Francis "Mickey" Blake -was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 3 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Maroons, St. Louis Eagles and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was born in Barriefield, Ontario... (wikipedia)
My father wanted people to stay on the slopes and ski with their hotel people.
He skied everywhere you could ski, everywhere. He skied Aspen before it was Aspen. He was one of the famous prewar skiers.
He was famous for his snow reports. He was on the radio daily in the little communities. He was funny.
I've worked here since I was a kid. I've always been part of the business.
It was important that those guys have Anglo-Saxon names.
They'd be skidding around, hanging onto a rope for dear life. That was our first winter.
They were all behind him. Taos in the winter was totally dead. Nothing happened. They wanted to help the economy.
It was his start in the ski business.
He ran the ski valley on a total shoestring. If we had enough money from one year, we'd add something the next.