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As you travel through Colorado ski country, you might find yourself wondering, How in the world did someone come up with Whistlepig or Pussy Foot as a trail name? You might also find yourself debating whether taking Dante’s Inferno or Hook ’em Horns will be exciting.or insane.
The stories of how ski mountain trails were named can take as many twists and turns as the runs themselves. Here are some of our favorites, listed by resort: Davis Trail: Wilfred “Slim” Davis is credited as the first person to spot the ski-area potential of A-Basin’s location when he was training forest rangers how to ski there. Using a black-and-white, 8x10-inch photograph of the mountain, in 1941 Davis hand-drew the original layout and design of the ski area, including the existing Snow Plume Refuge and proposed rope tows. Five years later, A-Basin’s founders used that map to help secure the required special-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service.
The banner to be placed at the top of Rudi s Run at Steamboat Resort in memory of Rudi Schnackenberg, who would have turned 100 Jan. 25. (Courtesy photo)
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS Rudi Schnackenberg was many things a skier, a coach, an instructor, a father but he was perhaps foremost a lover of life.
“He touched the lives of all he met in a positive and lasting way. He was openly happy with life; his whistle, smile, quick humor and twinkle in his eye gave evidence to the love he had for life and all his friends,” said Ruth McClelland, Schnackenberg’s daughter.
Schnackenberg, a longtime Steamboat Springs resident, died in 1985 at age 64. His legacy has since lived on.