International Ski History Association photograph collection, 2002-2003

The International Skiing History Association (ISHA) is a not-for-profit corporation, whose mission is to preserve and advance the knowledge of ski history and to increase public awareness of the sport’s heritage.

Almost two thousand skiers belong to ISHA. They hail from many nations,though mostly from the United States. Members are defined by their love of the sport and its rich past.

ISHA's mission has been enthusiastically endorsed by many former World Cup and Olympic champions, including Jean-Claude Killy, Billy Kidd, Penny Pitou, Nancy Greene Raine and the late Stein Eriksen. Members include distinguished members of the FIS, 10th Mountain Division, the U.S. and Canadian national Halls of Fame, resort and industry pioneers, authors, historians and filmmakers. But you needn’t be a ski-world insider to belong. It merely takes an interest in this most beautiful of sports.

ISHA publishes a bimonthly magazine, Skiing History, filled with lively, carefully researched stories and stunning images from skiing’s past, prepared by the sport’s most experienced, most respected writers and editors. Enthusiastically read six times a year by several thousand subscribers, researchers, hall-of-fame members, and skiers around the world, Skiing History is recognized as the world’s best periodical of ski history published in any language.

ISHA was founded in 1991 by the late Mason Beekley, who amassed what is believed to be the world’s largest private collection of ski books and art. The collection opened to the public for the first time in December 2003 in a newly-created museum in Mammoth Lakes, California

In 1990, Beekley gathered a number of individuals whom he believed would share his vision for a skiing history organization assembled a group of “founders.” By November 1, 1990 he had convinced 36 prestigious prospects to become ISHA founders “to encourage and promote sharing, organizing, preserving, archiving, collecting and disseminating every aspect of the history of skiing.”

A May 1991 meeting of founders in Hanover, New Hampshire led to the founders’ list growing to 102 individuals. This meeting followed the Winter 1991 issuance of the Snow News newsletter as “The Official Journal of the International Skiing History Association.”

The first Skiing Heritage Week (now known as Skiing History Week) was held in 1992. The name Snow News was replaced by Skiing Heritage in 1993 and Morten Lund was hired as editor. The Fall 1994 issue of the journal carried the first full-length article on Gretchen Fraser. Over the years, Skiing Heritage expanded to 48 full-color pages, and its historical and entertaining articles have filled many of the holes in the documented record of skiing history.

The ISHA Website (skiinghistory.org) was launched in 2001. The magazine was renamed Skiing History in 2013. Today, it goes out bimonthly (six times a year) to more than 2,000 readers, including ISHA members and individuals who receive the magazine through our corporate sponsors and museum partners.

Histoic note taken from ISHA website (https://www.skiinghistory.org/about)