Over several months in 2026, The Storm examined hundreds of newspaper articles, ski area master development plans, U.S. Forest Service reports, and other archives documenting the evolution of lift-served skiing across the American West – and, in particular, Colorado – since the end of World War II. This fossil record of a mostly pre-internet culture captures the facts and sentiments of skiing’s past unfiltered by nostalgia or selective memory. This is the fourth in a series of articles summarizing those findings.
In September 1961, the United States Forest Service (USFS) published a 25-page pamphlet entitled Development Program for the National Forests. The booklet opens with a patriotic appeal to tap the nation’s vast resources for the public good:
In his special messages to the Congress on “Natural Resources” and on “Agriculture” President Kennedy urged the acceleration of all forest development to insure adequate forest resources in the future, including the development of National Forest resources.
While the pamphlet never explicitly mentions ski area development, its publication coincided with a massive build-out of many of America’s most popular and successful ski areas. Between 1961 and 1972, a willful and optimistic postwar generation opened 42 ski areas fully or partially on USFS land that survive to modernity, including Breckenridge, Vail Mountain, Crested Butte, Steamboat, Mt. Rose, Crystal Mountain in Washington, Attitash, Purgatory, Waterville Valley, Jackson Hole, Snowmass, Alpental, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Grand Targhee, Keystone, Snowbird, Telluride, Kirkwood, and Copper Mountain.
Impressive as that roster is, America’s sprawling mountain ranges held deeper potential still. In 1967, the USFS published a report entitled Skiing Trends and Opportunities in Western States. The 90-page booklet summarizes the rapid growth of lift-served skiing, and outlines plans to accommodate future demand on USFS lands [boldface mine]:
The surge in number of skiers during the 50’s developed into a nationwide phenomenon. It captured the attention of those sports enthusiasts who are always seeking new ways to test their physical capabilities. It also challenged the imagination of private entrepreneurs and public land managers -- particularly those interested in acquainting more and more people with year-long experiences of the outdoor recreation opportunities.
This is reflected by what occurred during the 9-year period 1955-63. Skier visits tripled -- from 1.4 million in 1955 to 4.3 million in 1963. And the number of ski areas catering to this new breed of fun seekers increased from 152 to 197. The lift and tow capacity of these western ski areas kept pace with demand. It also tripled --from 66 million in 1955 to 215 million Vertical Transport Feet per hour (VTF/hr.) in 1964. …
There is every reason to expect continued growth for the western ski industry in the near future. Statistics describing the change in the western ski industry during the last decade give considerable basis for optimism that the opportunity for development is a long way from being fully exploited.
The report then outlines several obstacles to skiing’s continued growth, including cost, the sport’s physical demands, an increased preference for aerial lifts over surface tows, and the distance of most ski areas from population centers. What would not be a problem, the report notes, is building new ski areas:
Sites for new ski areas are plentiful
Lack of skiing terrain is not likely to inhibit growth of skiing in the Western States. A survey of State and Federal land management agencies identified 166 sites as having potential for future development as ski areas.
These sites certainly do not represent the entire available supply; rather they are those located in vicinities where demand is most likely to develop in the near future. We can reasonably assume that Wyoming and Alaska, for example, have many more potential sites than are shown on the map … The present demand for skiing in both States is not sufficient to stimulate very much “prospecting “ for potential sites. Nevertheless, the map does give some idea regarding the relative abundance of potential new ski sites. There are more undeveloped potential sites than developed sites in every State in the West, except for California and Colorado. We might conclude that new ski sites are somewhat more difficult to locate in both California and Colorado. This is understandable, for together these States already account for nearly 50 percent of the existing ski area lift and tow capacity in the Western States.
The survey of potential sites was conducted merely to locate areas, not to appraise their individual economic feasibility. They are, for the most part, areas that appear to offer adequate snow conditions and terrain for skiing. More critical examination could reveal physical drawbacks or economic conditions that would limit or even preclude successful operation of some sites. Nevertheless, the total number of sites that apparently could be developed is large. The capacity of the 166 potential sites that have been identified probably amounts to about 236 million VTF /hr -- about equal to the capacity already developed in the 12 Western States.
That map of 166 potential ski areas: