Greg Morrill
I guess it was inevitable that one of my trivia questions would stir up a controversy. But Iâll get to that a little later in the column.
Averell Harriman, a railroad magnate in the 1930s, saw the growing popularity of destination ski resorts in Europe and felt it was time for the United States to have one as well. Skiing was becoming more popular in the U.S., but skiing areas tended to be in rural towns with few luxury options.
Harriman wanted to build a ski resort for the rich and famous that would be easily accessible via his railroad. After an exhaustive search, he settled on Sun Valley, Idaho. By the way, one of the sites that didnât make the grade was Alta, Utah.