Pete Seibert
Encyclopedia
Peter W. Seibert was an American skier and the founder of Vail Ski Resort
Vail Ski Resort
Vail Ski Resort is located in Eagle County, Colorado, next to the town of Vail. Vail Mountain, at , is the largest single mountain ski resort in the United States, featuring seven bowls and intermediate gladed terrain in Blue Sky Basin...

 in Colorado. In 1980 he was inducted into the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.

Seibert, a Massachusetts native, graduated from the New Hampton School
New Hampton School
New Hampton School is an independent college preparatory high school located in New Hampton, New Hampshire, in the New England region of the northeastern United States...

 in New Hampshire and served in the 10th Mountain Division during World War II, training for as an elite ski trooper at Camp Hale
Camp Hale
Camp Hale, between Red Cliff and Leadville in the Eagle River valley in Colorado, was a U.S. Army training facility constructed in 1942 for what became the 10th Mountain Division. It was named for General Irving Hale....

 in Colorado. Wounded in the leg by a mortar shell blast in at the Battle of Riva Ridge in Italy, he returned to the United States to begin recuperation. Like other ski soldiers who had trained at Camp Hale, Seibert returned to Colorado, where he became a ski patrolman
Ski patrol
A Ski Patrol is an organization that provides Emergency Medical and rescue services to skiers and participants of other snow sports, either at a ski area or in a back country setting. Patrollers are trained in Basic or Advanced Life Support to stabilize and transport patients to definitive care,...

 in Aspen
Aspen Mountain (ski area)
Aspen Mountain is a ski area located in Pitkin County, Colorado, just outside and above the city of Aspen. It is situated on the north flank of Aspen Mountain and the higher Bell Mountain at an elevation of 11,212 ft just to the south of Aspen Mountain...

. In 1950 he qualified for the 1950 U.S. Ski Team
United States Ski Team
The United States Ski Team, operated under the auspices of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association , develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, adaptive alpine, freestyle skiing, cross country, adaptive cross country, ski jumping, and nordic combined....

, which hosted the 1950 World Championships at Aspen, although his injury prevented him from competing.

In 1957, Seibert and rancher Earl Eaton climbed Vail Mountain, where as trainees from Camp Hale they had learned winter bivouacking, deciding to build "the most beautiful ski resort in the world". They raised funds from a group of Denver investors, bought a ranch at the base of Vail mountain, and to detract competitors, called it the "Trans Montane Rod and Gun Club". The resort was built in 1962 at the base of Vail mountain, opening on December 15, 1962 with two chairlift
Chairlift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...

s, one gondola
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...

. A lift ticket cost $5.

In seven years Vail grew to become the most popular ski resort in Colorado. Seibert hoped that Vail and (the future) Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek Resort
Beaver Creek Resort is a major United States ski resort near Avon, Colorado, run by Vail Resorts. The resort comprises three villages, the main Beaver Creek Village, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead to the west...

 would host the skiing portions of the 1976 Winter Olympics
1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria...

, which had been awarded to Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

 in 1970, but the voters of Colorado rejected funding for the Olympics in November 1972, and the games returned to Innsbruck, Austria, which had hosted the 1964 Winter Olympics
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...

.

"Pete's Bowl" in Vail's Blue Sky Basin
Blue Sky Basin
Blue Sky Basin is the most recent expansion to Vail Ski Resort in Colorado in the United States. It is the most debated and controversial ski area expansion in Colorado history...

 was named for Seibert when the second phase of the expansion area opened in December 2000.

Seibert died at age 77 on July 15, 2002, following a nine-month battle with esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...

. A small plaza, built in the 1970s, at the top of Bridge Street in Vail is named Seibert Circle in his honor.

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