by DANIEL GIBSONJamie Koch of Santa Fe has had a front-row seat to New Mexico’s rise as a skiing center.
In 1935, his father and Daniel Kelly, president and vice president, respectively, of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, made a presentation to the membership about its recent trip to New England, where members had been introduced to the new sport of skiing. Could skiing be the key in New Mexico, they asked, to making tourism a year-round economic force?
Ferd Koch was asked to bring in an expert on the topic, and he settled on Graeme McGowan of Denver, who helped launch Berthoud Pass in Colorado. McGowan arrived in February 1936 and surveyed the possible skiing terrain above the town.
He produced a remarkable leather-bound prospectus — complete with a fascinating map and black and white photos — for the newly formed Santa Fe Winter Sports Club, whose members included Koch (serving as president), Kelly, T.B. Catron, Hunter Clarkson and other community leaders.
The document produced a flurry of activity, and on Jan. 21, 1937, skiing commenced at Hyde Park, which then lay at the end of the mountain road. Bus service and temporary food concession was provided, drawing an enthusiastic response. That summer, the stone lodge that still graces the park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
In 1947, the road was extended to Big Tesuque, and two rope tows were installed, with engines donated by Koch, Clarkson, Charles LeFeber and Clarence Via. By September 1948, the road was pushed still higher, to its present terminus. In March 1949, Ferd formed an investment company, Sierras de Santa Fe, to finance construction of a chairlift at the new site. A used cable from the Eureka Mine in Silverton, Colo., was secured, B-59 seats retrofitted, and a diesel engine donated by Ferd produced the state’s first chairlift.
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