Moguls behind the moguls: Utah's ski resort owners.

• Author: Horowitz, Alan
• Position: Profiles

Moguls behind the Moguls

One ski resort got its start when a man deeded 1,800 acres to the U.S. Forest Service for $1 and was extolled in the press as a man motivated by his "love of people." Never mind that inspiring his largess were his creditors who were about to repossess the land.

Another ski owner got too close to his property; he was accidentally electrocuted by a ski lift. A third became acquainted with his personal paradise because his wife grew up nearby. He lived to see the day when virtually no one knew of his ski property but millions knew him as a movie star.

These are the people who brought - and bring - skiing to Utah. Ski resort founders and owners are a diverse group, motivated by love of the sport, money, fun, publicity, risk taking. Part businesspeople, part ski bums, part entertainers, they come from New York and California, Louisiana and Utah. And all have the same goal: Making a success of the business while offering the majesty of skiing to those who love the sport.

Alta: A Resort with Soul

Alta, the nation's second ski resort, originally was a mining town that knew more ups and downs than the most mogul-filled ski runs. A group of Salt Lake businessmen were behind the formation of Alta. Particularly prominent was George H. Watson, the man who gave the U.S. government that big parcel of land. "His inspiration," writes Kelner, "was a shotgun, held by creditors, who were in the process of repossessing his vast holdings for nonpayment of the mortgage."

The founders "wanted a ski resort for the local people, and that is still our philosophy," stated Chic Morton, a Utah native and the man probably most closely associated with Alta in the minds of today's skiers. He's the resort's current president and retired general manager, who began working there in 1945.

Several of the local resorts have expanded in recent years or plan to do so. Not Alta. "We've developed all of the good skiing," said Morton. "It's going to stay pretty much the way it is." The hottest thing to hit the snow in recent years, high-speed detachable quad chairlifts, may never make it up Alta's hill. "We don't feel we have anyplace we want to put that many people in one spot at one time," said Morton.

It's the "Alta mystique" that's being preserved here. One of Morton's favorite descriptions of Alta came from a New Yorker who had been coming to the resort for years: "Alta has soul." Thanks to such Alta founders and stalwarts as Watson, Morton, Alf Engen...