In the Special Collections area on the fourth floor of the Marriott Library, there is a collection of film footage, historic photographs and manuscripts detailing the history of skiing in the Intermountain West.
Founded by Dr. Gregory C. Thompson at the conclusion of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, the purpose of the Utah Ski Archives is to make the materials available to the public, while documenting and preserving the history of the sport.
The 24th annual Ski Affair was held Wednesday in Salt Lake City’s Little America Hotel. Over 500 people attended the event. It began with a dinner and silent auction of over 200 items and concluded with the presentation of awards.
Heidi Brett, the marketing and PR director for the Marriott Library, said the Ski Affair fundraiser is put on every year to raise money for the archives collection.
“[The Ski Archives] is one of the largest, if not the largest archives in the nation,” Brett said.
Brett said the event funds the Archives in a number of ways, including paying students for part-time work in which they help process the collection and make it organized and available to the public.
“We want students to know that this collection is here for them,” she said. “It’s very fun to come up to Special Collections on Level 4 and see these items face to face and touch and feel [them]. We hope students will take advantage of the Archives.”
The event receives support from many sponsors, including the Little America Hotel, which hosts the event, and both the Eccles and Quinney families.
This year, the S.J. Quinney award was given to Bob Wheaton, Deer Valley President and CEO. Also awarded were six medalists from the 2014 Olympic Winter Games: Joss Christensen, Kaitlyn Farrington, Sage Kotsenburg, Keith Gabel, and Danelle and Rob Umstead. The medalists were presented as History-Maker Honorees.
The fundraiser was estimated to have raised a total of over $56,000 in donations.
The archives are free to view and available to students, faculty and the general public.
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