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Whitefish ski museum gets grant for multi-media exhibit

| March 8, 2020 2:00 AM

The Whitefish Ski Heritage Center Museum recently was awarded a grant to help fund a new multi-media exhibit honoring the 10th Mountain Division from World War II and celebrating its impact on skiing history in the United States and here in the Flathead Valley.

The exhibit will commemorate the legacy of the 10th Mountain Division, the Montanans who served, and their heroic exploits in World War II and the post-war impact of its veterans in building and re-shaping the entire ski and outdoor industry in America.

The Ski Heritage Museum was notified by the Tenth Mountain Division Foundation in October that a grant for $7,000 was approved, to be disbursed in 2020. A partner organization, Tenth Mountain Living History, agreed to fund an additional $3,000 for a total grant of $10,000 to help develop the exhibit.

“Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division played an important role in shaping the history of skiing on Big Mountain and throughout the country,” Museum Director Tim Hinderman said. “We have envisioned this exhibit as a cornerstone of our center from Day 1.”

The original 10th Mountain Division was formed in November 1941. It was the only U.S. military unit since the Civil War to be recruited by a civilian entity, the National Ski Patrol. Many of its soldiers were skiers, as well as forest rangers, lumberjacks, outfitters and guides — anyone who could take care of themselves out of doors in all seasons. The division was re-designated the 10th Mountain Division in 1944 and fought in some of the roughest terrain in World War II, including a series of daring assaults against the German army in the northern Apennine Mountains of Italy, according to a press release.

After the war, 10th Mountain Division veterans returning home wasted no time in commencing to reshape America’s ski industry and the outdoor recreational industry in general. They published ski magazines, opened ski schools, and established ski areas, including Vail, Aspen, Sugarbush, Whiteface Mountain and others. At least 62 ski resorts have been founded, managed, or employed head ski instructors that were 10th Mountain Division veterans.

A requirement of the grants is that matching funds and operating reserves be committed prior to the funding of the grants. The campaign to raise these matching funds was recently launched, Hinderman said.

When completed, the exhibit will include a life-size diorama including a soldier with winter gear: skis, packs, tent, uniform, and weapons. Highlights of the Division’s campaigns in WWII will be included, along with an interactive touch-screen video display offering full feature presentations or segments from feature films. Montanans in the 10th will be featured in an interactive display describing their individual stories before, during and after the war.

Whitefish Mountain Resort’s own story of 10th Mountain Division veteran, Austrian immigrant and skiing legend Toni Matt, and how he helped put Big Mountain Ski Resort atop the post-war North American ski scene, will be a center piece of the exhibit.

To assist with research, planning and designing the exhibit, the Ski Heritage Center has recruited content and exhibit designer Laura Welch. With a master’s degree in Museum Studies from George Washington University, Welch brings a wealth of experience from an internship at the Smithsonian National Museum and employment with the Museum of The Rockies in Bozeman and the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, Wyoming.

Research and acquisition of artifacts for the exhibit is currently underway. Construction of the displays and production of the interactive video presentation will begin as matching funds allow.

The Ski Heritage Museum at 725 Wisconsin Ave. is housed in a log structure through a long-term lease with the city of Whitefish. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. through ski season. The Flathead Valley Ski and Education Foundation created the Center to celebrate the history of skiing in the Flathead Valley.

For information about donating to the TMDF Matching Funds Campaign or how to donate to the center, contact Tim Hinderman at tim.hinderman@fvsef.org.