James Shay’s New Book on Walter Shoenknect is about the invention of snowmaking and modern ski culture.
In 1950, Walter Schoenknecht, founder of Mohawk Mountain Ski Area in Cornwall, assembled a team of engineers that invented snowmaking, revolutionizing skiing forever. In a new book, Mohawk Mountain Ski Area: The Birth of Snowmaking, author James Shay delves into Schoenknecht’s overlooked achievements, charisma, and curiosity. Along with ideas like putting a rainforest in a ski lodge, his most audacious plan was a proposal to the Atomic Energy Commission to set off a nuclear bomb in Vermont to increase the verticality of a drop at Mount Snow—one of the few dreams he left unrealized.
On Sunday February 2, at the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, ski enthusiasts and history buffs can meet Shay, a retired Connecticut journalist and lifelong skier, for a discussion of his latest book, which dives into the wild stories of Schoenknecht and the early days of the American skiing boom.
“A lot of people skiing at Mohawk today have no idea how important the history here is,” Shay says. “Mohawk is where snowmaking was first tested, back in 1950, and Walt Schoenknecht was the guy who made it all happen. But I wanted to write something that was more than just a local history. This is about the beginning of modern skiing. Without snowmaking, skiing wouldn’t exist as we know it today.”
The successful test of a snowmaking machine at the Mohawk Mountain Ski Area is front page news. Photo courtesy of the New England Ski Museum.
Schoenknecht, a former tool-and-die maker, enlisted engineers Art Hunt, Dave Richey, and William Pierce, whom he met while working at an aircraft manufacturing plant, to help him take an aviation discovery from World War II—a device called an atomizer which can spray an incredibly fine liquid mist—and turn it into the world’s first snowmaking machine.
“It’s wild when you think about it,” Shay says. “These guys were using garden hoses and a simple air compressor to atomize water into snow. By the winter of 1950-51, Mohawk Mountain had its first snowmaking system up and running.”
Schoenknecht’s adventure was inspired by the snowless winter of 1950. He saw folks grinding up ice blocks to resurface the ramp for a nearby Ski Jumps (taking place this weekend) and decided to try scaling up the process, famously trucking 700 tons of ice to Mohawk. “It cost him about $1,000, but it got front-page coverage in the New York Daily News and newsreels were filming the whole thing,” Shay says. “Walt knew how to turn a crazy idea into a publicity goldmine.”
By the latter half of that year and into 1951 Schoenknecht and his engineer buddies were covering Mohawk’s slopes with their atomizing blower. After this success, Schoenknecht turned his sights to Vermont, founding Mount Snow in 1954. There, he focused on making skiing accessible for everyone. “Most ski resorts back then were all about expert skiers,” Shay notes. “But Walt saw the potential in families and beginners. He built wider trails, high-capacity lifts, and even added quirky amenities like swimming pools, Japanese gardens, and indoor ice rinks.”
Schoenknecht’s creativity wasn’t without its eccentricities. Dubbed “The Phenomenal Snowman” by Sports Illustrated, he became well known for his larger-than-life ideas—like dropping an A-bomb on Mount Snow.“Now, that was a little crazy,” Shay admits with a laugh. “But it just shows how far he was willing to go to innovate.” For context, Shay also pointed out that at the time the US government was soliciting other, noncombat applications for their apocalyptic new weapon.
For Shay, who’s spent over 40 years writing about skiing for outlets like SKI Magazine and Snow Country, the story of Schoenknecht and snowmaking felt like an essential piece of history begging to be told. “I realized no one had written about this in decades, and even fewer people knew the details,” Shay said. “Walt didn’t invent snowmaking, but he brought the people together who did—and he made the world believe in it.”
Registration for the event is required as space is limited. Signed copies of Mohawk Mountain Ski Area: The Birth of Snowmaking will be available for purchase after the talk.