Saddle Sore: Skiing through history with Billy Fiske

In conversation with my ambassador peers on Aspen Mountain, mention was made that I had received a request from the Aspen Historical Society for an off-day skiing history tour with a travel writer from England.

My partner, Deborah — not only a compatriot on our Friday ambassador gig at the top of the mountain, but also a woman who has spent a large share of her life living in England — asked with a smile, “Maybe I should go with you — you might need and interpreter.”

Point well taken.

Will Hide, journalist and travel writer from London, met me at The Library inside the Hotel Jerome after much outside negotiation. If you’ve read any of his stuff, you know he has a way of taking you on the journey with him, enticing your interest in a genuine and friendly way. Most recently, Will is telling his stories in The Telegraph — you can easily find him online.

As my part of the bargain, I launched into my history tour vernacular, explaining how three skiers got together at a California cocktail party in 1932, observing that there really wasn’t any skiing in the U.S. like there was in Europe. Enter Ted Ryan, TJ Flynn, and Billy Fiske, as well as, of course, Hayden Peak — all intertwined in the Highland Bavarian Corporation, which had a grand vision for a world-class ski area. Hayden was going to be the flagship mountain, accessed by a European-style tram originating in the ghost town of Ashcroft.

Will let me go on for a tad, and then his eyes lit up, and he became a bit animated: “Ah, Billy Fiske. You know there is a memorial plaque to him in London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, inscribed, ‘An American citizen who died that England might live.'”

Now I was the student, and Will the teacher. William Meade Lindley Fiske III was born in Chicago, 1911, to an international banking family. At 13, his family moved to France, where he found opportunities to develop his interest in sports and an unavoidable pursuit of adrenaline. Early in his teens, he broke the speed record on the Cresta track in Switzerland (similar to a bobsled track, only for singles); at 16, and again at 20, he was the driver for the U.S. bobsledding team, winning gold medals at both the 1928 and 1932 Olympic games. He was also the designated U.S. flag-bearer during the opening ceremonies at Lake Placid in 1932.

After the 1928 Olympics, Fiske had moved to England, became a student at Cambridge. Upon graduation, he took up a position with the family banking firm; 1936 rolled around, and he skipped the bobsled Olympic competition, deciding to spend part of his time helping put together the Highland Bavarian Corp’s dream for the ultimate ski area in North America. Together with Andre Roch, Fiske skied the areas on both sides of Castle Creek, making numerous expeditions up the vaunted Hayden Peak. Unfortunately, the breakout of World War II put an end to the aspirations of the Highland Bavarian Corp.

Still living in England, he met Rose Bingham, the former Countess of Warwick, who would become his wife in 1938. He became a member of the prestigious White’s Club in London, from which the Royal Air Force (RAF) 601 was known to pick new pilots. England had been enjoined from accepting new pilots from the United States and other neutral countries, so he represented himself as a Canadian citizen, eventually gaining acceptance as such.

Fiske had a strong, personal relationship with Britain, having spent so much of his time there. When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, he was one of the first to volunteer and was accepted into the Pilot’s Auxiliary, in spite of his playboy image.

Although already a pilot, he was required to take the standard training, and it wasn’t until July 12, 1940, that he became a member of RAF 601 Squadron, based at Tangmere. Until Aug. 16, he flew 42 sorties, claiming one kill and three hits. The Battle of Britain.   

Aug. 16, 1940, Fiske’s Hurricane P3358 was shot down — although he managed to glide it back to base, hoping it could be repaired to continue flying for the Brits. His lower body was severely burned by fire when his plane burst into flames upon landing. He died of his injuries the next day, at 29 years old. The first American pilot killed in WWII, known by his fellow pilots as courageous and selfless.  

As we know from skiing history in Aspen, Lifts One and Two began their uphill slog in 1946, and although Billy Fiske — the main motivation behind the idea of skiing on Hayden Peak and the Highland Bavarian Corporation — died, the vision of skiing in Aspen did not. Ted Ryan and TJ Flynn were proud supporters of the Aspen Ski Corporation.

And that is why, today, we are skiing on Aspen Mountain and not Hayden Peak.