Betty Woolsey was considered America’s best skier in 1936, captaining the Olympic team. She learned to ski after being caught in a spring avalanche while climbing Ober Gabelhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. In 1942 Woolsey settled near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and founded the Trail Creek Ranch, which opened as a ski center and dude ranch in 1946. She also worked as a journalist, writing for American Ski Annual and Ski.Illustrated. Trail Creek Ranch became a base for the Olympic biathlon tryouts, Jackson Hole’s Ski Club’s Nordic program, and the Junior Nordic National Championships. Woolsey was elected to the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1969. In 1992, the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club started the Betty Woolsey Olympian Endowment in her honor.
United States