“Here Vermonters and guests alike may stake out their own claims to the white gold which is so abundantly provided for winter recreation.” – Vermont Life Vol. 1 Iss. 2, “White Gold”

The rapid expansion of Vermont’s ski industry in the 1930s and 1940s was one of the primary subjects of Vermont Life magazine’s first four winter issues. From its first publication in 1946 to 1949, the magazine speaks of the rising ski industry with spirited enthusiasm and emphasizes the vigor and ingenuity involved in the technological progress and economic development of Vermont’s early ski resorts. The very first article in the first winter issue of the magazine, entitled “White Gold,” is an ode to the virtues of skiing as a sport that also makes Vermont’s case as the birthplace of the American ski industry. The piece, written by A.W. Coleman, argues that the expansion of the industry stemmed directly from the love of skiing, and resorts were “developed by skiers, for skiers.”

In subsequent issues, articles such as “Pico: a Personal Narrative,” “Woodstock: Cradle of Winter Sports,” “Brattleboro: Birth of the Winter Idea,” and “Mad River Glen” promote a clear argument by Vermont Life magazine that skiing has deep roots in Vermont, but only with modern development and ingenuity are people learning how to commodify its snowy winters. These articles all tell stories of how the old-time ski culture that existed in Vermont was reinvigorated by outdoor enthusiasts who saw potential in the mountains. These outdoor enthusiasts envisioned Vermont as the premier ski destination of the east coast, taking inspiration from European and western American ski resorts to install modern infrastructure and amenities in an attempt to develop the Alps of the East.

The portrayal of the ski industry in Vermont Life during the 1940s is overwhelmingly positive. The magazine applauds the virtues of the sport including its physical challenges, amateur spirit, and distinctive camaraderie. Beyond this, the magazine characterizes the people behind the industry’s development in Vermont as genuine outdoor enthusiasts who possess the determination and ingenuity to take elements of world-class resorts in Europe and the western US and install them in Vermont, whose harsh winters once were feared by the community but now could be taken advantage of and commodified. In the magazine, local Vermonters are portrayed as willing participants in the development of the ski industry and surrounding hospitality infrastructure. This decade of coverage of the ski industry is characteristic of a postwar attitude of progress, technological advance, and economic development based in a distinctly American way of life.