Vermont, 1957. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Workers maintain the slopes at Stowe, Vermont, 1957. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Ski family, the Edward McMahons of Stowe, group before a run. Mr. McMahon, wife Marilyn, her mother, Mrs. Gale Shaw, Suzanne 10, Sally 7, Debbie 5, Patty 3 practice together weekends. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Patty McMahon gets a push from her mother. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The McMahon kids get comfortable on their skis, Mount Snow, Vermont, 1957. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Learning how to fall is an important part of the sport, 1957. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A packed chairlift at Mount Snow in Vermont, 1957. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Hooded skiers shuffle slowly toward a chair lift at Mt. Snow. Cloaks are provided by lift operators to keep skiers warm on windy ride up the mountain. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Double-chair lift at Mt. Snow gives novices a luxury usually enjoyed only by crack skiers. Rushed carpenters finish their work after it goes into use. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Manufactured snow, blowing from nozzles, veils skiers in mists at Bousquet's, near Pittsfield Mass. During a January thaw, Bousquet's was jammed with skiers unable to ski elsewhere. The artificial powdery surface, made from compressed air and water, can be laid at temperature below 32 degrees. 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