Ski jumps and cattle fences by Brian Levine

1950s ski meet at the Rozman Hill Ski Area (looking toward Crested Butte Mountain, across Highway 135).

Ski jumps & cattle fences

The Rozman Hill Ski Area (1949-1960) ushered in a lively ski era for the valley, but as the snow melted each spring, it turned back into John and Mary Rozman’s cattle ranch.

By Brian Levine

Sometimes a story intrigues because of its place, other times because of its characters. The story of the Rozman Hill Ski Area intrigues for both reasons.

As collegiate ski jumping grew in popularity toward the middle of the last century, the Western State College (WSC) Mountaineer Ski Team needed a new training facility in the valley. There was Quick’s Hill, near the base of Red Mountain, but it wasn’t suitable for most ski competitions. Peanut Hill, northeast of Crested Butte, didn’t have appropriate ski-jumping landings. To be competitive against such formidable adversaries as Denver University (DU) and the University of Colorado (CU), WSC needed steep slopes and safe ski jumps.

Crosby Perry-Smith, the first personality in this relational history, was determined to find solutions. Perry-Smith, born in New Jersey in 1924, was a national ski-jumping champion at age 14. In 1943, he was New York State’s intercollegiate ski-jumping and cross-country skiing champion. That same year, Perry-Smith joined the U.S. Military’s Tenth Mountain Division and trained at Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado. While in combat in the Italian Alps, he saved the lives of fellow soldiers and became a decorated hero. He’d been spoiled by Colorado snow, so after the war, in 1946, Perry-Smith enrolled at WSC.

From the moment Perry-Smith’s boots landed on the WSC campus, he pushed to establish an official collegiate ski program. Other veterans on the GI Bill – Thor Groswold, Paul Wegeman, Richard Wellington, etc. – joined his team. Paul Wright, WSC athletic director, also joined the chorus, as did Ed Ford, temporary WSC ski coach. Soon, Perry-Smith was winning meets, with the notice of newly appointed WSC President Peter Mickelson. It grew imperative that WSC find the right ski coach to match

Top Crosby Perry-Smith Middle Sven Wiik Bottom John and Mary Rozman Perry-Smith’s energy and drive, and then that the college establish an intercollegiate facility.

That leads to the next dynamic personality – Sven Wiik, an Olympic gymnast who’d recently competed in the London 1948 Olympics. Wiik was born in Solleftea, Sweden, in 1921; trained in gymnastics as well as Nordic events; and was intent on emigrating to the United States. While in Chicago taking English lessons, Wiik learned of WSC’s interest in hiring a professional health, physical education and ski coach. With broken English as his second language, Wiik traveled to Gunnison for an interview. Knowing he’d have difficulty communicating, Wiik came prepared. Instead of dialogue, he asked – best he could – to see WSC’s gymnastic facilities. Once there, he removed his outer clothing to reveal gymnast’s attire and then promptly executed his best routines. Mickelson, Wright and Ford were astonished. Wiik was hired.

The next charismatic personalities, John and Mary Rozman, long-time Gunnison Valley ranchers, were the most crucial to WSC’s creation of a nationally recognized ski training and competition facility.

Standing where I am now – in the Rozman Ranch hay fields, at the base of Wheatstone Mountain (named after English scientist and inventor Charles Wheatstone, with the place name later modified to “Whetstone”) – I imagine Sven Wiik and WSC ski team members Adolph Kuss and Mack Miller at the Rozman home, inquiring about a section of their property. It would make for an excellent jump. Can the team use it? The Rozmans – community-minded and generous – ask them in. With homebaked goods on offer, they sit around the kitchen table discussing the proposition. John and Mary soon become enamored with Sven. Their resulting friendship forms the foundation for the realization of the PerrySmith/Wiik ski project.

Let me digress here. In the 1940s, John and Mary Rozman were the owners of the Rozman Ranch, located on the eastern base of Wheatstone Mountain, near the tracks of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and Slate River. Martin Rozman homesteaded the original 160 acres in 1904 and later married Anna Bajuk of Radovica, Yugoslavia. Anna Rozman was a strong, hard-working, business-minded woman who, after Martin passed away, recognized opportunities to add another 320 acres to the original Rozman homestead. John and Mary inherited the ranch from Anna; raised Hereford cattle, pigs, chickens and timothy hay; blacksmithed and logged. John was a perfectionist in all matters; even his haystacks had to be neat and well defined. He was honest, had a very strong work ethic, and insisted on labor before play. Those powerful characteristics earned him the endearing moniker of the Boss among his family. Mary Sedmak, John’s wife since 1938, was of similar character, but added a happiness to home and ranch, especially when serving her renowned baking. Together with their three boys – John, Jr., Richard and Rudy – their persistent labors made the Rozman Ranch self-sustaining.

With this as the background, Sven Wiik

entered the Rozman home on that December day in 1949. The chemistry between him and the Rozmans portended the grand things soon to come.

So now we have the ski-jumping war hero, the gymnast and the Boss.

Only thing was, the Rozmans had always been ranchers and wanted to remain such. They were adamant their property remained a ranch, at least from spring into fall. In winter, the slopes could be a ski facility, as long as in spring WSC rewired the cattle fences and uncovered drainage ditches. The agreement between the Rozmans, Wiik and WSC was never on paper; a simple handshake consummated the deal. (However, since John was such a perfectionist, he ultimately found it best that the Rozman boys put back the cattle fences.)

This agreement was propitious, not only for WSC’s Mountaineers, but for the entire valley. Soon, others became involved: Chuck Sweitzer and Wes McDermott, supporters of the Pioneer Ski Area, and businesses like the Allen Coffee Shop, Safeway, Gunnison Bank & Trust, Unique Theatre, and Gambles. At first, Rozman Hill was managed on funds less than those for reworking a mine-dump. Volunteers (mostly WSC students, but also community members) cleared trees, brush and rocks for ski runs and cross-country tracks. In 1950, the first ski jump was little more than compacted snow and only 120 feet long. Next season, WSC provided $100 and more free labor. A ‘permanent’ 150-foot ski jump was built, along with a 550-foot rope tow, soon to be nicknamed Mankiller.

Wiik was not much older than the college kids. But, as a younger athlete, he’d learned a great deal about coaching and training. Once at WSC, he implemented programs based on his Swedish experience, while supervising improvements to Rozman Hill. He introduced European discipline and determination, and he initiated endurance hikes to Aspen and Lake City, foot races up W Mountain, calisthenics, gymnastics and even rugged soccer games. Early Saturday morning, November 3, 1950, Wiik led nine Mountaineers from Gothic through the Elk Mountains to Copper Lake; over Triangle Pass and down Conundrum Creek; across to Crystal Creek and then to Aspen. That Saturday night, Wiik and the team – including Adolph Kuss and Mack Miller – stayed at Glenwood Springs to swim laps on Sunday morning. On March 13, 1951, Mack Miller placed eighth and Adolph Kuss tenth at Boston’s Olympic tryouts.

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Wiik continued visiting the Rozmans, sometimes after ski training, occasionally while he was in the area surveying for new trail potential. And the Rozmans made sure the young man felt at home with them. Peter Mickelson was so enthused about Wiik’s progress he gave an honorary presentation to John and Mary in February 1951, during WSC’s Winter Carnival festivities on Rozman Hill. Topping off the carnival, Mountaineer Adolph Kuss placed second in the meet, competing against DU, Utah State, Colorado College, CU, Colorado School of Mines and Regis College.

The November 18, 1952, Top O’ The World reported: “A community-wide program to bring the Crested Butte-Gunnison area to a top position among Colorado winter sports areas is under way this week.” The Gunnison Chamber of Commerce hired the Heron Engineering Company to survey the optimum locales on which to begin construction of a permanent ski area. Crested Butte businesspeople A. S. Yarnell, Les Arnett and Mike Verzuh pledged money to encourage this development. Like a fever, Rozman Hill and Sven Wiik’s ski program inspired Gunnison Valley people to consider a variety of ski area possibilities. In the meantime, Wiik continued expanding his ski program. He initiated a ski program for children at Rozman Hill and extended ski opportunities to locals. He also explored expansion possibilities up Wheatstone.

As I stand amid the old machinery that once powered Rozman Hill – remnants of a 1928 Studebaker, engine and chassis of a 1934 Chrysler, rusted axles and wheelbases, transmission parts – I can still sense Wiik’s drive and innovation. North to south, people in the Gunnison Valley recognized Mickelson had hired a dynamo. Looking up Wheatstone, I can see the faint borderlines of his industry. I consider the arduous work to clear brush and boulders, to build the judge’s stand, to set up the children’s tow below the slopes named Rolling Bump and Waxing Problems. I can even spy the pine tree where the ’28 Studebaker was once lodged to run the Mankiller; the tree is still growing, yet distorted from years of bracing up that old automobile.

I imagine Lynn Levy, Dick Mize or Mack Miller curving down a trail. Levy and Miller qualified for the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo after training on Rozman Hill. Miller, originally from Idaho, rose to national champion. Levy, born in Louisiana, attended LSU Medical School after WSC and became a general practitioner. Dick Mize, a WSC Mountaineer from 1953 through 1957, competed in the 1960 Winter Olympics as a biathlon racer. Like John Rozman, their dedication to hard work and perfection paid off.

Hill Ski Area throughout the 1950s. A slalom course opened for the 1952-53 season. WSC students Frank LeFevre and Wayne Johnson scavenged parts from old lumber trucks at the Albright Camp to keep the tows running. Mankiller was extended to a length of 1100 feet; despite that improvement, skiers still had to hike to the upper tow. That same season, Mountain Ski Club President Bill Wallin, along with members of the newly formed Junior Chamber of Commerce, raised funds to build a Lok-Log warming hut just northeast of the Mankiller. There the Allen Coffee Shop sold coffee, hot dogs, cake and other confections to skiers and spectators.

Whenever the city of Gunnison got too little snow for winter activities, they were held at Rozman Hill. The 1954 Winter Carnival exhibited its snow sculpture competition there, along with nighttime torchlight downhills, Jaycees’ fundraisers, Mountain Ski Club displays, ski fashion shows and the crowning of a festival king and queen.

Intermountain competitions and other regional events were staged at Rozman Hill, occasionally garnering crowds approaching a thousand people. Wiik believed Rozman Hill and Wheatstone Mountain could become an international ski resort. He diversified his ski programs throughout the 1950s to attract more potential Olympians – racers like Buddy Werner, Dave Gorsuch, Linda Myers, John Burritt, Dick Wellington and Bob Beatty. The Gunnison Valley drew widespread news coverage, and countless prospective investors visited to explore its possibilities.

In summer 1954, Wiik returned to Sweden to marry Birthe Nielson, his fiancée of several years. That same summer, he released a color film he’d been working on since 1950. This film featured WSC ski team members as they trained and competed at the Pioneer, Rozman Hill and Aspen ski areas. All the while, Wiik’s ski program continued to attract prospective Olympic skiers: Walter Jackson, Ken MacLennan, Jim Fred Boyle, Jim Mahaffey, Don Zimmerman and Carol Baird -- the first woman Wiik selected for the ski team.

Every aspect of the ski program pointed toward further developing Rozman Hill. In 1955, at a meeting in Gunnison’s Municipal Building, 76 people unanimously voted continued support of the Rozman Hill Ski Area. At this same meeting, Chuck Sweitzer and Wes McDermott encouraged installing electric-powered t-bars designed by Heron Engineering. Then Wiik used a large chalk

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board to theatrically sketch out possible future plans for Rozman Hill, which included four square miles of expanded ski terrain, improved runs and upgraded facilities. Wiik’s enthusiastic presentation stirred resounding applause.

In 1957, as Mack Miller returned to WSC and Dick Mize was soon to head for the Olympics, the Mountaineers improved their game against rivals DU and CU. More ski resorts were proposed for Gunnison County, like Pershing Hill, Gibson Ridge and Tomichi Dome. In 1958-1959, Robert and Webb Heron of the Heron Engineering Company, who had reviewed the northwest slope of Crested Butte Mountain as a potential ski resort, were in contact with Dick Eflin and Fred Rice concerning the possible purchase of the Malensek Ranch there. The desire to be part of a large commercial ski area had grown within Wiik, and he, too, began introducing potential investors to the Gunnison Valley. Several were presented to the Rozmans. But Wiik was surprised that John and Mary desired to retain their property as an active ranch. A lease for winter skiing was fine with the Rozmans, but they had no interest in selling the ranch. Wiik, having been close to them for the last decade, knew the Rozmans were true to their beliefs and respected their wishes. Only lease agreements.

In 1960, Eflin and Rice purchased the Malensek Ranch on the northwest base of Crested Butte Mountain (at one time known as Lone Mountain). They applied for ski lift permits from the National Forest Service and began developing their acreage.

Wiik, still with WSC but now a veteran U.S. Olympic Ski Team coach (1958 and 1960), was courted by Steamboat Springs to open a Scandinavian lodge and training center. The Wiiks moved there in 1968.

Crosby Perry-Smith went on to reshape Steamboat’s Howelson Hill and its skijumping program before retiring in Ouray, Colorado.

In 1962, WSC moved its training program to Dick Eflin’s new Crested Butte Ski Area.

As for the Boss and Mary Rozman, who were by then living part-time in Delta, Colorado, they never regretted their decision. Though pleased to have hosted the WSC ski facility and been a crucial part of the Rozman Hill Ski Area, they were ranchers and wanted to remain such. John Rozman and his three sons had no qualms putting up cattle fences. It’s what they were. b