Suzy Harris Rytting (b. 1930) began her early skiing outings at Alta at age 13. She started representing Alta and her high school in ski racing two years later. From the mid 1940s though the early 1950s, Suzy cut a swath through the American ski racing scene as one of the finest women racers in the country.
A two time winner of Alta's prestigious Snow Cup race in both 1947 and 1948, she also won the Mary Cornelia National Collegiate Trophy in 1947 and set a course record in Sun Valley's Gold Sun Downhill Race in 1948. She was named an alternate on the U.S. Women's Olympic Ski Team in 1948 and named to the 1950 U.S. Women's International Ski Federation (FIS) world championship ski team and the United States Winter Olympic Ski Team in 1952.
Following her ski racing career, Suzy became Secretary for the Intermountain Ski Association, a position she held from 1952 through 1959. From 1967 through 1972, she served as coach for the United Alta Skiers Junior Racing Team (ages 10-18).
Throughout her lifetime, Suzy has distinguished herself by active participation in numerous ski-related and community affairs. She currently serves as a docent, along with her husband, Bill, at the Alf Engen Ski Museum. She also continues to be a life long supporter of Alta and gives periodic ski history presentations at Alta's "Fireside Chat" program, sponsored by the Alta Historical Society.
Suzy was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1988; the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1988; the University of Utah Athletes Crimson Club Hall of Fame in 1991; and in 1999 was named one of Utah's "50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century." In 2004, Suzy Harris Rytting was also inducted into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame and received the S.J. Quinney Award for "enhancing the image and popularity of skiing in the region" by the J. Willard Marriott Library Ski Archives.
Biography from the Alta Historical Society.
The Suzy Harris Rytting audio-visual ski collection (1968-1991) consists of films and videos related to Rytting's career as a competetive skier, coach, and ski professional.
The materials are arranged by format type.
Audio-visual materials can be fragile and require specialized equipment to play back. For this reason, access to audio-visual materials is provided through digital copies, and it might take longer to provide access to items that are not yet digitized. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law, condition of the material, or by donor.
See also the Suzy Harris Rytting photograph collection (P0412).
Processed by Roy Webb in 2000.
Forms part of the Ski and Snow Sports Archives (S.J. Quinney Outdoor Recreation Archives).
Forms part of the
Includes some footage of Suzy skiing at Monte Bondone.
Snow Basin
Kalberer, Briggs, Rytting
Suzy Harris Rytting, Jim Schater and Howard Fishman coaching
2:30 minutes
Interviewers: Suzy and Bill Rytting. U.S. Forest Service Project 1991-92 By Shirley Huckins Community Library, Ketchum, Idaho.
Interviewers: Suzy and Bill Rytting. U.S. Forest Service Project 1991-92 By Shirley Huckins Community Library, Ketchum, Idaho.
Interviewer: Bill Stearn This collection of three short pieces was originally broadcast on the radio, with radio host, Bill Stearn. The interviews detail Suzy's feelings after being told she would not be allowed to compete in the Olympics due to her early-term pregnancy.