Class of 2020
Innovators and Leaders in West Virginia Snow Sports
Organizers/leaders - club, council, federation, associations
Area Operations and/or Management or Development Competition
Edmund Couch, Jr.
During the Ski Club of Washington's 1950-51 Club year under Ed Couch's Presidency, a significant amount of activity occurred toward the development of the Cabin Mountain ski area near Davis,
WV.
A candidate area had been discovered in February 1951, scoped out, and it was time to follow up on that. The Club contacted farm property owners Irene and Hobart Mauzy about the future ski area and a tentative yes. Next, the membership was informed about the proposal, and they backed it. A six-member committee headed the Cabin Mountain development with Mr. Couch in a leadership role. Club members located an unused rope tow in a hardware store and purchased it. Surveys were made that spring, and an area model was produced for the membership to
view. The membership rapidly approved.
Planning and construction were accomplished during the summer and fall. Ed Couch provided professional direction, as all hands dug holes for the warming hut, hauled lumber by horse and cart cleared brush, staked out the tow rope's holes, and completed the warming hut's flooring. The new ski area was ready for operation just before the first snow in late November 1951. Ed Couch is also a member of the National Ski Hall of Fame in the discipline of ski jump judging.